I tugged my damp shirt off and tossed it into my bag.
“You guys rocked it out there,” she told them.
“Hey, Willa said that ‘Willa Love’ hit number one today. Can you believe it?” My words were muffled by the clean shirt slipping over my head.
“No way,” Rafe said, jumping up and down like a kid on too much sugar.
“Yes way,” Willa assured them and showed them the chart on her phone.
We didn’t get a chance to revel in our success for long. A security guard poked his head in and asked us to head to the green room. Our first afterparty. Well, not our afterparty. It was Forging Frission’s party, but we’d get to experience it at least. With my arm wrapped around Willa’s waist, we followed the man in uniform.
“The fans who were approved by Ryland and the guys will be back here in just a minute,” he said.
Ryland Jamison was the lead singer of Forging Frission.
“But the show’s not over,” Willa whispered in my ear when we settled on one of the black leather couches.
“Apparently, their VIPs get to come to the back before the rush of fans trying to leave,” I said with a shrug.
She nodded. “Cool. You must be starving. Want me to go fix you a plate before they get here?”
“That would be great, princess.” I swatted her ass when she stood. Her brows shot up to her hairline when she whirled around. I waggled my eyebrows at her.
She sashayed away, adding extra sway to her hips, hypnotizing me with the swish of her skirt.
Nix followed her to get some food, but Rafe was too jacked to eat. He sat on the chair near me and drummed on the armrest.
Before Willa could get back, the door to the green room opened, letting in a cacophony of sound and a dozen scantily clad women. A woman in leather pants and a halter top made a beeline for Rafe and plopped herself right in his lap. His eyes went wide. We’d gotten attention after some shows at Mind Meld, but never with women like this who were so forward.
Rafe’s shock quickly dissipated as the woman engaged him in a whispered conversation. My gaze darted to the table where Willa was working her way down the food offerings. The couch cushion next to me dipped with the weight of someone sinking onto it. I turned to see who it was and found myself staring at a woman in ripped up jeans and a cropped top.
“Hi. I loved your set,” she said, scooting closer.
“Thanks,” I said as I slid as far as I could against the armrest. My gaze darted around. Women were perched on every available surface. Rafe had another girl draped over him in addition to the first one. Nix had been surrounded by a trio of women. Others waited by the door for the headliners to appear.
“I’m Cherie,” the woman next to me said.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Trystan,” I offered politely.
“I know, silly. I watched your performance. I was a fan already, but after tonight, I think I’ll be your number one fan,” she purred as her nails scratched along my bicep.
“Impossible,” Willa said from in front of me. “I’m his number one fan. I’m Willa. What’s your name?” She gazed at the woman who still hadn’t taken her hand off me.
“I’m Cherie. Aren’t you cute in your flowing skirt?” she asked, turning her nose up at Willa.
“Thanks. I didn’t really want to go for the whole ‘desperate groupie’ look. Plus, I have to tell you,” Willa said, leaning down like she was going to tell her a secret, “this loose skirt made it very easy for Trystan to take me against the wall just a few minutes ago.”
I chuckled at her brazenness. She leaned down and planted a heated, yet quick kiss on my eager mouth.
“Time to eat up, my love. You only get dessert if you eat all your dinner,” she said sensually.
I tugged her down onto my lap, my hard-on digging into the softness of her ass.
With a huff, Cherie made herself scarce, causing me and Willa to burst into laughter.
I glanced at Willa in the passenger seat as we drove down the highway toward Lexington. Beyond the windows, trees filled with golden leaves dotted bright green fields. It was beautiful, but I couldn’t look beyond Willa for more than a few seconds. I was trying to get my fill before we parted ways for a few weeks. The next stop on Forging Frission’s tour was in Tennessee, which was where Rafe and Nix were headed. Willa needed to be back in New York to handle some business stuff with Syd.
