Chapter 20

TWENTY

SILAS

"Choc-o-late! Choc-o-late for one or two dollars!" a little girl singsonged as she waved two different sizes of candy bars through the crowd on Poke Street. She wore a sash across her chest with the name of a school club on it, so I stopped her to donate to the cause.

"Thanks!" she said before turning to her mother. "Mama, Mayor Fletcher's First Gentleman just gave me twenty dollars!"

I stared after her as the sound of Way and Sheridan's laughter hit my ears.

Sheridan leaned over with a laugh and patted my shoulder. "Oh my god, the look on your face."

Way stood up straighter and tugged at his shirt as if to straighten it. "That's right. First Gentleman of Majestic, Wyoming. It's a position to be proud of, Silas. We can't all be mayor. Some of us need to be ornamental."

The teasing glint in his eyes reminded me of our drive home from town earlier in the day. With the windows down and the warm breeze blowing through the windows, I'd had one of those moments where I'd wanted to stop time. Way was relaxed and funny, provoking and sexy, and it had occurred to me I would have rather been there in that vehicle on the wide, empty highway than anywhere else on earth.

"Am I doing you proud?" I asked, straightening my own shirt and glancing down at my clothes. I wore dark jeans over brown leather shoes, topped with a white button-down and a dark vest. It was the closest I could come to "country fancy" with what Kenji had sent me.

The heat in Way's eyes as he looked me up and down confirmed I'd done okay with my selection.

"You'll do," he said in a low voice, which only made Sheridan laugh even louder.

I'd come to like Way's sister. And she obviously loved her older brother. I'd seen her often in the cafe as I'd gone to meet Way for lunch or stopped in to pick up a treat for him, and over the course of the past week and a half, we'd managed to exchange enough small conversations for me to pick up on the fact she and her husband were considering a house move.

But they had yet to tell Waylon about it.

When I'd first learned of it, she'd casually asked me not to mention it to him, and I'd agreed. At the time, it had felt like it was their family business and none of mine. Now that more time had passed, I was beginning to feel like I was keeping a secret from him, and I hoped she planned on telling him before it became a problem.

ZuZu walked up to us, glancing back at the girl who'd been selling the candy bars. "How come you didn't take any candy? I saw you give her some cash."

I shrugged. "Figured I didn't need it, and she'll have more to sell tonight."

I didn't know Way's younger sister as well as Sheridan since I'd only met her once or twice in town. She was young and spirited, friendly and different. More artsy and quirky. I wondered if she might be the Fletcher who wound up wanting to spread her wings and leave this part of Wyoming. If she did, I imagined it would break Way's heart.

"Want me to go get one for you?" I added.

"Nah. Thanks, though. I think I'm going to get a margarita from Dos Beckys' table."

I shot a silent question at Way, who snorted.

"It was originally called something Mexican," he explained. "I don't even remember now, but everyone started calling it Dos Beckys when two girls from the cheer squad at the high school started working there part-time and suddenly made it the ‘it' place to go."

"If you're looking for authentic Mexican," Sheridan added, "you've come to the wrong place by many, many miles."

Way pulled ZuZu back by the shoulder when she turned to seek her margarita. "Not so fast, babygirl. Howabout a Sprite instead?"

"Howabout you remember that I'm almost twenty-one?" she shot back.

Way pretended to consider that. "Howabout you remind me what age that actually makes you right now?"

She rolled her eyes and turned to Sheridan. "Help me out."

Sheridan shook her head. "No can do. Besides, they know you're not twenty-one, and Foster sure as hell knows it. Don't put anyone in the position of having to call you out."

ZuZu turned her puppy eyes at me. "First Gentleman Fletcher, will you please get me a drink from Dos Beckys? Pretty please with sugar on top?"

I glanced at Way, expecting to see a warning glare. Instead, he laughed. I stepped closer to him and placed a hand over each of his ears while I winked at ZuZu. "What if I get one for me and let you have a sip?"

She clapped and bounced on her feet while Way rolled his eyes, looking surprisingly like his sister. "Bad influence," he muttered, but I could tell he didn't really mind.

