Page 117 of Rope Me In

After Presley cleans my cheek off with the wipe, I pull her into my side, stroking her hip. She leans her head against my shoulder.

“You tired, Lemon darlin’?” I ask.

She chuckles. “I’m in my thirties. I’m always tired.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Gavin adds.

“I wouldn’t know,” I tease. “I’m still young, unlike all of you folks.”

Presley hip-checks me. “Yeah, yeah. You won’t be able to rub that in much longer—you’re turning thirty soon.” She turns to my brother. “And just you wait, Gavin. You think you’re tired now? You don’t know tired until you’re up with a newborn every couple of hours.”

Gavin doesn’t balk, he just smiles. “Looking forward to it.”

“He says that now.” I think of the sleepless nights with Jamie when she was born. “Soon, he’ll be showing up at our door begging us to babysit.”

“Like you didn’t do that?” Gavin asks.

I give him a sheepish grin. “Okay, guilty. But to be fair, I only did that when my beautiful wife left me alone with a colicky baby so she could go be a country star.”

Presley blushes. “A, it was one night, Kade. For one gig. And B, I’m not a country star.”

“Says the woman who just played sold-out shows back-to-back at the Grand Ole Opry,” Gavin says.

Presley blushes further at my brother’s praise. “I wasn’t the star. I was the fiddle player for the country star.”

Gavin and I both give her matching looks that say,Stop being so humble,but I know she won’t. That’s just how Presley is. In the last five years, I’ve watched her go from playing in a small-town band and recording an album to playing gigs on her own—and then, in the last two years, getting asked to play with the biggest names in country music. But no matter who sheplays with or what stages she plays on, she acts as if it isn’t that big of a deal.

“In all seriousness,” Presley continues, “if you or Blake ever need a babysitter, we’ll be happy to help. Jamie is excited about her baby cousin and can’t wait to take care of her.”

I smile at that. Ever since she found out Auntie Blake had a baby in her tummy, it’s all she can talk about.

“We appreciate it. Speaking of,” Gavin’s voice turns more serious. “We can take Jamie tonight if you both want. I know today is a big day for you, Kade.”

Presley squeezes me around the middle, and I press a soft kiss to her head. I’m seven years sober today. When Blake realized her baby shower was the same day, she offered to move it, but I told her that was silly. Yes, it’s important that I honor my milestones, but it’s also important to me that my family celebrates theirs and that life goes on as normal. Because while I still have hard days sometimes, I’m okay. I’m better than okay. And I have a family who loves and supports me when I feel like I may not be.

“That would be nice, actually,” Presley says to Gavin before I can answer. “Unless you want to spend time with Jamie?” She looks up knowingly at me.

My heart warms. My wife knows that I’d rather be with both my girls on days like today. It’s funny when I think about how much I’ve changed since the day I met Presley. Now, I’d rather be on the couch watching a movie with my family than go out. But alone time with Presley is always something I want and crave, especially when we don’t have to worry about Jamie running into the room while we’re trying to have sex. Let’s just say my ropes haven’t come out to play in quite awhile.

My heart rate picks up at the image of my wife’s pliant body bound and at my mercy. I shift on my feet, the crotch of my jeans suddenly feeling too tight and my clothes itchy against my skin.

“I think we should take my big brother up on his offer,” I respond, my voice a bit deeper than normal. Presley’s blue eyesdart to mine, and then she blushes. My wife knows what I’m thinking. Then I lean my head down to kiss her, and Gavin clears his throat awkwardly just as our lips touch.

“Alright, maybe I should go check on Blake.” He rubs the back of his neck.

I chuckle and pull away from my wife’s very kissable lips. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something quickly. Walk with me?”

Gavin’s green eyes turn serious. Ever since the day we walked around the property and talked the week after my breakdown, it’s kind of become our thing—when we need to work something out between us, we go for a walk or to Devil’s Rock like we did with Dad.

But that’s when we have time, which doesn’t happen often these days. I work with a sober-living center in the city a few days a week, something I started doing last year to give back. I still travel with Presley, taking care of Jamie when we go on the road. Amidst that, I also help with our family’s booming dude ranch operation, which was just featured in a bunch of magazines’ “Best Southern Vacation Ideas” for the third straight year in a row. That means we’re all about to get even busier, especially with Gavin and Blake’s baby on the way.

“Yeah, of course,” Gavin answers.

I turn to Presley. “We’ll be back in a bit.”

“Take your time. I have to go stop Jamie from getting Blake to give in to her. That girl does not need another slice of cake—she’ll be up past her bedtime.”

“I don’t know. If Gavin’s taking care of her, he can deal with the sugar high and the inevitable sugar-crash meltdown.” I smirk, and Presley taps her chin.

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