Page 134 of Hot Knot Summer
“Worlds where everyone is ridiculously attractive, and the sex is always amazing,” Jess adds helpfully, making me choke on my drink.
“Jesus, Jess!”
“What? It’s true! Your love scenes could melt paint off walls.”
I look around the room, taking in all the faces. Some I recognize—people from town I’ve gotten to know over the past months, firefighters from the station, regulars from the bakery. Others are strangers, but they’re all here for the same reason—to celebrate something I created with my own hands and stubbornness.
“You know what the crazy part is?” I say, mostly to myself. “Three months ago, I thought coming here was the end of everything. Turns out it was just the beginning.”
“The best kind of plot twist,” Jess says, and when I meet her green eyes, they’re suspiciously bright. “And it’s definitely going in my maid of honor speech, so remember you said it.”
“Maid of honor speech?” Atlas perks up immediately. “Are we talking about weddings? Because I have very strong opinions about weddings.”
“Down, boy,” I laugh. “Nobody’s getting married. Yet.”
“Yet,” River repeats with a satisfied grin that makes my stomach flip.
“Yet,” Levi agrees, pressing a kiss to my temple that makes me shiver.
Before I can process that particular revelation, Lily is clapping her hands to get everyone’s attention.
“If we could gather around and take a seat,” she calls out, “Emma’s going to read from her work!”
The butterflies in my stomach immediately multiply by about a thousand, but as people start moving toward the stage area, I see nothing but smiling, supportive faces. Mrs. Chen from the flower shop gives me an encouraging thumbs up. Jake from the hardware store raises his beer in a toast.
This is my community. These people have watched me settle in over the past three months.
“You ready for this?” Jess asks, squeezing my hand and handing me the notebook I asked her to bring for me to read from.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I reply, my voice steadier than I expected.
My three Alphas position themselves where I can see them easily as I make my way to the small stage. Atlas gives me an encouraging nod, River flashes me a thumbs up and a wink that makes me grin, and Levi just smiles that quiet, proud smile that never fails to make my heart skip.
“Hi, everyone,” I say into the microphone, and myvoice only shakes a little. “I can’t believe you’re all here. When Lily first suggested doing this, I thought she’d lost her mind. I mean, who wants to listen to some random woman read made-up stories about people who don’t exist?”
There’s gentle laughter from the crowd, and I feel some of my nerves settle.
“But staring around this room, seeing all your faces, I realize how incredibly lucky I am. Not just to have readers but to have a community. To have friends.” My eyes find Jess in the crowd. “To have my best friend, who flew across the country just to embarrass me in public.”
“That’s what I’m here for!” Jess calls out, making everyone laugh.
“And to have the most amazing, supportive, absolutely ridiculous Alphas a woman could ask for.” I stare at Atlas, River, and Levi, feeling my chest tight with emotion. “I honestly couldn’t be here without them. They believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.”
“We love you too, sweetheart,” River calls out, making me blush and the crowdawwin unison.
“So, tonight,” I continue, “instead of reading from Moonfire’s Daughter, I’m going to share something new. Something I’ve been working on—a never-before-seen story from a series I’m just starting. I want you to be the first to hear it. And it’s dedicated to the three men who turned my world upside down in the best possible way.” I grin at them. “This is for you.”
I open the notebook in my hands, finding the pages I’ve been working on in secret.
“This is from Wild Hearts Ranch,” I announce. “Chapter One.”
I take a deep breath and begin:
I should have known the GPS was lying when it told me to turn down a dirt road that looked like it hadn’t seen maintenance since the last ice age. But after twelve hours of driving through the Texas heat with a broken air conditioner and a car that made more noise than a dying whale, I was desperate enough to follow Siri into the gates of hell if it meant finding civilization.
What I found instead was a massive bull standing in the middle of the road, staring at my rental car as if I’d personally offended his ancestors.
“Okay, big guy,” I said through the windshield, as if reasonable conversation would work on a two-thousand-pound animal with an attitude. “I’m just trying to get to Wild Hearts Ranch. You know, the place that’s supposed to help city girls like me find their inner cowgirl?”
