Page 15 of Hitch Me

Hello,Sagebrush Creek. My name is Brynn Rose, and I'm not your usual host.

I'm here to tell you the truth about something that's been eating me alive for far too long. I want to talk about the rumors you've been hearing for years about the Kingridge family. Specifically I want to talk about the ones you’ve been hearing about Geoffrey's personal life. Their family secrets and private conversations should have stayed private.

The rumors were manipulative, cruel, and designed to drive attention, not truth.

So today I’m going to share some truths. I'm not the voice behind this podcast. I never knowingly helped. I didn’t collect information. I even went out of my way to hide things I’ve heard in my salon for years. But that doesn’t make me innocent. I knew what was happening all along and I didn't stop it. That makes me complicit.

I didn’t stay quiet because I agreed with it. I was afraid of losing my mother. She’s all I’ve got and I was afraid of being completely alone. I was too afraid to stand up for what I knew was right when it meant risking the only family connection I had left and that isn’t a good excuse.

I've spent my whole life trying to earn love I should never have had to beg for. Walking on eggshells. Managing someone else's emotions. Sacrificing my own happiness to keep the peace. I told myself I was being loyal, being a good daughter. But really, I was just scared.

Not anymore.

Today I want to tell you about the amazing things I've learned behind the scenes with the Kingridge family who I’ve known all my life. Their real story, not the twisted version you've been fed, is one of pure love.

These are good people. They're not perfect, but they're honest. They work hard and they love deeply. They deserve every good thing that comes their way. They can be messy, but who isn’t? The Kingridge men, and women, have done more for this community than any politician or small town celebrity ever could.

I’m so deeply sorry for the part I played in turning their most private moments into entertainment for strangers. From here on out, I'm asking you to listen to future episodes of this podcast with skepticism. Ask yourself who benefits from these stories? Who gets hurt? Is someone's private pain really worth your entertainment?

We deserve better than gossip disguised as truth. We deserve compassion, privacy, and the chance to make our mistakes without having them broadcast to the world. Everyone doesn’t have to die famous in this small town.

I know some of you will be angry with me for speaking up. I know some of you will think I'm just trying to protect my own reputation or my relationship. Maybe you're right about some of that. I’m in love with Goeffrey Kingridge. He’s the most incredible man I’ve ever known. It’s my hope that he and I can work through the damage I’ve done because he’s always been it for me. Even at times I’ve been too afraid to say it. He’s givenme the courage to choose love over fear. If we don’t end up together, he’s always going to have my heart.

And to everyone listening, be kind to each other. We're all just trying to figure this life out. We all deserve the grace to do it without an audience keeping score of our failures.

This is Brynn Rose, and this is the last time I'll be hijacking someone else's platform to speak my truth. From now on, if you want to know what I'm thinking, you can just ask me. I'll be the one not hiding anymore.

CHAPTER 12

HOLDEN

I've seenmy brothers fall in love before. Hell, these dudes can’t stop having weddings, babies, and bringing chics into our lives that want toclean up this place.

But watching Geoffrey and Brynn Rose together is different. He and I were the hold outs. It was the two of us, never growing up together. Now he’s walking around staring at her all the time with the kind of heat that could burn down half of Texas.

Even worse, they can't keep their hands off each other. I’ve run into them in the barn, naked. Hayloft, naked. Out in the damn wheat field, naked. Now I feel like I’ve got to knock on the door of every room before I enter. I’m not trying to see this dude’s balls, again.

Right now, Geoffrey's supposed to be participating in lining up yoga mats for the Mane Event Hair Salon team retreat. This is a monthly event now. Monthly. How much fucking yoga can one possibly need. As the employees file in and find their places, it looks like chaos to me.

Geoffrey doesn’t seem to notice. He has Brynn Rose pressed up against the fence post. He’s whispering something in her ear that's making her giggle like a teenager. A baby goat is literallychewing on his boot, and he doesn't even notice because he's too busy being completely gone over this woman.

"Get a room!" I call out, grinning when they both flip me off without breaking apart.

"Ignore him," Priya says as she appears at my elbow with her phone out. She’s capturing candid footage of the chaos around us. "This is perfect content for the ranch's social media. Look at them. They're like a walking advertisement for romance at the ranch."

“All y’all are at this point.” I bite back a chuckle. “I’m happy for them, but it’s also like, keep it in your pants dude.”

Priya laughs when a little black goat goes flopping off a platform and squeals. It sends the others into pure chaos. Baby goats bounce off yoga mats, salon employees try to find their zen while livestock treats them like jungle gyms.

Geoffrey spins Brynn Rose around and both of them laugh as baby goats scatter around their feet. When he sets her down, he doesn't let go. He keeps her close. It’s like he needs the contact to breathe properly.

"This is going to get so many views," Priya pans her camera across the mayhem. "Oh, and Holden? My sister Zara is flying in for the Fourth of July party next week. She has like two million followers on Instagram. This kind of authentic ranch content is exactly what she specializes in. I’m hoping you’ll be around to help."

"Great," I mutter, dodging a particularly ambitious goat that seems to think my hat is edible. "Another social media person."

"She's not just social media. She's an influencer." Priya says it like there's a difference. "She does lifestyle and travel content. Very aspirational stuff."

"Sounds riveting."

---