Page 41 of Only With Me

Not a good combo.

With Christmas in less than two weeks away, the airport was already chaotic with travelers.

But my mood immediately lifts when I get a text from Bentley of a photo of him and Hannah going to the holiday dance.

Waylon: Y’all look so good! Have the best time. No drinking!

Bentley: Okay, DAD.

Waylon: You know you can always call me, right? No questions asked. If you need a ride or whatever. Day or night.

Bentley: I know. Thanks.

Waylon: Good. Now be a gentleman and stay off your phone.

Bentley:

He replies with a middle-finger emoji, and I snicker.

Once I’ve cleaned up and thrown my dirty clothes in the washer, I head to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner. Even traveling all day doesn’t give us a pass. But since Ellie, Noah, and Fisher are on the road, the table is less crowded.

“I’ve watched the video of Ellie winning like ten times,” Mallory says when we’re all eating. “Totally jealous I couldn’t go. So unfair!”

My sixteen-year-old cousin pouts dramatically, which makes the rest of us laugh. She’s lived with my parents since she was nine after her parents died in a tragic car accident. Watching hergrow up from a little kid to a full-blown teenager has been an interesting experience.

When Wilder and I caught her making out with a boy in the barn last year, we nearly lost it. Wilder swears the boy was getting handsy and pinned him up against a wall.

Now she has her driver’s license and goes to all of our secret hiding spots with her boyfriend, Antonio.

To just talk, is what I tell myself.

“Yeah, it was cool to witness,” I say. “A moment I’ll never forget.”

“Me neither.” Landen nods. “The whole competition was surreal. I still can’t believe how incredible she did. I was a nervous wreck for her, but she was calm and focused. A real badass.”

I smile at Landen because he’s been hyped about Ellie making it to the NFR more than anyone and has been the biggest supporter of her career long before they were together. Even through the years she hated him.

You can see how proud he is of her hard work and how much he loves her. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever have that type of relationship—someone I can encourage and support to be whatever they want to be.

“Pretty sure I lost my voice screamin’ so loud,” Magnolia chokes out, then clears her throat. Willow’s on her lap and Laken’s on Tripp’s. They left the kids here for a few days and you can tell how much they missed them.

“Sure, rub it in, jerk-holes.” Mallory scowls, and Mom warns her withthe lookfor her choice of words.

“What? That ain’t a cuss word.” Mallory rolls her eyes.

Lord have mercy, she’s full of attitude.

“You’re too young to enjoy Vegas for what it’s meant for,” Tripp tells her.

Truthfully, she would’ve been bored. When we weren’t at the arena watching Ellie, we were drinking at the hotel bar or checking out the casinos.

“That’s so ageist!” Mallory scowls, flipping her dark hair behind her shoulder.

“No, that’s the law.” I snort. “You gotta be twenty-one to get into the fun places.”

“How about we take you for your twenty-first birthday?” Tripp offers.

Mallory perks up. “Really? You will?”