I moved off to the side to buy the drink, adding a bottle of beer for Way, a bottle of water for Sheridan, and a small order of nachos to share. By the time I rejoined them, I'd had several mini conversations with locals I did and didn't recognize, and I'd sucked down half the margarita.

"Take the rest of this," I said as I handed the cup to ZuZu. "It's too good, and the First Gentleman can't afford to go tits-up on tequila at First Night."

"Final Night," they all said, correcting me in unison.

"Still ominous," I muttered before taking a nacho off the plate Way was now holding.

Several people came up to say hello, ask Way questions about the AdventureSmash exhibition, and politely request to meet me. I'd met many of them, either directly or indirectly, by being so present in town all week, but I was finally able to meet a few of the other people Way and Sheridan had mentioned as being friends or neighbors.

Everyone was friendly for the most part. A few older men seemed awkward around us, as if they didn't quite know how to communicate with a man who had a husband instead of a wife, but I was relieved to see no one was outwardly rude to Way, and his sisters did a good job at smoothing things over.

Bo approached us from the Love Muffin tent, where Way's Aunt Blake was clearly holding court. "Hey, your aunt wanted me to tell you all to be sure and stop by and take some pictures with her. She wants to put one on the wall of the cafe."

Sheridan leaned over and kissed her husband on the cheek. "What he's not saying because he's too polite is that Aunt Blake wants to show off the new couple. Mayor and First Gentleman of Majestic. Her precious boys."

Both sisters broke down laughing again, and Bo joined in.

Way groaned and turned toward me, his face flushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry."

I wrapped an arm around him and pulled him against my side, a kind of half hug of reassurance. He surprised me by wrapping his arms around me and tucking his face against my temple so only I could hear him. "We don't have to stay if it's too much."

I pressed a kiss against his ear. "I'm having a nice time. Besides, I like seeing you blush."

A few people around us tittered as we inadvertently displayed public affection. Even though we'd deliberately held hands and kissed a few times in public to help sell the ruse of our relationship, that wasn't what this was.

As he pulled back, I reached up to cup the side of his face. "Is it too much for you ?" I murmured.

He had gorgeous blue eyes I wanted to dive into and swim as deep as possible.

"Not this. No."

It wasn't until a couple of hours later that his odd phrasing came back and niggled at me. If the Final Night wasn't too much, then what was?

This? Us? Our relationship? My public display of affection? Any display of affection?

On the quiet drive home, when Way fell asleep with his head against the window, I thought about what a different life I was suddenly living compared to the one I had back in the city.

The scent of sage and horses, pine and freshly mowed grass floated in on the cool night air. The silence was cut by the sound of bugs and birds or maybe frogs. There was no stench of garbage, no traffic noises or blasts of random music or shouting. I took a deep inhale and savored the fresh air, the chill across my skin, and the quiet company of the sleeping man next to me.

It wasn't anything I'd ever thought I wanted. But maybe that was because I'd never imagined it before, never experienced it.

I glanced over at Way as I pulled off the highway and onto the ranch road for the second time that day. It was becoming familiar, the turn made almost by muscle memory and the curves of the graveled drive already burned into the rhythm of the final stretch before pulling up to the little gray-blue house that Way had built.

When I spotted the house in the distance, the house that only Way and I had ever been inside, it made me think of Eden. She'd been at Final Night but had only approached Way while I'd been stuck several yards away in a conversation with Foster about the ETC installation scheduled for the following week.

"Relax," Foster had said in a low voice when he'd caught me staring at the two of them. "That's old puppy love. Don't confuse it for the real thing."

I'd blinked at him in surprise. "It… doesn't affect me," I'd said, blatantly lying. "You know the truth of our… situation." Way had confessed his best friend and cousin was the one person he'd confided in when he'd returned from Vegas.

Foster had snorted. "Right. The truth. Well, regardless. There's no there there, so keep your shirt on. Better yet, don't keep your shirt on. In fact, take your shirt off." He bounced his eyebrows at me without cracking a smile.

I'd been unable to keep from laughing, which had caught Way's attention and brought him over to ask what was so funny. Foster had looked right at him and said with a straight face, "I was asking your husband to consent to a strip search."

