by T. S. Joyce
She and Two Shots left to the soft laughter and murmuring of the crowd behind them, and when they were finally out of sight, he pulled her in close and kissed her, his hands gripping her waist and settling her pounding heartbeat. She could taste his smile, and her muscles relaxed.
“You were amazing out there,” he whispered against her ear.
“They were laughing!” she whisper-screamed.
“Yeah.” His smile faded slightly, and he searched her face. “You really are safe, Cheyenne. I’ve got you.”
She had never been this happy. Never in her life. Never so relieved and content and secure with her place, and it was because of him. He just always had her back and allowed her to be comfortable with exactly who she was.
That was power.
After everything, she felt like enough for him. More than enough even. And perhaps if her story had been different, that wouldn’t mean so much, but it did.
For Two Shots, she knew without a shadow of a doubt…she was enough.
“Anything you want,” she murmured, gripping the edges of his T-shirt. “That’s what you say to me.”
“And I mean it. You can have anything.”
“What if all I want is you?”
His smile was slow and steady, reaching his eyes and crinkling them at the corners. Handsome, handsome man.
He gently brushed a knuckle down her cheek. “You already have me.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“This is the part where I’m supposed to be tough, isn’t it?” Cheyenne asked as she watched Quickdraw and Dead walk into the airport security.
Quickdraw didn’t turn around, of course, but Dead did. He turned as he waited in line and gave her a little wave.
“He’s growing on you, isn’t he?” Two Shots asked.
She narrowed her eyes as he argued with the TSA agent that he shouldn’t have to remove his lucky boots. “Like a tumor.”
Two Shots chuckled and turned to her. “I don’t want to go. I don’t want to leave you to drive back alone.”
“It’s only a few hours for me. By the time you board your plane and land and drive to your ranch, I’ll be pulling onto my little street. Or I might even be inside, looking around my place and wondering what I’m going to do with my life.”
“What’s there for you?”
“The coffee shop. I’m going to stay busy for the next two weeks. Lots to plan and do.” Why did she feel so uncertain then?
Sadness pooled in Two Shots’ blue eyes. They weren’t the dark color of his bull at all right now. It was just him looking back at her. He hadn’t trimmed his beard in a couple days, and he looked so rugged and handsome standing here, so tall compared to her, so strong. People bustled around them but, for her, time stood still, and nothing around them mattered. “I don’t want you to go either,” she admitted softly.
He slipped his hands around hers, warm and strong, and squeezed. “Two weeks will fly by. Message me whenever you feel lonely. The countdown is on. This is the part we have to get used to—the distance.”
Those two words hollowed out her gut, though. The distance. She’d known Two Shots for a long time, but she’d only known-known him for a week, and now she felt like she was breaking apart saying goodbye to him.
“Is it like this all the time? With you bulls? Does it always feel so big?”
He offered her a crooked smile. “Only if it’s right.”
Knowing he had to go, she hugged him. “It’s just for a little while. Just two tiny weeks.” Who was she trying to convince? Him or her?
Two Shots hooked his finger under her chin and lifted her face. “Everything is going to be okay. I promise.” His deep reverberating voice echoed with truth.
She pushed up on her tiptoes and kissed him quick. He looked surprised for a moment, but then he cupped the side of her neck and leaned down slow, took his time and kissed her right.
When he eased back, he rested his forehead against hers and rumbled, “I have to go.”
And she had to let him go. She squeezed his wrist, wishing she could hold him right here, touching her neck, but they had different lives. They lived hours apart. They both had things to get back to.
She forced a smile, but her lip quivered and she felt weak. Weak that she was so affected by someone so fast.
So, she turned and walked away and didn’t look back because she didn’t want him to see her tearing up. She didn’t want him to see her weak.
She made it all the way out of the terminal, into the night, to the parking garage, and into her Expedition before she let a tear fall. What was she doing falling for a man who didn’t live near her?
What was she doing falling for someone who could hurt her?
Her phone lit up, and she looked through her blurry tears at the text. It was Dead in the team loop.
About to board my flight. I kind of miss you jerks already.
He sent a picture that drew a gasp from Cheyenne’s lips. She clapped her hand over her mouth as she zoomed in. He must’ve taken it when he was going through security. It was of Two Shots kissing her, his hand so gentle on her neck. She was standing on her tiptoes, her body melted into his.
