Page 17 of Sofa King Devotion

“Yes,” I say without hesitation. I’ve always been his, even when I wasn’t ready to admit it to anyone. Including myself.

“Then you let me take care of you.” He lets go of my hand so he can drape his arm over my shoulder. Then he pulls me close and kisses the top of my head. “I’ve waited a long time to do it, so don’t try and stop me now.”

Chapter Twelve

SAWYER

“Wait, I thought we were going to your house?” Lane says when I turn past the main house and keep going.

“That’s my parents’ house,” I tell her and grin. “Did you think I still slept in my old race car bed?”

“Well, I did have a fantasy or two about you and me in that bed.”

I slam on the brakes and put the truck in reverse.

“Where are you going?” Lane giggles as she pushes on my side. “I’m only joking.”

I stare down at her and raise a brow. “Say the word and I’ll get you in that race car so damn fast.” God, I love how happy she looks. It’s silly and playful between us, and my heart is so damn full.

“Maybe another time. Right now, I want to see where you live.”

“Fair enough.” I put the truck into drive and keep going down the new driveway I had cut last year.

Once I knew the end of my rodeo days was getting closer, I made plans for me and Lane. I’m sure more than a few people would have thought this was a stupid idea considering up until a few days ago she would hardly look at me. But with every inch of my soul, I knew we’d end up here. One day she would be mine, and when the time came, I wanted to be ready.

“This looks like the trail we used to take down to the creek.” She’s leaning forward now, trying to see through the woods.

“It is,” I tell her, and her smile widens.

“Do you remember that time we found those blackberry bushes, and you ate so many you got a stomachache? You ran home crying because you thought you’d been poisoned.”

“I learned a valuable lesson about eating random things in the woods.” I grin at her, and she laughs. “Lane, the whole reason I left the farm and started on the rodeo circuit was to make something of myself.”

She blinks at me in surprise. “What do you mean? You’ve got your family’s farm.”

“Exactly. I wanted something that was my own. Something I could do to take care of you. I wanted to be able to make all of your dreams come true. Not as a man that coasted off his family's achievements but as someone who worked hard to give you everything. I wanted you to be proud to be with me.”

“Sawyer, I know I’m not always good at showing it, but I am proud of you. All of your rodeo achievements aside, you’re a good person with a big heart.”

“Yeah, but I’m cute too, right?” I flash her a smile so big I know my dimples are popping.

“And now you’ve ruined it.” She rolls her eyes.

I grab her hand and bring it to my mouth so I can kiss the palm. “Then let me make it up to you.”

The truck bounces a little when I drive over the wooden bridge I had built. It goes right across the creek we used to play in as kids.

“What do you—” She stops talking when she looks ahead and sees the house. It takes her a moment to recover before she turns to face me. “No.”

“Yes,” I tell her, but she’s shaking her head.

“You didn’t.”

“I remember everything you say.” Tears form in her eyes, and I pull her against me. “Shhh, don’t cry.”

When we were kids, Lane was obsessed with the Anne of Green Gables books. She would bring them down to the creek and read while I would look for crawdads and tadpoles. Most of the time, I’d make her read them to me out loud. I loved listening to her talk, but if she was reading to herself, she wasn’t talking to me. So I figured reading her book out loud was almost as good as her talking to me. Sometimes she would stop and say things she loved about the book, and a time or two she mentioned the house. She said she'd love to live in a house like that one day, so I tucked that little piece of her in the back of my mind, knowing one day I’d give it to her.

“Does this mean you like it?” I ask, and she pulls back, tears streaming down her face. I wipe them away, and she nods, sniffing.

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