It had made me laugh even harder, but it had the opposite effect on Way. He'd glared at Foster and snapped at him for being inappropriate.

And I'd wanted to kiss the angry lips right off him.

Now in the dark night with only the dim dashboard lights and the dusty road ahead illuminated by the headlights, I felt like Way and I were the only people on earth, that there weren't any well-meaning townsfolk with questions or mild judgment, there weren't any neighbors requesting favors, and there weren't any family members to keep secrets from.

It was just the two of us, returning to the magical little elf house in the aspen trees.

When I parked and turned off the ignition, Way began to stir. "Fell asleep," he mumbled. "Sorry."

I moved around to the passenger door and hauled him out by the hand. "No need to be sorry. You're exhausted."

I held his hand as we moved toward the house, kicking off shoes by the door and moving toward the bathroom without saying a word. We moved through an abbreviated version of our nighttime routine before crawling into bed in our underwear. I assumed he was too sleepy for sex, so I simply pulled him toward me, turned him around, and spooned against the back of him.

"Night," I murmured against the back of his neck, closing my eyes.

"Mm."

He was out quickly, the rhythm of his breaths even and steady.

The window was slightly open since Way liked to sleep cool, and the night air in May was still cold as fuck. The same bug and frog noises continued, and as long as I could block out the memory of the snake from our hike a few days ago, I thought I could actually like living in a place like this.

My eyes shot open.

Not that I ever would, of course. I couldn't actually picture it; I just meant that if I had to be here… if I ever took a consulting gig here or something… maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

But when I closed my eyes again, I fell asleep imagining it. Life on a Wyoming ranch with a lean and sexy cowboy in my arms, friendly neighbors and family members who cared. Problems to solve and animals to tend. Adventures to explore and new activities to try.

It was different but nice. Intriguing. Tempting, if only I had a second life to live besides the one I'd already chosen.

The following day was one hundred percent less rosy.

"I told you to watch your step," Way snickered across the paddock as I pulled my new boot out of a very fresh pile of horse shit.

He and a kid called Taza were in the process of gathering the first group of horses for inspection before preparing them for an early morning pickup tomorrow. My job was to enter the information they called out into the spreadsheet on a laptop, but I was also their gofer, which included running back and forth between the paddock and the barn to fetch things.

This was not my first misstep. My poor boots were already six missteps from being new anymore, and between the shit and the sweat, I felt about as fresh as a back-alley trash pile in the city.

"That wasn't there five minutes ago," I barked back. "Keep your shitting horses away from this area, for fuck's sake."

Taza nudged his horse's flank with his heel as he let out a laugh. "Your area happens to be between a horse barn and a horse ring, Silas. Afraid you're shit outta luck."

That only made Way laugh harder, so I shot both of them the bird before walking over to a patch of thick grass to scuff off the worst of it.

Way rode Helios to the edge of the paddock closest to me. "I'm surprised Lake didn't tell you to pick up some stall-mucking boots while you were there. I've got a pair in the tack room if you want to try them."

"He tried. I thought three pairs of boots might be excessive."

"Then stop stepping in shit, cowboy," he teased. "Or I'll have to toss you in the shower as soon as we get home."

The heat in his eyes sucked the breath out of my lungs. I locked eyes with him and tried to give as much as he gave. When he shifted uncomfortably in the saddle, I knew I'd succeeded.

I blinked up at him as innocently as I could. "Need me to grab you some of that Nut Butter, sweetheart?"

He crooked his finger at me, so I walked closer until I stood on the other side of the fence from Helios's rounded belly. "Closer," he murmured, grabbing the front of my shirt and hauling me up until I stepped onto a rung of the fence to keep my shirt from ripping.

Then, he leaned down and kissed me hard on the mouth. The familiarity of his kiss made my stomach flip. I reached an arm around his waist to keep from falling off the fence and took advantage of my position to keep kissing him as long as he'd let me.

It wasn't until a wolf whistle split the air that I pulled back and sucked in a breath.

