Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
KRISTIN
The Fencepost was already packed when we walked in, the kind of Friday-night crowd where every table was claimed and the air was heavy with music, beer, and fryer grease.
Neon signs glowed over the bar, a country song blared too loud from the jukebox, and the scent of smoke and sweat clung to denim jackets and hair.
It felt like half the rodeo crowd had beaten us here. Boots thudded against the sticky floor, hats tipped back, laughter rolling from every corner as people crowded around tables, trading stories and shots.
My cousin, Lydia, Lexie’s sister, was behind the bar, her dark hair pulled into a messy knot, the corner of her mouth twitching every time someone called for another round.
Her partner, Faith, worked the tables with a tray balanced effortlessly on one hand, moving through the crush of people as if she were built for it.
The two of them ran this place better than anyone had before.
Julie and Phil had all the kids for the night, which meant the entire Flying Diamond crew was free for once. Judging by the noise level, everyone seemed to plan to take full advantage.
Kipp got to the bar first, impossible to miss with his height and the way he carried himself.
“Beer,” he called, like Lydia could hear him over the crowd.
Nora tugged on his sleeve, laughing as she leaned in close to say something.
He bent down, the edges of his grin visible even from where I stood.
Nash and Fallon claimed a booth near the wall, Fallon already flipping open the drinks menu like she was plotting a strategy.
Griffin and Elle followed right behind, Elle snatching Griff’s hat off his head and shoving it on her own.
He didn’t even try to take it back, just smiled like a man who knew better.
Ryder and Lexie staked out a high-top near the jukebox, both trying to feed quarters in first. Lexie smacked his hand when he beat her to it, and he laughed so loud half the room turned to look.
I slid into the booth beside Fallon, still running high on adrenaline. My body was buzzing, too sharp, too awake. I couldn’t tell if it was the whiskey-sour she shoved at me or the run still burning through my veins.
“To our new champion,” Fallon announced, raising her glass high enough to catch the overhead lights. “Kristin Felder, fastest damn girl on dirt tonight.”
The whole crew cheered. Griffin let out a sharp whistle. Ryder slapped the table, laughing. Nora’s grin was wide and proud, and Kipp pounded the bar hard enough to make strangers turn their heads.
I lifted my glass, cheeks burning. “Thanks, but let’s be real, it was my horse. She’s the star.”
“Uh-uh.” Fallon jabbed her straw at me. “Don’t you dare be humble. You rode like hellfire was after you.”
That got a laugh out of me, the first real one all night. “Fine. Maybe just a little fire.”
The conversation rolled from there, quick and noisy, the way it always did with this group.
Nora and Kipp were already leaning close together, whispering like newlyweds even after all these years.
Fallon was plotting karaoke, Griffin groaning while Elle swore, she’d drag him up no matter what.
Ryder and Lexie were talking trash about who could hold a pool cue straight.
I sipped my drink and let myself get swept along. Warmth spread through me, soft and manageable. For a few minutes, the noise didn’t hurt. It felt safe. Like family.
But every time the door opened, every time cold air rushed in, and boots hit the scuffed wood floor, my head turned before I could stop it.
Looking for him.
Lincoln.
I hated that my pulse jumped just thinking of his name. Hated that my lips still tingled from the kiss behind the chutes. That I could still feel the heat of his hands on my waist like a phantom brand. I hadn’t even realized I was staring at the door again until Fallon nudged me with her elbow.
“You’re distracted.”
My head whipped toward her. “What?”
She grinned. “Honey, you’ve been watching that door like you ordered something off the menu. Spill it.”
Elle leaned over the table, her eyes bright with amusement. “It’s Lincoln, isn’t it?”
Heat flooded my face. “No,” I said too quickly.
That earned me a round of knowing looks. Nash chuckled low, shaking his head. “Well, that explains why he nearly put three cowboys in the dirt tonight.”
My stomach dropped. “You saw that?”
“Everybody saw it,” Nash smirked. “Man was ready to commit homicide behind the chutes.”
“Protective,” Griffin added, taking a long pull from his beer. “Borderline territorial.”
“Borderline?” Fallon laughed. “Please. He looked one second away from growling.”
