Chapter 15 #3
My heart ached as he took a step back, but his eyes never left mine. “Keep having fun.” He cocked his head to the other side of the bar. “I don’t want to rush your night. Just let me know when you’re ready to go home.”
Suddenly, all I wanted was to go home.
Savannah careened into me, shoving a drink into my hand, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Hayes—or off his cowboy butt—as he walked to the L-shaped bar and took a seat.
—
Not fifteen minutes later, the room was spinning and so was I. Hallie and I burst into a fit of laughter as we danced—albeit poorly—to “Copperhead Road.”
Hallie threw her head back. “I haven’t had a night like this in a long time. I needed this.”
I snickered deviously. “Bring Mason next time.”
Her cheeks turned cherry red. “I should head home. I’m probably not setting a very good example by being out all night and drinking.”
I shrugged. “Sometimes you just need to blow off some steam.”
Hallie looked around, but her eyes didn’t quite focus on any one direction.
“No one’s driving tonight except for Levi and me,” Hayes said as he sauntered over, spinning Hallie’s keys on his finger. “I’ll come back for your van tomorrow.”
“Sav!” Hallie shrieked. “Come on! We’re leaving!”
I teetered from foot to foot. Suddenly, there were three Hayeses, then four.
Hayes looped an arm around my waist, keeping me upright. He did the same for Hallie, but around her shoulders. “Levi’s gonna take her home.”
“I think we’re in trouble!” Hallie whispered in a decibel that was louder than a jet engine.
“I’m not in tr-ou-ble!” I sang as Hayes steered us to the door. “He’s my fiancé!” The bar patrons cheered and clapped as I turned in Hayes’s arm and showed off the ring to the onlookers.
I loved being engaged.
I loved Hallie.
I loved Savannah.
I loved Levi.
I loved my Hayes.
“You’re in boots!” I squealed as we squeezed out the door. I faintly remembered clocking them when he walked into Pony Up, but seeing Hayes looking like a casual cowboy never got old.
Hayes glanced down at his feet as he managed to get Hallie and me to the intimidating SUV that was parked right beside the entrance.
I craned around Hayes so I could see Hallie. “My fiancé looks so good in boots.”
Hayes snickered as the distant sounds of Shania Twain being turned up inside the bar caught my attention.
“Oh my god!” I shouted as I broke free of Hayes’s arm and bolted for the bar. “It’s my song!”
Hayes stuffed Hallie in the back seat of his SUV. Savannah bolted over to join me, but Levi was faster, hauling her toward his truck.
“No, you don’t,” Hayes grunted as he grabbed me around the waist.
I slipped free. “One more dance! You can dance with me!”
And then I was flying. Something hard and shoulder-like hit my stomach as the world turned upside down.
“Did you throw me over your shoulder?!” I shrieked.
Hayes grunted as he took long strides back toward the SUV. “You’ll just keep running if you stay on your feet. I’ve never heard of a track star drunk, but here you are.”
“Carrying me over your shoulder is a total cowboy move,” I wheezed between drunken giggles.
“That’s hot!” Savannah shouted as she craned her head out of Levi’s truck window.
The world tumbled again as I was placed gently into the front seat of the SUV. Hayes shut the door, then slipped back inside for a moment.
I looked back at the bar, forlorn. “But—but I need to pay!” And shake my ass to Shania.
Hallie snored like a foghorn from the back seat.
“You’re squared up,” Hayes said when he returned and slid behind the wheel.
“You and your credit card,” I grumbled. My eyes grew heavy as the lights of the bar faded into the distance.
When I opened them again, I was being carried up the stairs.
“Where’s Hallie?” I mumbled as I snuggled into his broad chest.
“Mason’s helping her up to the west wing,” Hayes said.
My Hayes. The sound of his voice brought a smile to my face.
“We’re getting married soon,” I said with a yawn as I was gently laid on top of a bed. My bed. My Hayes was carrying me to my bed. The notion made me burst into a fit of tipsy giggles.
Hayes chuckled as he helped me out of my shoes. “We are.”
“You excited?” I murmured as I flopped over onto a pillow.
Hayes sighed. “You should get out of those clothes.”
“You gonna take ’em off of me?” I said as seductively as I could while three sheets to the wind.
“Not tonight,” he said sternly.
I liked the open-endedness of that. “You never told me if you were excited to get married.”
Amusement danced in his eyes as a smile slipped. “I am.”
“Really?!” I squealed.
Hayes chuckled. “Really.”
“I found a wedding dress,” I said with a sigh as I tried to keep my eyes open.
Hayes pulled the covers up to my chin, set my purse on the nightstand, and plugged my phone in beside it. His smile was tender. “I’m glad.”
“Took a while.” I yawned. “I wanted to find the right one for you.”
“Why for me?” he asked as he lingered by the door.
Starlight danced through the curtains. “ ’Cause I wanna be beautiful for you.”
Sleep began to creep in from the edges of my vision. Or maybe that was Hayes’s shadow as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “You already are.”