Page 136 of Chasing the Wild
“Wilder… funny how that name sounds incredibly familiar.” Sage is absolutely never going to let me live this down. No doubt this moment will be held over my head forever, but my best friend is officially the gift I don’t deserve because she lifts one shoulder and looks back over at the crowd gathered by the hospitality tent. “Nice to meet you Colton… we’ve got a dinner reservation at six, so I’m going to go ahead and add you to our table… and while you two… uhh… catch up, I’ll be over there stuffing my face with mini quiches made with five types of gourmet cheese imported straight from France.”
“We’ll be over to join you soon.” I roll my lips together and then mouth a silent,thank you.
“I’m taking this, by the way.” Sage spins on her heel and waves the second glass of champagne that was meant for me but has now been commandeered.
Leaning back against Colt’s chest, I hear his quiet laughter. “Looks like I’ve got some explaining to do over dinner.”
“Sage is amazing, but I’m sorry, she will absolutely grill you like a steak on a flame.”
“Worth every moment.” Colt nudges me to turn back around, and I gladly do so. “Although, I don’t want to interrupt what the two of you had planned this evening.”
“Nope. Stop right there.” I reach up and touch his beard. “I want you to come join us.”
“You sure?”
I bite my bottom lip, hiding the world’s biggest smile. “Want to hear something, cowboy? I want nothing more than to eat your stew and lug firewood around and sneak bits of carrot to the horses. But I could do those things anywhere. The only reason I want any of that is becauseyouare there. None of it matters if you’re not part of it, if you’re not part of my life.”
He studies me, brushing my hair back off my forehead with the touch I’ve been craving for months now. It’s a monumental effort not to whimper when his fingers glide over my skin.
Colt’s eyes are flecked with gold in the dappled sunlight coming through the leaves above us. “All my water glasses and coffee mugs live on the bottom shelf now. Every morning, I pour myself a black coffee in a cup that still feels like it has your fingers imprinted on it.”
“Your hat lives on my nightstand.”
That brings a twitch to his lips, and butterflies erupt in my stomach at the smile hiding there.
“You’re my miracle. Thegoodthat an asshole like me was never meant to know… I told you I couldn’t think of a word to describe what it felt like having you arrive in my life… and all I can think is that you’re my wildflowers after the winter, you’re the first crackle in the fireplace when it heats up, you’re the sun chasing away storm clouds. Baby, you’re my goddamn miracle.”
My fingers curl in the front of his shirt. “Keep that up, and I might never stop crying.”
He chuckles. The sound settles in my veins like honey. “God, I love you, angel.”
“I’m so in love with you, cowboy. You don’t even know.”
Epilogue
“So, what you’re saying is, you learned how to use a cell phone, had a crash course in Instagram, and then stalked my social media until you tracked me down?”
I roll my lips together and let my eyes drift all over my cowboy filling the driver’s seat. Colt has one hand draped over the wheel, the other interlinked with my fingers, or maybe it’s me who has him locked in my grasp. Either way, I can’t help myself from leaning in his direction across the center console.
Have I stopped touching this man since he turned up out of the blue at my graduation ceremony yesterday? I don’t think so.
There are a million ways I need to shower Sage with appreciation and make things up to her, because my best friend took everything in her stride. Suitably interrogating Colt over dinner last night, being utterly charming, then offering to drive my car back to Crimson Ridge. All so that me and Colt could travel together in his truck.
I could have kissed her on the mouth.
“It’s not as big of a deal as you’re making it out to be.” The man in question grumbles, and I practically bounce in my seat like an excited puppy.
“I still can’t believe Kayce taught you.”
Colt shakes his head, letting out another gruff half-protest.
I’ve forced him to tell me the story several times, not skipping over any details.
Turns out, after running into each other at the rodeo, Kayce took it upon himself to play Cupid. He arrived back at the ranch with a brand new cellphone and made Colt sit at the kitchen counter for two days straight learning how to navigate not only a smartphone but social media, too.
Once they’d argued their way through the crash course in technology, he forced Colt off the mountain and told him he needed togo get the girl.
Unlikely as it might seem, considering our history, Kayce was the one who ordered his dad around—telling him it was the least he could do to try and make up for all the shit he caused for both of us in the past year.