The table broke into laughter, but my face felt like it was on fire. I ducked my head, pretending to study the melting ice in my glass. The whiskey sour wasn’t strong enough for this conversation.
Then the door creaked open again. Cool air swept through the room, lifting the hair at the back of my neck.
Lincoln stepped in.
My heart kicked like a horse under the saddle.
He looked rougher than anyone else in the place, broad shoulders under a worn denim jacket, stubble shadowing his jaw, that steady, dangerous stillness that made people get out of his way without knowing why. But when his eyes found me, everything else blurred.
I forgot how to breathe.
Fallon followed my gaze and made a low sound that was all trouble. “Oh, this is gonna be fun.”
Lincoln didn’t come straight over. He stopped near the bar where Lydia was working, said something that made her grin and reach for a bottle. He leaned against the counter, whispering while Faith passed behind him with a tray of beers, patting his arm like they’d known each other forever.
Even in a crowd like this, he drew eyes. He didn’t do anything for attention; he just had that presence that made people aware of him. I felt it in my chest, in the air itself, like gravity had shifted.
Fallon leaned close again, voice dropping. “You’ve got it bad.”
“Stop.” I meant it, but my voice was too soft, and it only made her grin wider.
Elle propped her chin on her hand, studying me. “He looks like trouble tonight.”
“He is,” I said before I could stop myself.
“Best kind,” Fallon said, lifting her glass in a mock toast.
Nora smiled across from us, kind and gentle. “You don’t have to tell us anything, Kristin. But everyone saw how he looked at you after your run. And how you looked back. Has something changed, being stuck out there in that big house together?”
Ryder’s grin was all teeth. “Come on, it’s been forever since you looked at him like that. You looked like a lightning strike about to hit.”
Before I could even think of a comeback, Kipp came back from the bar carrying a tray of drinks. He caught the tail end of Ryder’s comment, brows lifting. “Who’s getting struck by lightning?”
“Kristin,” Fallon said instantly. “By Lincoln.”
“Jesus.” I covered my face with both hands. “Can we not?”
Laughter exploded around the table, loud and easy, the kind that bounced off the walls and made the room feel smaller.
I wanted to crawl under the table and stay there until everyone forgot about me, but at the same time, the teasing warmed me.
It was real. This was what I’d missed: being part of something, not a rumor or a headline, just a person among people who cared enough to make fun of me.
The noise swallowed us again, music pulsing through the speakers, the air thick with heat and chatter. I finally started to breathe again.
Then I looked up.
Lincoln was watching me.
He’d turned from the bar, beer in hand, scanning the room like he was making sure we were all still standing. When his eyes locked on mine, the sound of the jukebox dimmed, the laughter fading to background static. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t do anything but look back.
Fallon’s whisper brushed my ear. “Magnets.”
I barely heard her.
Lincoln crossed the room, cutting through the crowd like the rest of them didn’t exist. Conversations faltered as he passed. Lydia glanced up from behind the bar, smirked, and leaned into Faith to say something that made her laugh.
By the time he reached our table, my heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my fingertips.
He stopped beside the booth, eyes sweeping the group once before landing on me. “Hey.”
“Nice of you to finally join us,” Nash said, sliding over to make room. “You sitting or glaring?”
Lincoln’s mouth twitched. “Sitting.”
He dropped into the booth beside me, close enough that our thighs brushed. I froze. He shifted just slightly, polite enough to give me space, but it didn’t matter. The heat was already there, curling low in my stomach.
The conversation picked up again, though it sounded different now.
A little tighter. Everyone felt it, the way his presence changed the air, the way my whole body went on high alert just being next to him.
Fallon tried to steer things back toward karaoke plans, Elle asked Faith for another round, and Nora and Kipp disappeared toward the dance floor, laughing.
Lincoln didn’t talk much. He never did. But when someone asked me something, he listened. When I laughed, his gaze flicked my way, steady and unreadable, but softer than I remembered.
I couldn’t stop stealing glances at him, even when I tried. The rough edge of his jaw, the way the collar of his jacket brushed the base of his throat, the slow, controlled way he moved. Everything about him felt grounded, sure, and too damn magnetic.