Two Shots’ text came through next. I don’t hate you as much as I did last week.
I still hate you very much. Quickdraw.
But you’re texting more than a middle finger at two in the morning. Improvement. I will make you a friendship bracelet. Dead.
Middle finger emoji. Quickdraw.
Thickly, Cheyenne laughed and wiped her tears with the sleeve of her hoodie. Their banter already eased her loneliness.
Another text came through to just her from Two Shots. Roll down your window.
With a frown, she looked outside and there he stood, tall and strong, leaned against a cement pillar. She rolled down her window. “What are you doing?”
“Well, I had a plan, but I’m learning with you, my plans don’t always happen.” He pushed off the pillar, his duffle bag thrown over his shoulder. “I got you a present last week. It’s at my ranch, but I think you’ll want to see it in person.”
“What did you do?” she asked on a shaking breath.
“I bought your horse from the Kaid Brothers. Scout’s Honor is with my horses at the ranch. They delivered him yesterday. I had this plan that I was going to trailer him and bring him to you in a couple days, but I was standing in that security line, watching you hang your head as you walked away, and I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to be separated. So fuck it. Let’s not do it.”
She shoved open the door and jumped into his arms. “You didn’t buy him. You didn’t. You didn’t get Scout’s Honor!”
He was laughing and swaying her as her feet dangled. “I did. I called the Kaids the day after you told me you sold him. I know how much you love that horse, Cheyenne, and I meant it when I said you could have anything. I would do stupid things to make sure you’re happy.”
“I really didn’t want you to go,” she said with a sniff.
He cupped the back of her head and swayed her slower. “I know. I could tell.”
Two Shots laid a kiss on her cheek, her forehead…her other cheek. Her nose. Chin. Then gently, gently, he kissed her lips as he slow danced with her in an airport parking lot with no music, just the sound of their drumming heartbeats.
This was a moment she wouldn’t forget for the rest of her life. It was the moment she really dove in and chose a path. And that path had Two Shots Down standing there with a lantern, holding out his hand, and asking her to trust him. And she did. She did trust him.
More than that, she loved him.
It wasn’t supposed to happen this fast, but sometimes a heart just knew.
Sometimes, a soul just chose another soul.
He’d had her back, helped her navigate an industry she didn’t understand anymore, supported her being tough and independent, encouraged her friendships with the boys, but most of all…most of all…he loved her in a way that made sense to her battered l
ittle heart.
He matched her.
Simple as that.
“Will you come to my home with me?” he asked her softly. “Let me show you your horse. Let me take you to dinner. Let me show you the people and the places that mean something to me.”
She smiled up at him as her heart swelled. This was one of those moments of pure joy that made a person question what they’d done to deserve something so special. She loved him. She loved him. “Anything you want.”
Epilogue
It was tradition.
The team sent pictures of where they were at the same time every night, even if they hadn’t talked much during the day. That was their daily check-in.
Cheyenne was saving them all to put in a scrapbook someday when their stars were done burning so bright.
A hand on a steering wheel in the parking lot of a bank by an ATM.
A beer held up in a “cheers” on the back of a boat at sunset.
Seven of Two Shots holding up a beer at the ranch, facing the horses.
Two of her riding Scout’s Honor in front of that sunset.
Three where she made half a heart with her fingers in front of the pasture, sitting in the saddle.
Three at Dead’s favorite bar.
A week’s worth of Quickdraw flipping off the same bucking chute.
Tonight’s pictures would be different, though. She knew something Two Shots did not.
Something that would fix the break he’d been feeling.
You see, once upon a time, three dominant bull shifters bonded. Against the odds and old rivalries, they became a herd. And when a herd was split up, Cheyenne had learned that it hurt them. She knew because she’d watched Two Shots miss them. She knew because she’d talked to Dead and Quickdraw, and they were hurting, too.
Life was short. Tarik’s death had taught her that. What was the point in staying in a situation you didn’t want to be in? What was the point in suffering?
She cuddled against Two Shots, tugging the blanket over their laps better, and then she lifted her phone to take the picture. The sunset was gorgeous tonight, painting the sky with pinks and oranges and yellows.
