Page 120 of My Cowboy Trouble
She disappears into the post office, leaving the four of us standing on the sidewalk in stunned silence.
"Did she just..." I start.
"Give us her blessing and volunteer to plan our wedding?" Asher finishes. "Yeah."
"All our weddings," Gavin corrects with a grin. "Gonna be complicated."
"Everything with us is complicated," Trent points out. "Why should marriage be different?"
"Marriage," I repeat, testing the word. "Is that something we're thinking about?"
"Eventually," Trent says carefully. "If that's something you want."
"All of us?" I ask.
"All of us," they confirm.
I look at these three impossible men who've turned my entire world upside down, who've made me want things I didn't even know were possible, who've given me a life I never could have imagined.
"Yeah," I say finally. "Eventually."
"But not today," Gavin says quickly.
"Definitely not today and not any time soon," I agree. "Today, I just want to get used to the idea that the whole town isn't scandalized by our relationship."
"The whole town thinks we're lucky bastards," Asher says. "And they're right."
As we continue down the street, I notice the looks we're getting from other townspeople. Not scandalized stares or disapproving glares, but smiles and nods andthe kind of acknowledgment that says we're accepted here. That this crazy arrangement of ours is just another part of the fabric of small-town life.
"I think I'm going to like it here," I say.
"Good," Trent says, "because you're stuck with us now."
"All of us," Gavin adds.
"Forever," Asher finishes.
And walking down Main Street with three cowboys who love me and a whole town that accepts us, I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be stuck.
Two weeks later,we're back at the county fairgrounds for another rodeo, but this time, everything's different. Instead of sitting in the stands feeling awkward about my complicated feelings, I'm standing behind the chutes with a beer in my hand, watching Gavin prep for his ride with the kind of casual confidence that comes from knowing exactly where you belong.
"He's gonna be insufferable if he wins," Asher says, appearing at my side with his own beer.
"He's insufferable when he loses too," Trent points out from my other side. "At least if he wins, he'll be happy about it."
"I can hear you assholes," Gavin calls from where he's adjusting his chaps. But he's grinning, loose andrelaxed in a way I haven't seen him in weeks. And so excited to be coming out of retirement.
"Good," I call back. "Don't let it go to your head."
"Too late for that, princess. Everything goes to my head where you're concerned."
The easy banter feels natural now, comfortable in a way it never did before. Like we've finally stopped pretending to be something we're not and started being exactly who we are.
"Ladies and gentlemen, our next rider is Gavin Slade from the Dusty Spur Ranch!"
The crowd cheers as Gavin settles onto the bull, and I find myself holding my breath despite knowing he's done this a thousand times. It's different when it's someone you love in that chute, different when you have something to lose.
"He's good at this," I say, more to reassure myself than anything.
