Country Kisses (3:AM Kisses Book #8)(67)

“Oh, come on.” She gives a little wink. “You and I both know Cassidy Clayton is the cutest little country kitten you’ve ever laid your eyes on,” she says it in her best country accent, and Cassidy lets out a whoop.

“You nailed it, girl!” Cassidy slaps her five.

“And it’s true.” Now that I’ll never deny.

Blake pulls me into a quick embrace. “I’m proud of you, little bro. You’ve got a great girl. Hey”—he pulls Wyatt in toward us—“should we ask him now?”

“You bet.” Wyatt swats me over the chest. “Since Blake and I are going to be standing at the altar together in a few weeks—”

“Each with our own bride.” Blake glares at our brother a moment.

“Yes, knucklehead, each with our own bride.” He shakes his head before looking back to me. “We wanted to know if you’d stand up for both of us. You know, be the one and only best man.”

“No way—really? Yes, of course, I will.” I give them both a sock to the arm.

Blake socks me back, and it stings right to the bone. The dude is getting ripped. “Now that I’ve hit you, I have to hit the stage. The next one’s for you and Cassidy.” He jogs on up, and the band starts in.

I head over to Cassidy, already locked in a conversation with Annie and Marley about something to do with venues.

“Excuse me, can I have this dance?”

Cassidy looks up with those watery blue eyes and takes me by the hand. She leads us out into the deep end of the dance floor, and one by one our friends and family join in. Owen and Piper, Wyatt and Marley, Annie sits on a table and sways to the music while watching Blake with immeasurable love in her eyes. Baya and Bryson sway alongside of us, his friend Ryder and his wife Laney, next to them. Cole and Roxy, Izzy and Holt flank us. Jet and Daisy even engage in a slightly awkward tug-of-war of the limbs. I nod over to Rex who’s standing begrudgingly next to Piper’s buddy, Scarlett, and he shakes his head as if he’s not going there.

Cassidy follows my gaze and clicks her tongue. “Those two are about to hit it, and when they do, it’s going to be electric. All the power in Hollow Brook is going to go out on that night. That’s how much heat they’re packing.”

“What? Really? They can’t be better than us.”

“Oh, honey, nobody’s better than us.” She gives my ass a quick squeeze. “You and your hot buns better believe it.”



We hang out for another hour and have a good time just enjoying our friends before we decide to head back to my place and enjoy ourselves.

That dirty grin of mine blooms wide as a summer sky as soon as I land us on the porch.

“Give me a second to put Buddy away.”

“Wait.” Cassidy pulls me back. “I don’t want you to put him away”—she swallows hard—“just yet.”

I cock my head in hopes I understand what she’s trying to say. To have Cassidy give it another go with Buddy would mean the world to me. As soon as she said yes, I knew Buddy was New York bound no matter how much it would crush me.

“I want a do-over. You know, if I’m here to stay, and so is he, we might as well try to get along.” She shudders as if it took everything in her to get those words out, and I know it did.

“You sure? We don’t need to do it tonight.”

“Actually”—she holds her ring out a moment—“tonight’s the perfect night for new beginnings.”

“Sounds good to me.” I head inside first, grab Buddy by the collar, and take a seat on the couch. “Coast is clear!” Buddy looks up at me with his ears peaked, panting in anticipation of what’s to come.

Cassidy steps inside, wide-eyed and apprehensive, as Buddy stands to greet her.

“Sit,” I say sternly, and he promptly complies. “Good boy. Now, let’s try this again. Buddy—this is Cassidy. You may never, ever jump on her again.” I offer up a lopsided grin to the woman I love. “He’s a sucker for pretty girls.”

“Sounds just like his daddy.” Cassidy comes over and sits on the other side of me, and Buddy tucks his head in her direction just aching for some attention.

“Look at you.” She reaches forward with trepidation, and her hand lands cautiously behind his ears as if she were petting a cactus. “Look at you. You just want some lovin’. You really are just like your daddy.”

I place my hand over hers as she relaxes, offering up a gentle scratch behind his ears.

“How am I doing?” she pants out the words, struggling to control her breathing.

“You’re doing great.”

“Maybe tomorrow I can graduate to a walk around the block. With you holding the leash, of course. Both mine and his.” She titters out a laugh. “I’m teasing. We both know I’m in charge of the leashes in this house.” She gives a little wink.

“As it should be.”

Cassidy helps me walk him to his room. Baby steps she calls it. I call it the best-case scenario for my furry little friend, and my heart.

“Oh, wow”—she leans past me, inspecting the tiny canine suite—“you have an honest to goodness bed in there for him.”

“Someone’s got to take care of the old guy. As soon as Piper moved into your dorm, Buddy scored a room of his own. Someone had to make use of that bed.”