The two of us were stealing the next couple of days to visit her family before I had to say goodbye to her. Though my dreams were finally coming true, I’d never wanted to pause time more than in that moment. The thought of not seeing Willa every day twisted my heart.
The hour-long drive passed quickly. As Willa directed me off the interstate, my nerves started to jangle. My palms were slick on the steering wheel. I’d seen her parents when she was in the hospital, and they knew I’d helped her after the attack, but I was still worried about officially meeting them as Willa’s boyfriend. It wasn’t too long ago that she upended her whole future by calling off her wedding. There might be grudges against me for my part in things.
“They’re going to love you,” Willa said as she took one of my clammy hands and held it in hers.
“How’d you know what I was thinking?”
“We might not have been together for very long, but I can read you pretty well,” she answered with a smirk.
I grinned at her. “I just know how important your family is to you. I don’t want them to dislike me because of what happened with Cade.”
“They won’t. They were pretty upset about his behavior once they found out the truth. See that big tree way down there?” She pointed to a huge tree with red leaves.
“Yeah.”
“Turn down the driveway on the other side.”
We were surrounded by green carpets as far as the eye could see. White fencing divided the grass into huge patches. Horses grazed in some of the pastures. On the other side of the tree was a gated drive, but the red, iron fence stood open. When I made the turn, I couldn’t see anything but pastures. As I drove slowly along the paved drive, a sleek, black horse pranced the fence line beside us. I laughed at his antics.
“That’s Oxiby. He’s such a showoff,” Willa said, giggling.
The majestic creature paced us until he reached the boundary of the pasture. Beyond that field of green was another and another.
“How big is your family’s farm?”
“About 750 acres,” she said nonchalantly.
I whistled through my teeth.
“It’s not the biggest around. There are several others nearby that are a lot bigger. But it works for what my great-grandparents started. One of the neighbors has actually approached my grandparents about buying some of our family’s land. It might come to that, but I hope not.”
I squeezed her hand. As we crested a hill, a huge white barn with red trim came into view. It was an impressive sight.
“Circle to the right of the barn,” Willa directed.
As we rounded the building, the path diverged—one fork heading into an endless sea of green and the other leading to an impressive two-story home, complete with columns on the huge porch. People were gathered out front.
“Are they waiting for us?” I asked, swallowing nervously.
“Yeah. When we hit the road, I texted Mom to let her know we were on the way. They’re all anxious to meet you,” Willa explained, giving me a bright smile.
It was now or never. I pulled the car around the front of the house and parked. With the engine still ticking, I hopped out and ran around to open Willa’s door. When I held my palm out to her, she laced our fingers together and climbed out.
“Should I grab our bags now or come back for them later?”
“Maybe we can grab them now,” she said.
I dropped her hand for a minute so I could get both our bags from the trunk. Then I intertwined our fingers once more so I could draw strength from her as I met the people who mattered most to her.
“W
illa,” her mom shouted as soon as our feet touched the first blue-gray paver. She hurried down the steps so she could wrap Willa up in a big hug.
“Hi, Mom.” Willa squeezed her back. When she dropped her arms, she said, “You remember Trystan, right?”
“Hi, Mrs. Larkin. It’s good to see you again.” I held out my hand to shake hers.
She grabbed mine and tugged me into an embrace. “We hug down here in the south. And it’s Charlene. Mrs. Larkin is my mother-in-law. How was your show last night?”
“It was amazing,” I said, mentally reminding myself not to gush too much.
“It really was, Mom. You guys will have to see him in concert one day. I have a video I took with my phone from backstage,” Willa said.
“You recorded me?” I whispered to her. The thought of her showing her family me singing about her made me really nervous.
“Hell yeah, I did. It was your first tour show. We needed to document it for posterity.” She hip-checked me.
Her mom clapped and exclaimed, “Come on so you can show everyone.”
We followed Charlene up to the porch. Willa’s dad held his hand out to shake mine while the others took turns hugging Willa.