She held up her fingers in a half-heart shape and waited.
Two Shots kissed her temple and held up the other half of the heart, connecting his fingers to hers, and she snapped the picture with the sunset and the horses blurred in the background. The heart was clear. Someday, she was going to frame this one when they figured out their lives, learned how to let go of the old, and build the new together.
She sent it through the team loop and then set her phone on his knee. Wrapping her arms around his waist and snuggling against the warmth of his side, she waited for the others.
Dead’s picture came through first.
It was a picture of the sign over Two Shots’ driveway. Lost Way Ranch.
Two Shots sat up straighter as he stared down at the picture.
Quickdraw’s picture came through next. It was of the sign, as well, and the back of Dead’s truck as he drove under it.
Two Shots looked stunned as he stood up, scanning the horizon from where they would come.
“Cheyenne, they’re here.” He reached his hand out to help her up, and his eyes were full of shock. “They’re here.”
“I know. We planned it.”
“What? You planned this?” God, the hope in his eyes shattered her heart in the best way. He’d given her Scout’s Honor back, and she could give him this.
Dead’s truck broke the horizon, trailing a dust cloud behind him, and then Quickdraw in his big old Chevy, towing a camper behind.
They parked on the grass, and Dead was the first one out. There was no mush or hugs. He looked Two Shots up and down and told him, “You look out of shape. What’s for dinner?”
Two Shots chuckled and jerked his head toward the house. “I wondered why Cheyenne bought enough to make eight pounds of spaghetti tonight.”
Quickdraw got out and looked around. He nodded his head, and that was it. No words were needed. He liked this place just fine, she could tell.
She didn’t know how long they would visit for, but that wasn’t what mattered. What mattered was they showed up, because that’s what friends did. That’s what a good herd did.
They didn’t know it because she was just a human, but to her, they were her little herd, too. Her boys.
She hugged them up, one-by-one, even Two Shots because he just looked so happy, and hugging a happy person was a different kind of magic. It filled a soul.
They chattered while she remained quiet, just soaking in having them all here, away from the cameras, away from the stress. They could just be themselves.
Two Shots: witty, protective, hers.
Dead: funny, already eating candy, sensitive.
Quickdraw: burly, quiet, complicated, beast of a man.
She was lucky, but she wouldn’t tell them that. Their egos didn’t need the boost.
They sat on the porch stairs, right where Two Shots took his pictures of every sunset, and it struck her as beautiful.
She backed to the doorway, knelt down with her phone, and took a picture of their backs as they looked out over the pastures.
And in that moment, she made a couple vows.
One, she would take care of Two’s heart, as he took care of hers, because he was so special, so worth the effort.
And two, she was going to get these boys where they were going. Whatever fate had in store for them, she wanted to be there for it. She wanted to support them and be a part of their stories, even if it was just a small role.
They were going to be legends.
She didn’t know where her certainty of this came from; it just existed inside of her. She believed in them more than she’d ever believed in anything.
Because Two Shots Down had pulled her in closer, she was going to be a part of something so much bigger than herself.
She wasn’t being dragged through life anymore. Cheyenne was up and walking on her own two feet, and she wasn’t alone.
Two Shots turned around and gestured her over. She sat between him and Dead and laughed as Two Shots pulled her in and hugged her close to his side.
He’d given her this herd.
Cheyenne didn’t walk alone anymore, and she was certain she never would again.
Now she walked with beasts.
Up Next in this Series
Dead gets his story in
Dead of Winter (Battle of the Bulls, Book 2)
Coming October 2020
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Make Her New (Book 2)
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Love Her Better (Book 4)
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Chance Fur Hire (Book 6)
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Woodcutter Werebear (Book 2)
Timberman Werebear (Book 3)
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Check out her The Official Reading List of T. S. Joyce
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About this Author
T.S. Joyce is devoted to bringing hot shifter romances to readers. Hungry alpha males are her calling card, and the wilder the men, the more she'll make them pour their hearts out. She lives in a tiny town, outside of a tiny city, and devotes her life to writing big stories. Foodie, bear whisperer, ninja, thief of tiny bottles of awesome smelling hotel shampoo, nap connoisseur, movie fanatic, and zombie slayer, and most of this bio is true.