His hand reached across the console to grab mine. “Always.”
“I couldn’t hear anything over mine racing so fast it felt like I might pass out.”
He hummed, shaking his head. “The only thing that helps me sleep at night is knowing I didn’t have anything to offer you back then. And that you got the chance to go to college and get your vet training without me having to worry about holding you back.”
My loud snort echoed in the tight confines of the cabin. “Please, we both know you’d have followed me like a lost puppy.”
“You’re probably right.”
“And your dad would have had a stroke,” I joked, unable to hold back a giggle.
“You think it’s funny, but there’s no question he’d have dragged me back home by the ear.”
“Yeah.” I cringed. “I can see that.”
He deepened his voice, imitating Jett. “‘I didn’t work my ass off to build all this so you could go chasin’ after some girl. Man up and take care of your responsibilities. This family’s future depends on you.’” By the time he finished, his chest was heaving, and his fingers had curled around mine so tightly that they caused a bite of pain.
“Do you worry about taking over the ranch?” The property was massive, and the business was expanding. I couldn’t begin to imagine the amount of work it took to keep everything running smoothly.
Tripp grunted. “I’ll be an old man by the time that happens. Nothing would make my father happier than workin’ until the day he dies.”
Jett was in his mid-fifties; he had plenty of good years left in him. But Tripp was capable and had spent his entire life learning to run that ranch.
“You don’t think he would want to retire and enjoy his golden years with your mom?”
Lips twisting to the side, Tripp considered the idea. “I don’t know. He’s always stressed the need to provide for his family. I’m sure some of that stems from losing his dad young, but I imagine it’s more deeply rooted in the end of his rodeo career and having to pivot into ranch ownership.” Jett had been a bronc rider before an injury ended that dream for good. “I don’t remember much of those early years when we lived in the one-room cabin while they built the big house, but I’ve heard enough to know it was rough. Hell, it wasn’t easy after that either, when he was doing what we are now, carting the horses all over creation, forced to leave his wife and kids back at home because he couldn’t afford the extra staff.”
My husband let go of my hand to rub it over the scruff lining his jaw. “I think he’s worried about what will happen if he lets go of the control. I hate to say it, but the only way he’ll ever take a step back is if something catastrophic happens that forces him to.”
A sense of foreboding settled over me at Tripp’s prediction. Excitement over date night had taken a morbid turn, but I was determined to set his mind at ease. “We’ll be ready if it does, okay? We’ll keep your family’s legacy alive. Honor the sacrifices your parents made to provide for future generations.”
“Yeah.” Tripp’s voice had grown hoarse, and his throat bobbed on a thick swallow.
Thankfully, the tension leaked out of the vehicle through the rolled-down window when we arrived at the ticket booth and paid for our admission.
Tripp tossed the printed stub onto the dash and turned to me with a soft smile. “Ready to get cozy in the back of my pickup, sweetheart?”
Boy, was I ever.
The tailgate was flipped down, our boots discarded at the edge as we lay on a sea of white blankets and pillows, our own little love nest under a sky full of stars. My thigh was hitched over both of Tripp’s, my face tucked into the crook of his shoulder with the two of us slumped against the rear window.
Even though the mounted speaker provided audio to match the images on the massive screen set several hundred feet away, we didn’t really need it. I whispered the lines I knew by heart under my breath, causing the occasional chuckle to vibrate through Tripp’s chest as he stroked my hair. Every once in a while, his touch would venture lower, his palm resting over my ass for a beat or two before he resumed the rhythmic motion over my loose locks.
The comfort of simply existing with my husband was unmatched. His arms offered sanctuary. As long as I had them curled around me, nothing could harm us.
My hand rested over his beating heart, and I smirked when I realized the steady tempo kicked into high gear when I shifted my position over his lap, my knee grazing the growing bulge beneath his fly.
As much as I loved this movie, I loved fucking Tripp more. Over the past month, I’d had the man six ways to Sunday, yet the craving to have him inside me never lessened. If anything, it only grew stronger with each passing day—like I was only whole when our two bodies were joined and our souls became one.
The memory of his hands on me, of how hard he made me shatter, had a shiver rolling down my spine.
Hardwired to be attentive, Tripp lifted his head so he could peer down at me. “Cold?”
God, no. In fact, I was burning up, but you wouldn’t know it with the way goosebumps rose to the surface of my exposed arms.
“Here.” Tripp shifted us enough that his free arm could snag a nearby blanket and tug it over us so we were covered to the waist.
“Thank you, baby.” I pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw.