Fallon, of course, noticed. She leaned forward, grin wicked. “Dance floor looks empty.”
I blinked at her. “What?”
“You heard me. One of you boys should take her out.” Her gaze flicked from Nash to Ryder to Lincoln, landing right where she wanted it to.
“I don’t dance,” I said quickly.
“That’s a lie,” Elle said, smiling as she reached for Griffin’s beer. “We’ve all seen you dance.”
Fallon slapped the table. “Come on. Kristin needs to celebrate. What’s the point of winning if you don’t show off a little?”
Before I could answer, Lincoln spoke. His voice was low, steady. “She doesn’t have to do anything she doesn’t want to.”
The table went quiet.
It wasn’t what he said, it was how he said it. Calm. Controlled. Possessive in a way that made something deep inside me tighten.
Fallon raised an eyebrow. “I never said she had to. Just thought she might want to. Unless you’re speaking for her now?”
Lincoln’s gaze shifted to mine, and for a heartbeat, the noise faded again. He didn’t say a word, but I could feel the question humming between us, heavy and electric.
I forced a laugh. “Maybe later. For now, I’m good right here.”
Fallon’s grin turned knowing, but she let it go, steering the conversation back to who was brave enough for karaoke. The others followed, the tension bleeding away, but under the surface, that spark kept burning.
Lincoln stayed beside me, silent, solid, radiating heat like a furnace. Every time his shoulder brushed mine, every time his breath caught close to my ear, I felt it. The weight of the kiss, everything we hadn’t said.
The night blurred. Fallon did get her karaoke, dragging Elle and Lexie up with her to belt out something twangy while Ryder and Nash hollered encouragement.
Kipp and Nora danced in the open space between tables, his big hands steady on her waist as she laughed up at him.
Even Griffin gave in and let Elle spin him around once before retreating with his beer.
And me? I sat beside Lincoln, trying not to combust. The bar was too hot, too loud, too full of everything I didn’t have words for.
I slid out of the booth, setting my empty glass on the table. “Air,” I muttered. “Back in a minute.”
Fallon smirked, and Elle just arched a brow, but neither said a word as I pushed through the crowd.
Outside, the night hit me like a balm. Cool, sharp air carrying the faint scent of hay and distant wood smoke. I leaned against the railing, letting my heartbeat slow, the hum of music muffled behind me.
The door creaked open.
I didn’t have to turn to know it was him. I could feel it—the shift in the air, that quiet gravity that always came with him.
“You okay?” His voice was low, rough, threaded with concern.
“I’m fine,” I said too fast.
He came to stand beside me, close enough that his arm brushed mine when he leaned on the rail. “You sure?”
I laughed softly, bitter and tired. “You do that thing, you know. Like you’re responsible for every breath I take.”
He turned his head, eyes sharp in the dim light. “Maybe I am.”
The words slid straight through me, knocking the air from my lungs. “Lincoln.”
He moved, just a little closer, his hand lifting like he might touch me. At the last second, he curled it into a fist and let it fall again. The air between us pulsed, thick with everything we weren’t saying.
One more inch and I would’ve leaned in.
Then the door banged open, laughter spilling into the night.
“Well, well,” Fallon called, her voice full of delight. The rest of them followed her out, Ryder with a beer in each hand, Lexie tugging his sleeve, Nash shaking his head like he’d known exactly what was happening.
Fallon’s grin was pure mischief. “Guess we don’t need to wonder where you two disappeared to.”
Heat rushed up my neck. “We weren’t, I just needed air.”
“Sure,” Ryder said. “You two were just stargazing?”
Elle looped her arm through Fallon’s, her smile soft. “Don’t tease them too hard.”
“Why not?” Fallon laughed. “It’s about damn time somebody shook things up around here.”
Nora caught my eye, gave me a quick wink, and Kipp just looked between me and Lincoln like he was calculating odds.
Linc didn’t say a word. He stood beside me, jaw tight, letting the noise wash over us like it didn’t touch him. But I saw it, the flicker in his eyes, the tension in his shoulders.
And I felt it too. The thin, electric thread between us stretched to breaking.
Fallon laughed again, bright and unapologetic. “God help us all when they finally give in and remember they like each other.”