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I catch him around the waist, tossing him as high as I can get him without hitting the ceiling—much to my sister’s shouts of protest. I perch my three-year-old nephew on my shoulder and round the large central island in the kitchen toward Cassidy, smiling up at us.
“Did he just call you UncleButts?” She laughs, beaming the joy I knew she would.
This has been his thing lately, changing everyone’s name and giving them close nicknames to the real thing. I’m Uncle Butts, Duke is Duck, Levi is Jeans, and I’m pretty sure Rhett is still Rhett since Parker hasn’t figured out a silly name for him yet.
“Parker, do you know who this is?” I ask him, bouncing him down to my forearm as he giggles incessantly.
“Nooo.”
“Yes, you do.” Lily smiles at her son, chopping cucumbers alongside my mother as she takes the roast out of the oven. “Do you remember her name?”
“Uncle Butts’ lady,” he says, cracking up with laughter.
“Damn right, she is,” I announce proudly, tickling him and earning well-deserved favorite uncle rights for the rest of the night.
The whole evening goes by too fast. Cassidy molds into every conversation seamlessly, talking and laughing. Telling my father exactly how she got the forty-gallon water heater into the tiny utility closet at her trailer by herself.
She’s a perfect fit right beside me as I tug her chair until it’s touching my own. Wrapping my arm around the back of her chair, she leans into me, resting her head on my shoulder. “Having fun, Sunshine?” I ask, kissing her forehead as my thumb draws lazy circles over her hip.
“I am,” she whispers, tilting her chin up to look at me. “Your family is amazing.”
I bite back the urge to say,they’re yours now, too, and settle for, “I’m glad you think so, sweetheart.” My murmured words and overabundance of PDA don’t get lost on my brothers, who are smirking and whispering to one another across the table as they watch us.
I flip Levi the bird when he mock smooches in our direction like the toddler he is. You wouldn’t know he’s almost thirty with the way he acts. He’s worse than Parker.
“Butch Robert Montgomery, put your hand down,” my mother scolds me, earning a booming laugh from my brothers and a snicker from my girl.
I grip Cassidy’s luscious hip firmly in my grasp before tugging on one of the belt loops of her shorts. She nudges me playfully and—despite being surrounded by my family—my cock thickens in my jeans. A low rumble rises in my chest only for her to hear.
This woman has no idea what she does to me.
“Cassidy, would you be a dear and get the dessert,” Ma says, gathering dishes to clear the table. Lily helps Parker finish his dinner while Levi and Duke join in to clear the table.
“Of course,” she says, swatting my hand away and standing.
I can’t help but grin, watching her ass as she heads for the kitchen.
“Congratulations.” My father’s tone is taunting as I turn to him, a smirk on his lips. He leans back in his chair, lifting his chin toward the direction Cassidy just walked in. “I see you’ve found your Sundance, son.”
The joke he’s making isn’t lost on me, but the implication has me holding my breath. He’s right. I’ve found my partner in this life—or, partner in crime, as my father would say. She’s everything I’ve dreamed of and more. I don’t doubt there’s anything we can’t make it through. And I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.
“Ice cream, ice cream,” Parker chants, nearly jumping out of his seat as Cassidy returns with dessert.
When she takes her seat beside me, I can’t stop myself from planting a heavy kiss on those lips I get to call mine. Dazed, she pulls back with a slow smile. “What was that for?”
“Just making sure,” I say, holding her close as my mother begins to plate dessert for everyone.
“I love you,” Cassidy whispers.
“I loved you first,” I say in return.
Her light, airy laughter is a balm to my soul. She’s my Sunshine in this world. And I’m the lucky bastard who gets to call her mine.
Epilogue.
Cassidy
Three months later…