"Throw a bucket of water on 'em, Taz," Foster called. "Visitors come a callin'."

I glanced over and recognized Dev standing by Foster's shoulder, alongside Sheridan and ZuZu, who looked eager to welcome my friend now that they knew he'd come to help with roundup.

"Hey," I called, hopping down from the fence and striding over to greet him with a hug. "Good to see you, man. Thanks for coming."

It was so strange seeing someone from my real life standing here on the ranch. His curly, dark hair looked like it had been pushed back by nervous fingers raking through it, and his hazel eyes squinted in the bright sun as he checked out the horseflesh in the paddock.

He was already wearing jeans and well-worn boots, and if I knew him—which I did—he was itching to get in the saddle.

"Let me introduce you," I said before making sure he'd met Foster and Way's sisters before Way walked over to shake his hand and offer him a wide smile.

It was strange introducing one of my closest friends to my accidental husband. "Way, this is Devon McKay. Dev, Waylon Fletcher."

"Thank you so much for agreeing to help," Way said, sizing Dev up. "Silas said you're an experienced rider?"

Dev nodded. "Grew up around horses. Mine's on the way, but it'll take him a couple days to get here in the trailer. Silas said you needed help sooner than I could make the drive."

Way looked impressed but guilty, too. "I should have made sure you knew you didn't need to bring your own mount. We have plenty of horses you can pick from."

Dev finally cracked a small smile. "I figured. But I'm partial to Trigger, and he'd like a chance to stretch his legs out here. Been holed up all winter in a polo stable with only the ring to ride in." He glanced between me and Way. "That is… if you're okay with it. I don't mean to impose."

I let Way reassure him. "No, no. Of course it's no trouble. We've got plenty of room for him, as you can see. Come on in, and let me show you some of the horses. We've also got a bunk room?—"

Sheridan interrupted. "No need. ZuZu and I cleaned out the apartment upstairs and got it ready for him. Come see."

I glanced at Way, surprised by the news there was a bunk room, much less an apartment over the barn. This area was out of sight of the main house, so I could have easily slept here instead of invading his personal space at the tiny house.

Foster must have read my mind because after the ladies and Way took Dev off, he lowered his voice and said, "Place has been in a shambles since the last foreman left a decade ago. The girls started fixing it up for ZuZu to move into, but she's mostly been staying in town lately." He lifted an eyebrow. "With Natana."

"I know the two of them are friends," I said, unsure of what his point was.

He inhaled evenly. "Friends. Right. Seems a lot of that going around lately. Anyway, I've gotta be getting back. Tell Way I found a drone and got Lake and Jackson to agree to run it up the river this weekend. Eden stopped by to talk to me about it earlier this morning. Also, my mother wanted me to remind you both of the cookout next week. She said to make sure you knew it was a command performance so, and I quote, Waylon doesn't try to weasel his way out of it again."

"I'll let him know," I said, careful not to commit in case there was a reason Way was avoiding the event.

"Mmfh." He turned and sauntered back to his sheriff's vehicle. Once he was gone, Taza rode closer to me, still inside the large paddock.

"Your friend single by any chance?"

The question surprised me coming from this young ranch hand. "Why do you ask?"

He gazed back toward where Dev had stood before following Sheridan into the barn. "He's good-lookin'."

I stared at the kid. He was lean and strong, but it didn't look like he'd fully grown into his frame yet. "Are you even out of high school?"

Instead of glaring at me, he grinned, popping out a pair of dimples in his baby-faced cheeks. "Two years out of high school, but Mrs. Jenks calls me an old soul."

Fucking Christ. Surely, I'd never been that young.

I wanted to warn him off of Dev, tell him about Dev's fairly recent loss of his brother and the ensuing grief that had stolen almost all of his joy. But I wasn't Dev's keeper. And for all I knew, he wanted the temporary escape a willing body could provide, even if that body was more than ten years younger than he was.

"As far as I know, he's single," I said, deciding the truth was all I could really provide anyway.

"And into guys?"

I nodded. He grinned.

Maybe coming to Majestic would shake Dev out of the funk he'd been in.

Fuck knew it had already shaken me up.