Page 34 of The Wrangler Takes a Wife

Chase snapped his fingers, drawing her attention. “I’m ready as I’ll ever be,” Amara finally answered.

As they pulled up to the diner, Chase let out a sharp whistle. “I don’t believe this shit!”

“Believe what?”

He pointed to a tall Asian man standing in front of the diner. “That’s Ryan.” Chase had mentioned him. They had met when they enlisted and remained friends.

“Were you expecting him?”

“No. This is a surprise.” They got out of the truck and approached Ryan, who was leaning against a pole. Once they got close, he uncrossed his arms.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Well, I heard you gave a woman Stockholm Syndrome so bad, she agreed to marry you. I had to come see it for myself.” Ryan winked at Amara.

He was a handsome man. Well, more like pretty. Honestly, he didn’t look like he’d ever done a moment of hard work his entire life.

“You have all the jokes. Amara, this is Ryan. Ryan, this is my wife Amara.”

Ryan shook her hand but didn’t let go. “Your wife? I missed the wedding?” He asked Chase.

“Not really. It’s a long story. I’ll explain later.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Amara.”

“You too. How was your trip?”

“It wasn’t too bad. I flew in yesterday and drove into town this morning.”

Chase cleared his throat loudly.

“What do you want?” Ryan asked him.

“Let go of her hand already,” Chase replied.

Ryan ignored him. “It’s your hand, Amara. What do you think?”

“You can let go of it if you’d like.”

“I like you already Amara.”

“I don’t know how much you’ll like her after she gets your ass whooped.”

“Well, I didn’t expect marriage to make you delusional.” Ryan shot Chase an incredulous look.

“Let go of her hand. Damnit.”

Ryan chuckled as he released her hand with a flourish. They all spoke for a while and the men made plans to grab lunch in the diner. Amara couldn’t stay, as she had a wedding to dressfor. Nancy arrived to pick up Amara to get her ready for the festivities.

“Who the hell was that?” Nancy asked as they drove away.

“Ryan, Chase’s friend.”

“He’s fine as fuck.”

“You have a whole husband.”

“I know. What I don’t have is a side dude.”

---