“I know we kind of met at the hospital, but I wasn’t in a good frame of mind to really talk to you then. Sorry about that. I can’t even remember if I introduced myself to you, Trystan. I’m William Larkin.” He had a firm handshake.
“Nice to officially meet you, sir.”
Before we could talk more, a tiny spitfire of a woman shuffled over to me. “Introduce me to your hero,” she demanded of Willa.
“Nana, this is Trystan. Trystan, this is my nana, Edna Larkin,” Willa said, trying to hold in her giggles.
The little lady had quite the grip on her as she wound her arms around my waist. “I like your muscles, young man. And your hair,” she announced as she fluffed the hair on my head.
“Edna, leave the boy alone,” an older gentleman said, gently tugging on her arm.
“Gramps, this is my boyfriend, Trystan. Trystan, this is Henry Larkin.”
I offered my hand to the thin, but fit looking man with a head full of white hair. “It’s so good to meet you, sir.”
“Likewise. You’ve got to watch out for my wife. She forgets her age sometimes.” Henry gave me a wink while Edna elbowed him in the gut.
“Come on. Let the kids go put their stuff down,” William ordered.
After Willa showed me the room we’d be sharing, which was thankfully on the opposite side of the house as the rest of the family, we headed to the back deck where her mom had set up brunch.
The spread of food was expansive. Once we all had plates piled high with finger sandwiches, cheese cubes, croissants and fruit, we settled around the large picnic table.
Willa picked at her food for a bit. Finally, she glanced at her grandparents who were seated across from us. “Nana and Gramps, I’m really sorry that things didn’t work out with Cade. I know you were counting on the partnership with the Matthewses. I want you to know I’m doing all I can to secure other investors to try to save the farm.”
“Honey, you have nothing to be sorry about,” Edna said, reaching across the table to pat Willa’s hand. “After what that boy did to you, I’d whip you myself if you’d have married him for our sake.”
I snickered under my breath as I pictured the tiny lady spanking Willa.
“Besides, the Matthewses are still partnering with us,” William announced and stuffed a strawberry in his mouth.
“What? When did that happen?” Willa stuttered.
“We talked with them after Cade made the announcement. Their interest wasn’t just personal. They truly wanted to expand their portfolio. And Mr. Matthews has apparently always been fond of horses,” Edna said. She sipped her tea, then looked straight at Willa. “Honey, I’m sorry you considered still marrying Cade just to secure the investment for us. We’d never want you to do that.”
A tear slipped down Willa’s cheek. I thumbed it away and pressed a kiss to her damp cheek. The rest of brunch conversation was lighthearted. Until Willa pulled out her phone and her family gathered around to watch the video of me performing last night.
When my voice sounded through the tiny speaker dedicating my song to Willa, both Edna and Charlene pressed their hands to their hearts.
I was so embarrassed.
“You’re really talented,” Willa’s father said when the recording ended.
“Thank you.”
“And such a romantic,” Charlene added.
“Not to mention he’s hot as hell with that guitar and all that sweat,” Edna chimed in.
My face flushed crimson.
Before they could rib me some more, Henry piped up, “Willa-girl, are you gonna take this city boy riding?”
Willa looked at me, her eyebrows lifted in question.
“I’m always willing to try new things.”
“Ooh. I can mark a never off your list for a change,” Willa said with a smirk. “Who do you think I should saddle up for him, Gramps?”
“Well, I think Sweetie would be good for a first-time rider, and she hasn’t been worked in a couple of days. Or maybe Roan,” Henry suggested.
“I’ll see which one takes to him,” Willa said, stacking our now empty plates on top of each other.
“You should take him over to Chapel Pasture. The guys finally repaired the bridge,” Willa’s mother recommended.
“Do I need any special clothes?” I wasn’t sure what one wore to ride a horse. I’d seen a few cowboy movies, but that didn’t make me an expert.
