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“I should go get cleaned up,” Sawyer says quietly, sidestepping around me.

I stop her, grabbing her hand and interlacing her fingers with mine. Nope, not a chance. I’m taking a stand, and my girl is going to be by my side as I do this.

“Willa, it’s a stupid RSVP. Are you saying you don’t want Sawyer at the wedding?”

Willa huffs. “I didn’t say that I don’t want her there. I would love to have Sawyer there. Most days I like her better than I like you. What I am saying is that you didn’t tell me she was coming, so we didn’t account for it in the head count!”

“Whoa!” Miss Belle hollers. “What is going on?”

“Someone thinks he can just rearrange everything because he didn’t change his RSVP.”

“Really, it’s fine,” Sawyer says.

I whip around to face her, our hands still clasped together. Now she’s lost her mind. Because the last thing this is, is fine.

“No, it most certainly is not!” I shout. “I don’t give a damn about what your chart says, Willa. I’ve been very clear about this; Sawyer is accompanying me to your wedding.”

“Anton Wright Hayes, there is no need to raise your voice,” my mama scolds through gritted teeth.

I nod, acknowledging her reprimand, but it does nothing to lower my blood pressure. To stop the pounding in my ears. I am fired up beyond belief.

“The final RSVP date was Sunday,” Willa says. “You could have changed your answer any time before then. But you didn’t. I am not rearranging everything so you can win some stupid bet.”

She did not just say that.

“Now seems like a really good time to go change,” Sawyer says again, slipping her hand from mine. I turn to her, reaching out to stop her again, but she holds up a hand. “I’m going upstairs.”

She heads straight for the stairs, and I take a deep breath, waiting for her to be out of earshot. For her to be up the stairs and away from all of this before I lose my cool.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Anton,” Miss Belle hisses.

“No, Mama,” I reply. “This isn’t about a stupid bet. This is about accommodating my girlfriend. About including the woman I’ve invited into this family as part of my life. One the both of you have gushed over multiple times.”

“You didn’t?—”

“Yeah, I get it,” I cut my sister off. “I fucked that up. Got that part. But look me in the eye, Willa, and tell me that if Hux forgot to RSVP for Dolly, or Gus for Margeaux, or Milo for Brenna, that you’d be telling them to leave their girl at home.

No, you wouldn’t dare. You’d just automatically write down their name and move right along.

So that’s what I’m asking you to do here.

To automatically write Sawyer’s name down next to mine. Got it?”

I look between the two former beauty queens, making sure they understand that I mean it. They both stare back, their matching features a mix of emotions, leaving me unsure of what ground I stand on after that outburst.

That is, until my mama smiles.

“You better go check on your girl.”

My insides relax, muscles I didn’t realize I had clenched releasing their hold.

A simple nod, and I’m gone, scaling the stairs two at a time, my heart still pounding.

It manages to pick up the pace, something that shouldn’t be possible, as I step in front of the closed door, my hand twisting the handle.

The last time I entered unannounced I got an eyeful, followed by a dressing down, but I’m hopeful this time will be different.

“That was fast,” Sawyer comments.

I step inside, stopping dead in my tracks.

The baby-blue towel wrapped around her manages to cover all the good bits, but only barely.

All the blood in my body goes straight to my dick, making me instantly hard, a string of unintelligible curses leaving my mouth.

Sawyer blushes, a soft giggle escaping, and she shakes her head, tightening the towel around her.

“Would you close the door, please?”

“Does that mean the towel comes off?” I quip, making sure I hear the soft snick of the latch.

“Are you going to lose your bet?”

I swallow hard, hating that the bet is where her mind goes first. Hell, I hate that it’s where her mind goes at all.

“This isn’t about the bet.”

My voice is barely above a whisper, and so unsteady I’m surprised I get the words out. I want her to know the truth. That I couldn’t give a damn about losing and having to do whatever stupid shit my siblings come up with as retribution. Because I’m in this for her.

“But if you lose…”

“Sawyer.” My voice warbles again, and I close my eyes, trying to recenter myself.

Opening them, I’m overcome with the sight of her, and not just because she’s half naked.

But because she’s what sets my soul on fire.

Closing the gap between us, I reach out, then stop, not knowing where to try and hold her like this.

“I mean it; this isn’t about a bet. It’s about you. ”

“I…I don’t know what to say to that.”

“Then don’t say anything.”

I take her head in my hands, staring into her eyes before I lean in and kiss her. The kiss of someone who means it. Of someone who wants more. Sawyer kisses me back with just as much fervor, my message received and her response loud and clear. There’s no mistaking it either.

“I should get in the shower. I’m filthy,” she comments, running her hands along my chest.

“Just one question before you do that…”

“What?”

“What do you say to getting dirty before we get you cleaned up?”