Page 57 of Fake It for Christmas

“And Mountain Dew, too,” the cowboy said, holding up his beer bottle.

“So Tennessee just makes sweet things, I guess,” Rowen said, reaching over toward me on the seat next to his. He rubbed my leg, giving it a little sweet.

The man in the cowboy hat gave us a look. For a moment I was worried he was going to give us shit for being gay, but soon a dimpled smile appeared on his face.

“Hell, I need some of what you two have,” he said, shaking his head as he finished his beer. “I’m going to go chat up that guy down on the other side of the bar. Do you guys know him?”

We glanced over to see a man with slightly greying hair on the opposite end. He was sitting alone, nursing a beer of his own.

“I haven’t seen him,” I said, “but he looks like he’d enjoy some cowboy company, for sure.”

“Going to shoot my shot,” the guy said. He winked at us. “Have a good one, boys. I know you will.”

Rowen leaned in and kissed me once we were alone.

It was Thursday night at the saloon, and while it wasn’t as busy as it got on the weekends, the place was fairly full. We’d been here ever since I got off work down at the inn, and Rowen had been telling me good news before the cowboy had come over to chat with us.

“So the theater company wants to work with you full-time?” I asked.

Rowen nodded. “They don’t have much money, but luckily that’s the one thing I can do without,” he said. “I’m going to try my best to grow the troupe, bring it statewide, maybe even make some regular trips to Knoxville and Nashville.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “Do you miss the faster pace of New York?”

I watched his lashes as he glanced down at the bar, then looked back up at me. “I thought I would,” he explained, “but the longer I’m here, the more I feel at home. I wasgoodat what I did in New York, helping run the acting school. But it never felt like what I wanted to do forever. I liked teaching students, but… it was so cut-throat. It’s not like that here.”

I nodded, trying to keep my composure on the outside even though inside I felt like I had a whole cheerleading team jumping for joy. The loudclackof people breaking up a cluster of billiards balls from a pool table came through the air, reminding me of the night Rowen and I had met—and how far we’d come since then.

He liked it here.

Rowen reallylikedit here in Tennessee, even though it used to seem like the middle of nowhere to him.

I sure as fuck liked having him here, too.

“That makes me so happy,” I said. “Tennessee loves you, too.”

He smiled. “I think I like it when you speak for the whole state of Tennessee.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I slid it out thoughtlessly, glancing at an email I’d received, expecting it to be the usual junk mail.

My whole body froze as I read and re-read the notification on my screen.

“They want us on the show,” I said, my voice breaking as I spoke. Already I felt tears welling up behind my eyes. “I—I thought they forgot about us.”

Rowen leaned over and read the notification. It was from the Fixer Brothers official email account, and the email was unmistakable.

Congratulations, Shane and Rowen, for being selected to star in an episode of The Fixer Brothers: Couples Edition!

“Fuck yes, Shane!” Rowen shouted, leaping out of his chair. By the time his arms were wrapped around me, tears had already broken off from my eyes, falling down my cheek.

“I thought they forgot about us,” I repeated in a whisper.

It had been over a month since we’d last heard from Shawn and Nathan Wood, and I’d been convinced my house wouldn’t be selected for a renovation. I’d thought it was over. That they must have picked someone else.

“You’re going to get your house renovated,andwe’re going to be on your favorite show,” Rowen said, hugging me tight and rocking me from left to right.

“What’s the celebration?” a bartender said from behind the bar.

“We’re going to be on the Fixer Brothers TV show,” Rowen told him, finally releasing me from the hug.

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