Chapter 54
Fifty-Four
THE NASTIER THEY ARE, THE BIGGER THE PAYOFF.
WYATT
The world championship's mine for the taking. I can feel it in my bones.
Kinsley's in the passenger seat looking like my kind of trouble. Nine nights of sponsors and arena dirt, and she's been right there with me. She gives me a smile that makes my heart stutter.
"You're brooding again," Jake says from the back seat. "I can hear your brain grinding from back here."
"Just thinking," I tell him as we inch through traffic toward the Thomas and Mack center.
My body's a roadmap of this week's battles: separated shoulder taped tight, cracked rib that makes breathing an effort, and a concussion mild enough to pass the tests but serious enough to make the world tilt when I turn too fast.
Doc looked at me like I was insane when I insisted I could still ride. "Son, you're held together with athletic tape and stubbornness."
Maybe. But my family's here, and I'm not backing down now.
"Get out of your head," Jake warns.
Kinsley laughs. "Are you talking to me or him?"
"I'm talking to Wyatt," Jake says. "Stop laying the pressure on yourself."
I blow out a breath. "Tonight's big, man. Winning this thing proves that all the fights with Dad, all the nights sleeping in my truck, were heading somewhere."
Jake snorts. "Bulls don't care about your daddy issues, Halloway."
He's right. But as we pull into the parking lot—trucks and trailers from every corner of the country, cowboys checking gear—something settles in my chest like a key finding its lock.
This is where I belong. Not just in the arena, but with these people who understand that some dreams are worth bleeding for.
We hop out, and Kinsley rises on her toes to kiss me. It tastes like promises and barely contained worry.
"For luck," she whispers, but when she tries to pull away, I catch her around the waist.
"That's it?" I ask, my voice dropping. "I'm about to risk life on the rankest bull in the draw, and all I get is one little kiss?"
Her eyes narrow, though she can't hide her smile. "What exactly are you asking for, cowboy?"
"You know what I want." I find that sensitive spot just below her ear.
She laughs and pulls me down to her for a deeper kiss, full of everything we can't say in public.
Jake's voice cuts through the moment. "If you two are done making me sick, we've got a championship to win."
Kinsley steps back, thoroughly kissed and absolutely beautiful. "Bring me back a belt buckle—a pretty one."
I tip my hat with a grin. "Yes ma'am."
Inside, the arena smells like dust and adrenaline. After the opening ceremony and grand entry, Jake heads to the chutes. He gives it a good effort, but it's not enough for the world title.
When every other event is finished, it's my turn, I double-check my gear and head behind the chutes. The air is thick with tension as cowboys prepare for their moment of truth.
"Graveyard Shift's looking rank tonight," Jake observes, nodding toward the massive bull. The animal's shoulders roll with barely contained violence.
"Good," I say, meaning it. "The nastier they are, the bigger the payoff." I look toward the stands where Kinsley's sitting with my family.
"You're so gone on that woman it's embarrassing," Jake shoves me.
"Yeah, I am."
The announcement echoes: "Ladies and gentlemen, from Gritstone, Colorado, riding Graveyard Shift, Wyatt Halloway!"
Fifteen thousand people roar. I climb the rails and settle onto Graveyard Shift's back, feeling his power coiled beneath me. This is the moment—everything comes down to this.
"Remember, he's going to come out spinning left, then dive hard right. Don't get ahead of him." Jake checks my rope one final time. "Ride him like you mean it," Jake says, stepping back.
I nod toward the gate judge, and everything explodes.
Graveyard Shift erupts from the chute like a freight train derailing, his massive shoulders twisting with violence that sends shockwaves through my injured body. I stay centered, moving with him instead of fighting.
Left spin, just as predicted. Four seconds. He plants his front feet and whips right—the kind of move that's sent cowboys flying. But I shift my weight and ride through it.
Six seconds. Seven. The bull launches into the air with physics-defying force. The impact when we hit sends lightning through my ribs, but I'm still riding, still fighting for every fraction of a second.
Eight seconds.
The horn sounds. The bullfighters move in as I slide off. My legs buckle when I hit the dirt, adrenaline and pain flooding through me.
"Ladies and gentlemen, that's a ninety-three-point ride for Wyatt Halloway! That puts him in the lead with one rider left!"
The last rider goes down at six seconds, and the arena erupts. Championship buckle. World title. Everything I've worked for since I was stupid enough to think I could make a living getting thrown around by angry livestock.
And somehow, I know it was never supposed to happen until now… until her.
The buckle ceremony and interviews blur past. Through it all, Kinsley and my family are right there, beaming with pride. All I can think about is holding her close.
The woman I'm going to marry if she'll have me.
"How soon can we get out of here?" I whisper against her ear while smiling for another photographer.
"Are you hurting?" she asks, concern flickering across her face.
"Hurting for you," I quip, pinching her hip. She yelps and gives me a dirty look that I hope was caught on camera. Her answering kiss makes the photographers cheer. It takes too long to get out of there and yet I feel like it was a dream.
The rooftop restaurant floats thirty floors above the Vegas strip, all soft lighting and city views. Our corner table overlooks the neon blur that looks like fallen stars across black velvet.
"I still can't believe my family came," I say, glancing around for my surprise.
"How did it feel seeing them in the stands?" she asks, understanding the weight of that moment.
"Like everything clicked into place." I reach for her hand.
"Your dad was crying," she says softly. "When the horn sounded and you were still on, he had tears in his eyes."
"Yeah?"
"Your mom was sobbing, Kit was screaming herself hoarse, and Brook was taking video and pictures of everything.
" Kinsley's laugh carries joy and wonder.
"They love you, Wyatt. They've always loved you.
They just didn't know how to love the part of you that needed to leave to become who you were meant to be. "
"And you?" I ask, bringing her knuckles to my lips. "How do you feel about loving a man who risks his neck for belt buckles?"
"Terrified," she admits with a smile. "And proud. And so grateful that you're mine."
The server appears with perfect timing, setting down a small crystal plate in front of Kinsley.
"Compliments of the gentleman," he says before disappearing.
Confusion crosses her face as she sees the caramel apple, then wonder blooms as she spots the engagement ring nestled around the stick. Her hand goes to her chest, fingers finding the turquoise necklace. "Wyatt," she breathes.
I move to one knee beside her chair while Vegas glitters below us. The diamond solitaire catches the light—the ring that took me three weeks to choose.
My voice cracks when I speak. "Kinsley Rose, five months ago, I thought I had it all figured out."
Tears stream down her cheeks, but she's smiling, her hands trembling in mine.
"Then you showed up and changed everything. Made me see that love isn't about picking sides—it's about finding someone who makes you whole."
I take the ring from the apple stem with steady hands.
"You stuck by me through all of it—the lies, the family mess, even bull riding. You made me better without trying to fix me."
The restaurant quiets around us, but all I see is Kinsley's face—glowing, more beautiful than anything Vegas could offer.
"I love you. All of me loves all of you. Will you marry me? Let me prove that this cowboy knows how to stay."
She's nodding before I finish, laughing and crying as she throws her arms around my neck. "Yes," she whispers. "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes."
The ring slides home like it belongs there. When I kiss her, she tastes like everything I've ever wanted—happiness and home and a future worth fighting for.
"I love you, cowboy," she whispers.
I frame her face and brush away her tears. "I will be a selfish man, Kinsley. I want family dinners and morning rides and all the beautiful, ordinary moments that make a life worth living."
"I can't wait," she whispers against my lips.
Neither can I.