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“Margaritas? This is a step up for the bunkhouse,” Warren laughs.
“Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of beer to go around,” Tripp reassures him. He slides across the hardwood floor in his socks and slams into the pool table where Gage and Heston have a game going. Beer intact.
I smile as I look down at the texts on my phone.
Kee: I’m so glad you got your plane ticket for my birthday! We’re going to have so much fun on the beach. I can’t freaking wait, miss you! xoxo
Kee: Also please tell Tripp that if he’s going to continue recording thirst traps in his bathroom and posting them on his story, he can at least clean the toothpaste off the mirror.
I type out a reply and then continue salting the rims of the glasses in front of me. The boys refused for the longest time to drink anything but beer or whiskey, but we’re working on it.
“We should make jungle juice sometime. Now that’d be a party,” I say.
“No thanks. Getting sick off that shit in college once is enough for me.” Tripp twists his face in disgust and waves a hand in front of him.
“Sorry,” I shake my head. “Did you just say you went to college?” I snort a laugh and squeeze some fresh lime juice into the pitcher of tequila and sweet & sour mix.
“Hey, I’m smarter than y’all give me credit for,” he defends himself.
I make eye contact with Heston and he shakes his head but smiles.
“Alright, it was only one semester. But still.”
We all burst into a fit of laughter, so much so that I have to wipe the tears from my eyes.
Things have been hard around here dealing with another year of drought on the ranch and figuring out how to handle my work schedule as a new resident. But the people in my life have made every bit of it worth it.
Gage walks over to the kitchen island, sets his pool stick down, and stands behind me. I melt into him as his arms wrap around my waist. Instinctively, he lifts my left hand to his mouth and kisses right where the ring he put there sits.
I wish I could say it was a romantic proposal.
But he had the ring custom-ordered a few months ago. When it arrived, he was so excited, that he couldn’t keep it a secret from me. He burst into our house at almost a full sprint holding it out in front of him for me to see.
It was a blur of him sliding it on my finger, asking me if I’d stay with him forever, me crying, and him ripping all of my clothes off.
Of all the decisions I’ve made in my life, saying yes to him was the easiest one.
We still come to the bunkhouse all the time. Gage spends breakfast over here a few days a week, we all grill out together on the weekends, and still have parties of course. We may have moved out, but it’s still home to us just as much as our house on the other end of the ranch is.
With so much time spent at the bunkhouse, I’ve grown almost as close to Tripp and Heston as I am with my own brother. I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys as my fiancé’s best friends.
“Did my Dad text you back yet?” I ask.
Gage nods while still nuzzling the side of my neck. “He said they’d love to come over this weekend, and that they’ll bring the dessert.”
“And have you convinced Mom to let you give the café to her yet?”
“Nope,” he laughs. “Which is awkward since I already drew up the paperwork.”
“I know it’s your way of taking care of my family,” I smile. “And I love you for it. But they seem perfectly happy with the way things are.”
“Ourfamily,” he corrects me.
I turn in his arms to face him. His blue eyes meet mine. My hands slide up his chest and eventually cup either side of his face. I pull him down so that our noses touch, and his hands settle on my lower back.
“Yes.Ourfamily,” I repeat with a smile.
I lift on my tiptoes and press my mouth to his. I’ll never get over his deep moan when I kiss him. Every time.
