Epilogue
WYATT
Tied Up
Sally squeezes my hand, hard, making my heart dip.
“You all right?” I ask. “If you need a break, just say so.”
Her eyes are closed, a slight grimace on her face as the artist adds some dimension to the Coca-Cola bottle he’s tattooing on the inside of my fiancée’s forearm.
“I’ll be okay,” she replies. “Just—please tell me we’re almost done.”
The tattoo artist wipes Sally’s arm with a cloth. “Almost done,” he says with a smile. “Looks great.”
I smile too. “It’s not as slutty as mine?—”
“I wouldn’t dream of even trying to compete.” Sally cracks open an eye and grins. “You win the slutty thigh tattoo contest, no question.”
The artist laughs. “I like y’all.”
“But it is really, really cute.” I give her hand a gentle squeeze. “I think you’re gonna like it.”
Her grin broadens into a smile. “I think I’m gonna love it. Mostly because I love you. ”
“I love you more.” I point at the sun tattoo on my own forearm. “I win that contest too.”
Sally bites her lip, a soft look coming over her face. “Can’t believe it took me so long to put two and two together.”
“But you did. And now look at you. You got my ring on your finger and my tattoo on your arm.”
“ Our tattoo. I brought the Coke?—”
“And I brought the Jack.” I chuckle. “Fair point.”
Looking at my fiancée in the artist’s chair, I’m struck by how fucking gorgeous she is. Her long, dark hair is fanned out around her head, and her full lips are pulled into that pretty smile of hers. Getting tattooed definitely doesn’t feel great, but she’s being incredibly brave—she hasn’t complained once.
I still can’t believe Sally Powell is getting a tattoo . One inspired by our relationship. One that I have inked on my skin too.
Yet another pinch-me moment. I keep having those lately now that Sally and I are together. We’re getting married.
When we sat down last week with Patsy and John B to start planning the wedding, I legit started to cry I was so happy. That made everybody else cry, and then we were all hugging and laughing, joking that we’d have to have the reception in the Wallaces’ new arena because everyone and their mother was gonna want to attend the wedding.
Ava officially extended a job offer to Sally not long after they first spoke about it. Sally of course immediately accepted it. The title is head of veterinary programs, but Ava is letting Sally decide what that entails. So far, Sally’s enjoyed exploring her interests while caring for the Wallaces’ stable of racehorses. She’s happy, so I’m happy too.
As for me, I’m enjoying my role as foreman at Lucky River Ranch more than ever. I think opening up—being honest—has led me to shed my class-clown persona. I don’t have to wear a mask or pretend to be someone I’m not, and because I’m finally able to take myself seriously, I think other people do too. My brothers included.
Go figure—it feels really fucking good to let your guard down every once in a while.
Feels really fucking good to turn to your fiancée and say, “After this, dinner and Forensic Files at home?”
Sally moved in with me the day after I proposed. I love having her at the house. Love the little routine we’ve settled into as a couple.
Most of all, I love waking up next to her every day. Didn’t think happiness this big, this overwhelming, existed. But here we are.
“I love that idea, yeah,” Sally replies.
The artist finishes the piece, then gives Sally instructions for how to care for her new ink. She stands in front of the full-length mirror beside the chair and smiles as she turns her arm this way and that, admiring the tattoo that matches mine.
Sidling up behind her, I drape my arms across her torso and murmur into her neck, “You love it?”
“I love it.”
“Home?”
“Yeah.” She turns her head to nudge my jaw with her nose. “Home.”
Back at the house, I help Sally out of her jacket, then shoulder out of mine. Sally watches me, a hot gleam in her eyes that I’ve come to know well. Awareness gathers between my legs as I hang my jacket on the rack beside the door, then take off my hat.
“Keep that on.” My fiancée licks her lips. “Okay, change of plans. We’re skipping Forensic Files and playing poker instead.”
I smirk. “Poker? Really? ”
“A special kind of poker.” Sally grabs my hand. “The kind I’d only play with you.”
I let her pull me into the kitchen. “I’m interested.”
“Thought you might be.”
Grabbing a deck of cards from the junk drawer by the door, I toss them onto the kitchen table. “What are the rules?”
“Simple.” Sally sits at the table and begins to shuffle the cards. “You win a hand, you keep your clothes on. You lose, you take ’em off, one item at a time. You in?”
I pull out a chair and sit, my dick going full salute as I watch my girl confidently deal a hand of Texas Hold’Em. “Yes, ma’am, I am.”
She bites her lip, glancing at me across the table. “Should we up the ante? Whoever is naked first orgasms last?”
I let out a bark of laughter. “Sure.” Although I think we both know I’d never come without making Sally come first.
Sally and I have played Hold’Em several times since that fateful night at the potluck, but I’m still pleasantly surprised when Sally wins the first hand, then the second. First, I take off my shirt—putting my hat back on, of course, because my girl gets what she wants. Sally’s nipples harden to tight, visible points as she takes in my naked chest and stomach. She literally moans when I rip off my belt next, followed by my jeans after she wins yet another hand.
Finally, I win a hand, and I nearly bite off my own tongue when Sally pulls off her sweater, revealing a barely-there pink bra that does something to me.
Adjusting myself through my briefs, I bite out, “Your jeans. Those come off next.”
Luckily, I win the hand, and then Sally is sitting across from me in just her bra and panties. Well, her socks, too, but I figure those don’t really count at the moment.
