Page 36 of Lasso Lovebirds

“He’s amazing,” Wylie said.

“Well, we gotta keep y’all fed for extracurricular activities,” Boone teased.

Oh god. Everyone had a different reaction to that. I blushed so deeply, I felt like I was gonna melt out of my damn chair. Beau sighed and gave his twin brother a look. Pris snorted. Billie and Winnie barked out a laugh, Benny scrunched his face, Wylie shook his head.

“Pay him no mind,” Beau sighed. “Anyway . . . How was everyone’s day?”

“Just peachy,” Billie said. “How wasyours?”

He sighed again, but there was an ease between him and everyone that was comforting. They were giving him a hard time because they loved him, not because they had an issue with his choices.

“I need to get some sound-proofing material next time I’m in Johnson Springs,” Benny said.

“Yep,” Pris agreed. “I like that idea.”

“I think wealllike that idea,” Billie said.

“Not to change the subject from my sex life, but we should talk about the picnic this weekend,” Beau said.

“What about it?” Boone chimed. “We got all the food and things for it. About fifty people RSVP’d.”

“Fifty?” I asked in disbelief. “All the way out here?”

“Oh, there’ll be more,” Pris said. “It’s one of the only events like this in Oklahoma. We should have about two hundred people.”

“That’s amazing,” I said. “Wow. You know, I’ve never been to a pride event.”

“What?” everyone exclaimed together.

“Oh my god,” Billie said excitedly. “We have a pride virgin in our midst.”

“Careful, Billie,” Boone said. “We don’t want to scare them off.”

“We do have to throw glitter on them,” Benny said.

“Or, I can make a shirt that saysMy First Time,” Billie teased.

“Billie,” Beau sighed. “Really?”

“What? It’s the truth! You can’t deny us this.”

I laughed, shaking my head at them as the four siblings went back and forth. My head spun as a realization hit me.

This felt like home.

More than any place had ever felt before.

Beau’s hand settled on my right thigh under the table, and Pris’ settled on my left. Being between the two of them with casual, comforting touches—my eyes stung with tears for a second before I managed to chase them away by biting into a soft roll.

Wylie cleared his throat. “They’re going hog wild over this.”

“They are,” I said.

Winnie offered me a soft smile. “You get used to it the longer you’re around.”

“Do you?” Pris chuckled. “I’ve known them for years and always feel like I’m in a cowboy circus.”

“Hey,” Boone quipped. “You like cowboys.”

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