Epilogue

Christmas Eve

Wes glanced at his watch for the umpteenth time. How could it have only been half a minute since the last time he’d checked? The plane bringing Shane home wasn’t due for another hour. Would it be too soon to head out to the airstrip now?

He shifted his gaze to the floor-to-ceiling windows. Snow had started coming down fast and furious that morning, and Levi had gone out to plow the runway while Wes got everything ready for Shane’s arrival. Hopefully, the plane arrived early, before the snow became too much for it to land. Yeah, he should go now. Just in case. Even though Katie would call him if it were ahead of schedule. But he needed to be there when Shane stepped off the private jet.

He rose from the couch, and Diesel and Marley jumped to their feet. He’d been waiting at Colt and Mason’s house, too amped up to sit alone at his own place. That he now shared with Shane—which Shane aptly dubbed, and Wes secretly loved, Chez Shanesley .

He crossed the room to the entry and just as he reached for his boots, a shout from Mason echoed from his office in the loft.

“Wes!” Mason called, followed by thuds as he hustled down the ladder stairs.

Mason charged around the corner with wild eyes and wrapped his arms around Wes, hugging so tight Wes couldn’t breathe. Wes looked over Mason’s shoulder at Colt, who had been working in the spare bedroom-turned-Stonebraker Protection and Investigations office, and had run out to see what Mason was going on about. Wes raised his eyebrows in question, but Colt shook his head and shrugged .

Mason released Wes and took a deep breath.

“Whatever you did or said to Shane, you need to go and properly thank your rock star—”

Mason cut himself off. If he was expecting Wes’s old knee-jerk reply, that Shane wasn’t his rock star, he was going to be waiting for a very, very long time. Shane was his rock star and would be his for the rest of their days.

Mason grinned too big, his cheeks flushed, like he’d just won the lottery. “ Your rock star just gave the sanctuary an incredible Christmas gift.”

Wes frowned. He hadn’t known Shane was getting something for anyone. He’d told him gifts were a low-key thing here and not something he needed to go out of his way to do. Christmas on Haverstall Mountain Ranch was more of a ‘spending time together making memories’ day than buying things. They always had Christmas Eve dinner at the dining hall with the ranch hands and volunteers, and Chef Aiden went all out on creating a festive meal. They ate too much and played games late into the night. Those that stayed on the ranch for Christmas Day always took part in a huge scavenger hunt with gag prizes at the end. But the holiday was about time with the people they loved, with family and friends. Not about gifts.

“Did you know about The Castle Foundation?”

Wes nodded. “Yeah. Shane established it to donate a portion of his touring receipts every year to LGBT support and youth centers, homeless shelters for teens, and urban garden non-profits.”

“ And . . .” Mason bounced on his toes, looking about to burst from excitement. “He made a sizeable donation to the ranch. Enough to care for all our current mustangs for a year and adopt a couple dozen more.”

“He what?”

“Right.” Mason clapped his hands together, laughing. “You need to marry that man. If I wasn’t already madly in love with your brother—”

“And engaged,” Colt cut in with a firm voice as he stepped around Wes and reached for Mason.

Mason took Colt’s hand and lifted their threaded fingers to kiss Colt’s knuckles. His grin lit up the room and Wes looked at his watch again. Four minutes had passed. Four minutes closer to Shane’s arrival.

“If I wasn’t already engaged to marry your brother, I’d marry Shane.” Mason’s grin widened. He leaned over to kiss Colt, who’d growled his disapproval with that idea as he looked at Wes expectantly.

A little green snake of jealousy residing in Wes’s chest hissed. He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“Jesus.” Colt huffed and shook his head. “Go to the airstrip already. Thank your rock star.”

“That was amazing, what you did for the ranch,” Wes said as he steered his old black truck through the deepening-by-the-second snow after picking up Shane. “How come you didn’t tell me?”

Shane had been in Florida that morning, the last stop of Audio Siren’s tour. Stepping out of the plane and into a winter wonderland that was Northern Colorado was a shock to his system, to say the least. But it was all good. Wes had the truck running, and the heat cranked when he hopped into the cab, and a new, fuzzy black scarf that Wes wound around his neck.

He was with Wes. He was home, and that was all that mattered.

Shane shrugged. An unexpected emotion fluttered in his belly, something like embarrassment. He wasn’t at all embarrassed about the charities his foundation supported, but he liked to stay under the radar. Nothing irked him more than people who broadcasted their philanthropy, as though the praise for donating carried more bank than the act itself.

“It was a surprise,” he said simply.

Wes grunted.

“Well. I have a surprise for you, too.” Wes placed a hand on Shane’s thigh and gave a little squeeze.

“Oooh, I love surprises,” Shane teased, but he was serious. He especially loved surprises when they came from Wes. “Does it involve lube? Please tell me it involves lube. Lots of lube.”

Wes shot him a heated look and grinned. “That goes without saying. ”

Wes returned his focus to the snow-covered dirt road that Shane only knew was there by the fading tire tracks left by Wes’s truck when he’d driven out to the airstrip.

The ranch looked so different under the thick coat of winter, the light low and fading as the afternoon crept toward night, but the second Shane had stepped off the plane, he’d felt like he’d arrived home. And finally, he was. For the next few months, at least, while the band took a break before working on new material for their next album and tour.

“Why are we stopping here?” Shane asked as Wes steered the truck over the bridge that led to the main courtyard instead of straight ahead to their house. Their house . That never failed to fill him with a sense of joy.

Wes parked the truck in the courtyard and turned to adjust the scarf around Shane’s neck before he opened the door. Cold air plunged into the cab, bringing swirling snow with it.

Wes held his hand out for Shane to take. “Come with me.”

“Anywhere,” Shane replied without hesitation.

Wes kissed him, his lips hot and moist in contrast to the dry, chilly air, and led him to the main barn. Where the Hayes and Stonebraker horses were stabled.

Inside, Wes led Shane toward the last stall, where a red ribbon had been affixed to the front of the door.

“What did you do?” Shane narrowed his eyes, but anticipation bubbled inside like fresh-popped champagne.

A soft knicker called from the stall before Nahawi’s big black head appeared over the door. When he saw Shane, he whinnied and tossed his head up and down.

“Hey, big guy. I’ve missed you,” Shane cooed as he stepped forward and petted Nahawi’s nose. “He’s looking amazing. His coat is so thick now!”

“I know how much you love this horse,” Wes said behind him. “And how attached he is to you. He’s never himself when you’re away. Always looking for you. So, I made sure he’d stay on the ranch forever, as another family horse.”

“You adopted Nahawi?” Shane said cautiously, even as his inner child started an arm-flailing dance. Nahawi was staying .

“For you,” Wes whispered.

Shane spun to face Wes, whose hands were shoved deep into his pockets. Was Wes telling him what he thought he was?

“For me?”

Wes beamed at him, and his dimples made a rare appearance. “Nahawi is your horse.”

Shane stared at him for a long moment. Words escaped him. Wes had adopted Nahawi for him . Shane swallowed, and his vision blurred. He launched himself at Wes and kissed him hard, with everything he had. Kissed this perfect man who loved him, who would literally move mountains for him. Who was his everything.

Shane broke the kiss, panting. “I love you so fucking much.”

“I love you, too.” Wes rested his forehead against Shane’s. “Welcome home, sweetheart.”