Page 131 of Wild As Her

He smiles. "She did."

I lean into him. “Yeah. She did.”

And somehow, the whole world feels a little lighter.

By the time we get into town, it’severywhere.Everyone is discussing us and our ranches. We're way more exciting than the reality show that is finally packing up and leaving town.

Wilder and Jessop Ranch areofficiallythe romantic scandal of Bridger Falls.

We stop at the feed store, and Earl grins at me like a kid on Christmas.

“Took y’all long enough!” he cackles. “I lost thirty bucks in the pool!”

“There was apool?!” I say, teasing him because Earl is just the best old man there is.

Jack grins, “Of course there was.”

“Everyone bet you two would implode by the second week of filming,” Earl adds. “But dang if you didn’t do the slow burn proud.”

“Is this why Mrs. Thornton from the post office winked at me this morning?” I mutter.

Jack grins. “You’re famous now.”

“Correction," I hold up a hand, "we're famous now. God help us.”

The whole damn town is packed into The Black Dog when we get there. Like standing-room-only, every-table-taken, people-out-on-the-patio kind of packed. We can barely find a parking spot.There are even tents outside and people are selling merch. I take a deep breath and sigh when I see t-shirts with our faces on them."Okay, that's just weird," I lament.

Making our way inside, we’re met with string lights glowing overhead, country music drifting from the jukebox, and the smells of barbecue, whiskey, and trouble heavy in the air.

Someone, probably Maggie, has strung a banner across the back wall that reads:

“LOVE WINS (AND COWBOYS LOSE BETS)”in bold red glitter letters.

Jack laughs when he sees it. “Subtle. I take it Maggie won.”

I nudge him. “You’re the one who made it all dramatic. Walking off stage. Confessing your love. Kissing me like the cameras weren’t rolling.”

“You kissed me back," he hedges.

“You kissed mefirst."

“Pretty sure we’re both guilty then," he says as he leans over to kissme.

“Pretty sure you’re lucky I didn’t punch you in front of the whole town for almost fake-proposing to someone else.”

He grins, grabbing my hand as we move through the crowd. “But you didn’t.”

“Barely.”

People notice us. It’s not subtle.

“Oh my God, it’s them!” someone shrieks near the dartboard. “It’s cowgirl Barbie and ranch Ken!”

"Hey, put that on a t-shirt!" someone yells across the bar. "I'd buy it!"

“That waswaybetter than any finale I’ve seen on Netflix,” says Mrs. Fernandez as she fans herself with a bingo card.

“Lost twenty bucks on them,” grumbles Dale, nursing a beer at the bar. “Thought for sure he’d pick the influencer.”

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