Page 70 of Secretly Loving my Cowboy Best Friend

For her?

She couldn’t imagine that he meant anyone else, but it was too much. He shouldn’t be up there with the kind of fear he had to be feeling if this was all just for her. She’d never ask this of him.

“Sofia Castillo, this one is for you,” Austin said then, pointing right to Sofi, his gaze landing on her as it felt like butterflies erupted from her skin.

Whistles and cheers sounded all around her so Sofi joined them, cheering for Austin as loudly as she could, until he started singing.

As his crystal clear voice filled the speakers, everyone quieted. No one wanted to miss a word.

Empezamos como amigos.

Her breath caught as the sweet sounds of her heart language met her ears. Sofi had suspected he’d learned Spanish for her, but to sing in it? As she was still marveling over the fact that he’d learned this for her, she recalled the words he’d just sung. It was nothing like any song she knew and she immediately realized the truth. He hadn’t just sung the song, he’d written it. For her. Her chest felt almost painfully tight with pure elation as she continued listening.

Pero estaba demasiado ciego para ver.

Eras todo lo que querio.

Eres todo lo que necesitaba.

Mi corazón. Mi alma.

Sofi felt tears in her eyes as Austin’s love song for her continued, recounting the days they’d spent apart, the times they’d chosen the wrong roads. She laughed as he put in some of her favorite foods, the sentiment only making sense to her food-loving heart.

Peros todos los caminos conducen a ti.

His beautiful eyes glittered as he met Sofi’s gaze and wouldn’t let go, tenderly singing the chorus one last time.

Eras todo lo que querio.

Eres todo lo que necesitaba.

Mi corazón. Mi alma.

Sofi clapped as soon as the last note of the guitar played, jumping to expend some of the crazy energy that had built up within her. Austin had performed a song for her. He’d boldly declared to her and the entire town that she was the one for him. That she was his heart and his soul, his forever. There was absolutely no doubt in Sofi’s mind as to what they were.

The emcee got on stage to announce someone else, but Sofi tore through the crowd and ran around the stage, her eyes searching for one man.

And there he was. Stepping off of the stage with a look of apprehension on his face.

“What did you think?” Austin asked as he got near enough to Sofi for her to hear him.

She didn’t waste another moment. She ran toward him and he had barely enough time to swing his guitar behind him before Sofi was in his arms, her lips pressed to his.

He’d written her a song. And performed it after he’d promised to never sing again. He’d done it all for her.

She blinked back tears as she pulled away from their kiss.

“So you liked it,” Austin said, the cocky confidence that she adored back once more.

“I guess you could say that,” she said with a shrug, knowing she could tease him now that her kiss had said it all.

“I can’t believe you wrote me a song, Austin. In Spanish. And sang it to the whole town,” she added, unable to keep her admiration from being voiced.

“I need you to know, Sofi. This isn’t about not losing my best friend. This isn’t about trying something out. This is real for me. I wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t all in. It took me too long, but now I see the truth. You’re it for me. I’d been searching through all the wrong women because the only right woman was always right beside me. I was an idiot.”

Sofi nodded. She had to agree with that.

“And I was scared. You’re too good for the likes of me, Sof. But I realized I could do one of two things: let you date and marry some other guy who isn’t good enough for you because no man could be, or man up and do my very best for the rest of our lives and beyond to be the man you deserve. The man you think I can be.”

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