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Sweeping my eyes over to Blayze, I took in his traditional black and white tux. He looked so damn handsome. He was a miniature of my father, no doubt about it.
As I drew closer, I looked at Hunter and smiled as I mouthed “wow.” He rolled his eyes, but then winked at me and mouthed that I looked beautiful. He favored our gorgeous mother, but for sure had plenty of our father in him. I could see his blue eyes sparkling as I walked down the aisle.
Bradly, Joshua, and Nathan also looked way too handsome for their own good. Lord, we had good genes in our family. Even if Bradly and Avery weren’t technically blood cousins.
As the ceremony commenced and I listened to Georgiana and Blayze exchange their wedding vows, I couldn’t help but glance at Ryan for the hundredth time. I knew exactly how Georgiana had felt earlier, when she’d said she was waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under her.
No. I put that thought out of my head. Ryan and I might have had a rough start, but it had nothing to do with our actual relationship. I knew that no matter what life threw at us, we would be able to face it together. And something about that caused my chest to warm and an overwhelming feeling of love to fill my heart.
Ryan’s eyes met mine, and he smiled. He didn’t have to mouth anything. I knew from his smile that he was telling me he loved me. I returned the smile, then focused on the bride and groom kissing for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. Shaw.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
RYAN
“You’re next,” Hunter said as he slapped me on the back.
“For?” I asked before taking a sip of my beer.
“Marriage. Morgan caught the bouquet, so doesn’t that mean she’s going to be the next one who gets married?”
Grinning, I set my beer down. “How do you know you won’t be next?”
His face drained of all color. “Me? I hardly think I’m ready to get married. Shit, I just turned twenty-one and have my whole life ahead of me. Marriage is the last damn thing on my mind.”
“Touché to that!” Bradly said as he pulled out a chair, spun it around, and sat down. Rose and Lily joined us at the table.
“Touché to what?” Lily asked.
“To Hunter being the next one to get married.”
Rose and Lily both laughed—hard.
“Why is that so funny?” Hunter asked.
Rose set her wine glass down. “For one, you’re only twenty-one. And you’re at the top of your game with team roping.”
Lily reached for Rose’s wine and stole a drink. Then she said, “Not to mention you’re always on the road with buckle bunnies throwing themselves at you. No woman wants to deal with any of that.”
“My mother did,” Hunter said. “She trusted my father when he was riding.”
“That’s because Aunt Lincoln would have kicked Uncle Brock’s ass if he’d cheated,” Rose stated matter-of-factly.
“That’s true,” Bradly said with a laugh.
“Have you made a decision about the reality show?” I asked.
Hunter closed his eyes as his cousins turned and stared at him with shocked expressions.
“What reality show?” Rose asked.
“Dude, are you going to be the next bachelor?” Bradly let out a hearty laugh.
Hunter shot him a dirty look. “Don’t you have a bull or something to go ride?”
“What’s going on?” Morgan slid into the seat next to me and reached for my beer.
“Did you know Hunter was going to be the next bachelor?” Lily stated with barely contained excitement in her voice.
“I am not!” Hunter nearly shouted. “For your information—and this is not to spread any farther than this table, do we all understand?”
Everyone nodded.
“I was asked to participate in a stupid social dating experiment.”
“That sounds interesting. What’s it called?” Rose asked.
“I don’t have all the details, and to be honest, I told them no when they first approached my agent. Then they offered to donate a ridiculous amount of money to the foundation my dad set up. I mean, we could build a whole new arena with the amount of money they’d be shelling out, plus what they want to pay me to do it.”
“So your pay would also be donated to the charity?” Lily asked.
Hunter nodded. “Basically. It’s a new show they’re using to try and kick off some new streaming network.”
“How does it work?” Rose pressed.
“I think there’d be something like twenty women, and each week I’d have to read two different profiles. I swipe on the one I want to take on a date. If we hit it off, she stays. If either of us goes into some bullshit booth thing and says we didn’t connect, then she leaves.”
“Where will it be filmed?” Lily asked, still all excited. Morgan and I both chuckled.
“That’s where it gets interesting. They want to film on the ranch over winter break.”
