Page 102 of Homebound

I’m melting—completely melting. The world seems to slow down, as if it wants me to remember this moment. Here’s this adorable, chubby, smiling little girl calling me Mama, or Nama, whatever, and… Tears blur my vision.

I’ve been chasing this PBR dream for so long that I forgot what it felt like to have someone rely on me. To feel needed. There’s no better feeling than being needed by the people you can’t live without.

A door creaks.

“Hey, look at that. We’re all matching,” Wyatt says, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He steps into the living room in his Rodeo Daddy shirt and boxers, with his dirty blond hair sleep-mussed around his shoulders. “How’re my girls doing this morning? All three of them,” he adds, scratching Luna-Tuna’s ear.

A smile starts to form, but it pops when he sees my face. “What’s wrong?”

I sniffle, unable to find the words for a moment. “She, uh, she just called me, um, Mama, or Nama. I’m not sure, but she probably didn’t mean it. We don’t have to make a big deal about it.”

“What? Really? She said that?” His eyes widen in disbelief, swinging between me and her, and then he gets this nostalgic, knowing grin on his face, as if he can feel the emotions pounding through me.

“Yeah,” I confirm in a trembling voice, swiping a corner of my eye.

I don’t cry in front of many people, but Wyatt’s one of the few. He crosses the room in four quick strides and wraps me up in his solid arms. “Are you okay? How do you feel?”

I clutch him fiercely. I thought I’d feel scared, nervous, worried about her calling me that, but the only thing I feel is this gut-wrenching ache when I think of them leaving, and now my throat’s tightening for an entirely different reason. “I’m feeling like I don’t want you to go, and I want you and Vi to stay right here with me.”

He searches my face, and so very slowly, the biggest smile I’ve ever seen starts to spread across his mouth. “What if I came back? Transferred to Austin? They’re getting a new NHL team, and I want to be close to you too.”

There’s that dipped in a Texas sunset feeling again. “You’d do that for me?”

He kisses the tip of my nose. “Honey, you should know by now that I’d do anything for you.”

I smile into the morning light, and looking at him and Vienna, I think I’d do anything for them too. His dry gaze bounces between my damp one, and he adds, “I love seeing you like this.”

The way he says the word love has those butterflies flying.

“Like what?”

“Soft for the people who matter.” He squeezes me. “You might be this badass bull rider, Dakota Cutler, but I know you ordered that Rodeo Queen T-shirt online because you wanted to match us.”

“Yeah, I did.” I bite my bottom lip to trap my smile and shift my focus to Vienna, who’s now using her hands for spoons to eat the oatmeal.

“Do you… Do you think she meant it?” I whisper. “Calling me Mama?”

I hope she meant it.

He kisses my temple. “Would it make you feel better if I told you she calls my parents Mama too?”

I choke out a laugh. “No, actually, it wouldn’t. I wanted to be someone special to her.”

“Good. Because she doesn’t.” He lifts my chin with one finger and looks at me with such adoration that I can’t help but grin back at him. He dips his thumb into my cheek. “There are those dimples. You should flash those around more often, Mama.”

I giggle, actually giggle, the sound bright and airy.

His eyes bounce between mine, seeing something, before he kisses the tip of my nose. “Careful with that look, honey.”

I tangle my fingers through his loose hair. “What look?”

“That look in your eyes.”

“How am I looking at you?” I ask.

He flashes me a casual smirk. “You look like you might be fallin’ for me, and it’s giving me all kinds of hope.”

His positivity is contagious, so I press a gentle kiss to his lips.