Knox
Applause rings in my ears as I push through the backstage doors.
People are everywhere and cast members are still in costume.
The crew is moving props around as the babble of excited voices overlaps.
There’s an explosion of flowers and laughter.
The energy that fills the space is the kind that comes after something big lands exactly the way it was meant to.
I barely register any of it. All I see is Cheyenne standing in the middle of the madness with her arms full of bouquets, her cheeks flushed and eyes bright.
She’s smiling at something one of the other actors says, but there’s a dazed quality to it, like she still can’t quite believe this is her life.
I can.
I watched every damn second—from the moment she stepped out there and owned the theater like she was born for it to the final bow she took before the curtain came down.
And through it all, she made it look effortless.
Especially when I know how much work, fear, and grit it took for her to get here.
I watched her stand in front of a packed house and claim the life she used to think was too far out of reach to touch.
And I watched her become the woman she was always meant to be.
As I stand here now, knowing she chose this life and built it with her own two hands, it damn near brings me to my knees. This is the moment that will change everything for her. And through all of it, I get to be the man standing at her side.
Cheyenne looks up just as I reach her, and our gazes lock. For one split second, everything around us drops away. The noise, the people, the flowers in her arms.
All of it.
Before my name even makes it past her lips, my hands are on her waist and I’m lifting her off the floor. She laughs as the bouquets get crushed between us.
“You were amazing,” I tell her.
Her smile wobbles. “You really think so?”
“Baby, you killed it.” I tighten my hold on her.
“No, fuck that. I knew you’d be good and that you belonged out there, but what you did tonight…
” I exhale, still trying to wrap my head around it.
“You walked on stage and took something that was always meant to be yours. You made that whole theater believe in you.”
A mixture of relief and pride flickers across her expression as her eyes glisten with tears.
Her fingers slide into the hair at the nape of my neck. “You really mean that?”
“Chey.” My hand drifts higher along her back. “I’ve never meant anything more in my life.”
She releases a breath before grinning. “Thank you for believing in me and helping me to believe in myself.”
My mind flashes through all of it at once. The months of her running lines. The nights she second-guessed herself. The mornings she needed someone to look her in the eye and tell her she could do it.
That she was already enough.
That this life was hers if she was brave enough to take it.
A smirk tugs at my mouth before I can stop it. “Pretty hard not to when you’re so damn talented.”
She turns her face toward mine until my lips are able to find hers. The kiss is brief, but it’s enough for her to melt into me.
She draws back before whispering, “I love you.”
Those three words bowl me over every goddamn time.
I kiss her once more. “Love you too, baby.”
There’s a long dramatic sigh from behind us.
“All right, McNichols. Give the girl a little room to breathe,” Rina announces. “She literally just brought the house down.”
Cheyenne laughs again as I set her on her feet, though I keep one arm banded around her waist.
Rina narrows her eyes. “You’re still hogging her.”
“That’s because she’s mine,” I shoot back.
Amusement dances in Cheyenne’s eyes.
Rina snorts. “You’re such a caveman.”
“Where this woman is concerned? Correct.”
That earns me an eye roll from Lilah.
Sloane lifts a brow. “Subtle.”
Kia smiles as Callie shakes her head.
But I don’t care. They can give me all the shit they want. I just watched the woman I love walk onto a stage and set the world on fire.
Even though people continue wandering over to congratulate Cheyenne, my hand never leaves the small of her back. It’s a quiet reminder that I’m here and that I’ve got her. No matter how big this gets, she’ll never have to carry it alone.
The afterparty starts forming around us in loose, glittering clusters. Theater people, producers, family, and friends. Cheyenne handles all of it beautifully, gracious and smiling and somehow still entirely herself.
Every once in a while, she glances at me, and my chest tightens in response. It takes everything in me not to hustle her out the door, but it’s important she enjoys this moment.
Her moment.
A few hours later, Cheyenne whispers, “Would you mind if we sneak out?”
I grin. “I thought you’d never ask, baby.”
Rina points a threatening finger at me as we collect the flowers and slip from the crowd. “Don’t kidnap her for, like, a week. The woman just had a breakout moment.”
I guide Cheyenne toward the exit. “Sorry, no promises.”
Chey laughs under her breath. “You’re impossible.”
“Maybe so, but you still love me.”
Her smile softens. “One hundred percent.”
By the time we make it to the car, she’s quieter. The adrenaline is still there, but it’s shifted now. It’s less bright and bubbly, more like she’s finally starting to come down enough to feel the weight of the evening.
I open the passenger door, taking the flowers from her and arranging them carefully in the back before helping her in.
“Thank you again for the necklace. I absolutely love it.”
My gaze drops to the gold star resting against her chest. It glints under the streetlights, and something in my chest pulls tight.
“It looks good on you.” I lean down and kiss her. “But then again, everything does.”
The drive home doesn’t take more than fifteen minutes. I keep one hand on the steering wheel and the other on her thigh, the silence between us easy. The second we step inside the penthouse, she kicks off her heels and laughs when she sees how many bouquets we actually brought home.
“This is ridiculous.”
I set the flowers on the counter. “You earned it.”
She wanders farther into the kitchen, touching petals and shaking her head.
My place has had pieces of her in it for a while now.
Hair products in my bathroom. A sweater slung over the back of the couch.
The tea she likes stocked in the cabinet.
A charger plugged in on my nightstand. But tonight, watching her move through the space barefoot and flushed and carrying opening-night flowers, it doesn’t feel temporary.
It feels settled.
Right.
Like the life I’ve been building around her has finally caught up with what I’ve known for a while.
I loosen my tie and toss my keys onto the counter. “Are you hungry?”
She turns toward me with a smile. “A little.”
“I had dinner sent up earlier. Figured you’d want to eat afterward.”
Her brows lift. “You did?”
With a shrug, I move toward the warming drawer. “Yup. Always thinking about you, Hollywood.”
Gratitude flashes across her face. “You’re the best.”
I give her a wink. “And don’t you forget it.”
I plate the food while she puts the flowers in water, and the quiet domesticity of it hits me harder than expected.
Chey hums under her breath as I move around her, and when she reaches for a vase, I hand it to her before she has a chance to ask.
From the get-go, it’s felt like we’re in sync, and that hasn’t changed.
We settle at the kitchen island to eat, the conversation easy and familiar just like always. She glances around the space, her expression softening in a way that makes my chest constrict.
After a moment, I set my fork down and reach for her hand. “You know this is your home too, right?”
She slides off the stool and steps close enough for my arms to wrap around her.
“I do. Thank you. For everything.”
I rest my chin on top of her head. “I love you, Chey. I really fucking love you.”
“I love you too.”
I narrow my eyes. “But do you really fucking love me?”
With a chuckle, she presses her lips to mine. “I do. So much that it hurts to breathe when we’re not together.”
“Same, baby.”
My mouth settles over hers. The kiss isn’t quick. It’s slow and deep and full of everything we don’t need to say out loud because we just know.
When we finally pull apart, she stays tucked against me.
“You mean everything to me, Knox.”
I caress her cheek with my knuckles. “Right back at you, Hollywood.”
After everything it took for Cheyenne to fight for the life she wanted and still choose to come home to me, a deep certainty takes root within me.
This isn’t a moment or a temporary arrangement.
This woman is my future.
And I can’t wait for it to unfold with her at my side.