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“Oh, wonderful!” She gave me another smile as one box slid sideways and plunked to the ground.

“Sure you don’t want some help with the stuff?” I asked.

“No, he’s got it. It’s not really that much. I just had us get here this early to make sure that everything was set up in time and the house is clean.”

I snorted. “Weston doesn’t leave a mess around his house, ever.” Shaking my head, I glanced at the ground. “Anyway, I bet she’s going to be very excited to see you. Though, if you were planning to stay here, the ranch is already—”

“Oh, don’t worry. We’ve got a place in town we’ll be staying at for a week or so. I really am just wanting to be a help for her, that’s all.” Her hazel eyes widened, a startling innocence dawning the face of someone who seemed so used to being a seductress. This woman was suited for the city life—not one to get taken advantage of, but definitely also a genuine person.

My gaze flickered to her husband, who teetered again and finally plunked the entire stack of cardboard boxes onto the ground. He shut the tailgate, his tanned face turning slightly red from exertion.

“Look, Butch and I can help load those into the Razor. It’s not a big deal,” I said.

She waved her hand. “Oh, don’t even worry. You just show me which Razor to put this stuff in and then lead the way, and we’ll manage.”

And as I watched her husband slowly begin to stack the boxes that had labels of baby stuff all over them, my heart squeezed in my chest.

Change.

So much change was happening as things settled in the pit of my stomach. The next time I saw my brother, he’d be with his wife and daughter. A brand new baby had entered this world. Everyone’s life was moving forward, all around me progression was happening for everyone else, and yet here I was, still the same man that I’d become the moment I returned to this ranch all those years ago.

That was what Briar was so upset about. She’d figured out that deep down, my desire for more had never really left, I’d just never put effort into pursuing it. How she figured it out so soon was something I’d blame on Rooney. But it didn’t really matter how she figured it out, she was right. I deserved that more—that freedom I’d been searching for all these years.

And she deserved that more too.

This wasn’t just something I wanted for myself anymore; this was something I wanted for me to have a chance at having an “us.” I wanted to have my friends show up for us like Trixie was for Tenley. I wanted an “us” in a way I’d never wanted before. With her.

For her.

And she was right. My penance that I’d been trying to repay all these years, I’d fulfilled. The evidence of that fact was all around me in all of this change. Surrounding me in a warm embrace of reassurance that it was okay to find my own life outside of any debts that I’d accrued as a child. Those debts had been paid and closed far too long ago, and I’d been too blind to see it.

A startling gasp left the mouth of the woman standing in front of me, snapping me from my new shift in reality. Following her stare over my shoulder, my gaze landed on the most incredible creature I’d ever seen.

Briar shouldered the shotgun she was carrying as her long, honey-hued braid swung behind her back with each step she took. Her legs that I wanted wrapped around my waist again were hidden behind her usual, grungy pair of men’s jeans that made her backside look rather nice. Everything in my body lit on fire, roaring hot with desire and yearning for this incredible woman. The T-shirt she was wearing gently billowed in the light breeze as her gentle features shifted toward me, her swirling eyes locking onto mine.

“Who’s that?” Trixie gushed as shuffling happened behind me. A grunt from who I assumed was her husband met my ears as Briar slowed, taking in the scene that didn’t require the rescue that she had been returning to give. Pink flushed her beautiful cheeks, clearly feeling every set of eyes on her.

“My girl,” I said, unable to stop the words from falling from my tongue. Briar wasn’t close enough to hear it, which was a shame, and I took a mental note to make sure she was very aware that I had claimed her in no less than a few words.

Butch bumped me with his shoulder, clearly hearing what I’d said, and I felt nothing but roaring excitement.

“She’s stunning,” Trixie squealed beside me. “What I would give to pick out her outfits. I could work some magic with a body like that, make her—”

“Nah, I like her just like that,” I cut her off, shutting down the idea of having her wearing anything but what she was. I didn’t want Briar to be anything but herself, for anyone.

Briar’s already large eyes widened, and she slid the gun from her shoulder, then scrunched them up to her ears, attempting to hide herself.

“She’s quite shy, isn’t she?” Trixie asked.

“She’s not really used to attention like this, that’s for sure,” I replied.

“How come Tenley hasn’t told me about your girlfriend?”

“She’s not.”

“Huh?”

I chuckled. “She showed up about three or so weeks ago.”