“Jeans and a long-sleeved shirt are fine. There are spare boots in the barn,” Willa said. “Let’s go get ready.” She tugged me from the table.
“See you later,” I called over my shoulder to her family.
We went inside and up the stairs to the room Willa always stayed in when she visited. She opened the drawers and grabbed some worn jeans and a bright blue shirt.
I dug through my suitcase and picked some riding appropriate clothing. Once I was dressed, Willa tossed a pair of long socks at me.
“You’re gonna want thicker socks with the boots,” she explained.
I sat on the bed and swapped out my socks with the ones she gave me.
“Come on, city slicker. Let’s go make you a cowboy,” she teased and pulled me out the door. She made a pit stop in the kitchen for some reason before she came back to where I waited and continued to lead me to the adventure waiting for me.
We strolled down the path connecting the yard to the barn. As we got closer, the whinny of horses filled the still air. In the fenced area next to the stable, several horses grazed.
Willa puckered her lips and made a kissing noise, which made a trio of horses lift their heads and trot over. “The brown one with the stripe down her face is Sweetie. Come here, Sweetie,” Willa called. The chocolate-colored mare ambled over to where Willa hung over the top of the fence. She nudged Willa’s arm until Willa obliged by running her palm down the horse’s face.
“Hold your hand out to her so she can sniff you,” Willa instructed.
When I did, Sweetie’s breath tickled my palm.
“Now, if you really want to win the heart of a horse, you bring them a treat,” Willa leaned against my shoulder and spoke in a low voice, but Sweetie’s ears pricked at that word treat.
Willa chuckled and dug into her pocket. Her fingers closed around something that Sweetie was very interested in. She bumped her nose against Willa’s fist. Willa pulled her hand back and opened her fingers so I could see the sugar cube nestled inside. She flattened her fingers and offered it to Sweetie, who delicately scooped it up.
“The gray horse over there is Roan.” At the sound of his name, the large animal shuffled over to us. He poked his head right next to my arm draped on the top of the fence post. “I think he likes you already,” Willa said as I let the majestic animal smell my hand.
When I stroked down between his eyes, he
pushed against my hand.
“I think your ride has chosen you,” Willa said with a laugh. “Here, feed him a sugar cube to seal the deal.” She took my hand and spread out my fingers then pushed them together. Once my hand was flat, Willa plopped a sugar cube into the center of it.
Cautiously, I held my hand out to Roan. A chuckle rumbled through me as his lips tickled my skin.
Willa hopped down from the fence. “Let’s go saddle up.”
“I-I don’t know how to saddle a horse,” I stammered.
“I know that. One of the guys in the barn will do it.” She laughed and sashayed into the large open doorway of the barn. From behind her, I could hear her greet someone inside. By the time I caught up with her, two guys were grabbing gear while another led Roan inside.
“Are you gonna ride Sweetie?” I asked.
“They’re bringing Oxiby for me. He’s my baby,” Willa explained.
In no time, the horses were ready and with a little help, I was sitting on top of the world with my princess perched up there with me, ready to ride off into the sunset.
“Time for an adventure, princess.” I leaned over to where she sat atop her horse next to me and pressed a sweet kiss to her mouth.
39
Willa
When I walked into the boutique a few days later, Syd was nervously pacing the floor with her phone pressed tightly to her ear. From her one-word responses to the caller, I couldn’t decipher what the conversation was concerning.
She finally ended her call and let out a loud squeal. “You’re not going to believe who that was!”
“Who?” I asked dutifully.
“Andre Laurent’s assistant,” she practically shouted.
My eyes widened. “No way. How did one of the top French designers get your number?” I asked.
“I have no idea. But he said Andre saw some of my designs and wanted to invite me to participate in Fashion Week next year. Can you believe it?” Syd bounced up and down in her high heels.
I threw my arms around her. “That’s amazing. I’m so happy for you. Your creations are going to be epic.”
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