I win the next hand too. But when Sally moves to take off her bra, I shake my head. “Naw, Sunshine. The panties— those gotta go. Take ’em off, then scoot your chair back. Yes, just like that. Now open those pretty legs of yours.”
Her lips twitching, Sally does as I told her, scooting back just far enough that I can see her bare pussy. She glistens in the light overhead, making my mouth water.
My dick throbs. “If I win this next hand, I want you to touch yourself.”
“That’s not in the rules,” Sally says with a smirk.
“It is now.”
I win.
Holding her cards in one hand, Sally reaches between her legs with the other. “Touch myself like this?”
Her fingers circle her clit. They move easily, her pussy slick, swollen.
“Bend your knee. Put your foot on the edge of the chair so I can see you better.” I pull my cock through the slit in my briefs and watch, my breath caught in my throat, as Sally spreads herself wider, then slips a finger inside herself. “Good girl. You like it when Daddy tells you what to do, don’t you?”
“Uh-huh,” she pants, hips beginning to roll against her hand.
I give myself a slow, easy tug. “How ’bout this? I win the next hand, I fuck your mouth. You win, I fuck whatever you want me to.”
She’s biting her lip again. “Yeah. Okay.”
I thumb my head, working the pre-cum over my skin. “I’ll deal.”
As luck would have it, Sally bluffs her way to a win. Throwing up one arm, she continues to finger herself with her other hand. “You can fuck me here, please.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Then I stand. I pull off my briefs and I move around the table. Then I grab her. I set her on the edge of the table and step between her legs .
Kissing her mouth, I murmur, “Put me inside you, Sunshine.”
She reaches between us and curls her hand around my dick, giving me a tight pull before lining me up at her entrance. “Guess you come first? Since you won?”
I shake my head and push into her, gasping at the feel of her soft, wet heat. She’s already tightening around me, her orgasm close.
“That ain’t gonna happen and you know it.”
Laughing, she curls an arm around my neck and rocks her hips, riding my dick as I begin to thrust. “Let’s come together then.”
Thumbing her clit, I nod. “Stay with me.”
“I’m almost there.”
“I know.”
“I won’t be able to?—”
“I know .” I kiss her, hard, my thumb moving faster. “Ever consider I’m doing this on purpose? You go first, always.”
She smiles against my lips. “Okay.”
She comes a beat later with a shout I capture in a kiss. She pulses around me, milking me to my own orgasm. I can barely breathe as I come down and rest my forehead against hers.
I feel my cum leaking out of her.
“I like that game.” My voice is husky.
Sally laughs. “I do too.”
A few days later, we head for the Wallace Ranch for a good old-fashioned barn raising. Really, the town is coming together to repair the barn that was partially destroyed by that fire. There will be music, kegs, tons of food, and of course some dancing.
Sally and I are excited, mostly because Ava and Sawyer will finally get to meet. Sawyer said he’d be bringing Ella with him, and Sally told me Ava planned on bringing her daughter too.
“Really, it’s kind of perfect when you think about it,” Sally says as she climbs out of my truck. “Think they’ll hit it off?”
“I do, yeah. Sawyer gave me some pretty great speeches about falling in love and shit, so I think he’s at the very least open to dating.”
Sally smiles, grabbing my hand. “I think Ava is too. She’s such a lovely person, and I’d love for her to end up with a good guy like Sawyer.”
The barn raising is in full swing. A band plays beside a nearby corral while a long table, covered in a checkered tablecloth, is set with more food than I think I’ve ever seen—and that’s saying something, considering the epic spreads Patsy puts out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day on Lucky River Ranch.
Sawyer is already here, tool belt hanging from his hips as he works inside the barn. I can just glimpse him and Ella through the open doors. His daughter is at his side, holding a pink plastic hammer in her hand. So freaking cute.
“Oh! There’s Ava.” Sally waves at her. “Great, she’s coming this way. Let’s introduce them.”
“Hey, y’all!” Ava says brightly. “Thank you so much for coming. We’re blown away by this turnout!”
“Welcome to Hartsville, where everyone’s nosy as hell but always willing to lend a hand.” I nod at the kegs. “The fact that there’s free beer doesn’t hurt.”
Ava smiles. “Least we could do.”
“So, Ava”—Sally cuts me a look—“Wyatt and I would like you to meet someone.”
“Oh?” Ava’s brows pop up. “This sounds fun.”
“It’s Wyatt’s younger brother. He has a three-year-old too,” Sally says.
Ava’s smile deepens. “Let’s do it. ”
She follows us inside the barn.
“Sawyer!” I bark.
“Uncle Wy! It’s Uncle Wy and Auntie Sally!” Ella cries, running over to wrap each of us in a bear hug.
Turning away from the framing he’s working on, my brother smiles when he sees me. “Hey, Wyatt. Sally, it’s always a pleasure seeing yo…” His voice trails off as he looks up and locks eyes with Ava. His eyes go wide, and a flush erupts on his neck and works its way up to his face.
“Hey!” Ava says, and that’s when I notice she’s blushing too.
She looks like she’s seen a ghost.
“It’s…good to see you.” Sawyer tugs a hand through his hair. It’s his tell, the one that says I’m nervous as fuck . He laughs. “Been a minute.”
“Yeah.” Ava laughs, too, but it sounds funny, like she’s out of breath. “Wow. What are the chances?”
Stomach twisting, I pull my brows together. “Wait, do y’all know each other?”
Sawyer’s running his hand up the back of his head now. “Funny enough, we do.”
Thank you so damn much for reading WYATT! I sincerely hope you enjoyed it.