Under The Same Sky (Horseshoe Bay Book 1)

by Tamsyn Bester

  “Your fans are eating this up,” Mya says, fiddling on her iPad Pro. “It’s crazy!”

  We move to the side, while some tech people run around, doing whatever tech people do at concerts, but my gaze goes back to Thorin. It’s the first time I’ve seen him perform live in front of a crowd this big, and damn if it isn’t sexy to watch him in his element. Mya kind of gets the same dopey expression when she watches Fletch flipping his drumsticks, and when he sings? I’m pretty sure she starts to drool. I know they’re fooling around, have been ever since the opening of my store, but if she’s happy, who am I to judge? Besides, every time I tell Mya I’m worried Fletch will hurt her, she blows me off and tells me it won’t happen. So, I’ve let it be, despite my gut instinct telling me Mya getting hurt is an eventuality.

  I look out at the massive crowd, wishing Dad and Maggie could be here to see this, but they’re at home watching Eli. Maggie has been in Horseshoe Bay for a month now, she moved back after her sister passed away, and since then, her and Dad have become pretty close. It’s taking some time to get used to, for both me and Thorin, but we spoke about it, and decided that if Maggie and Dad are happy together, in whatever capacity, then we’ll be happy for them. I can’t imagine growing old alone, and it’s not something I want for either of them. So, it is what it is. As for me and Thorin, we’re what Benji and Carson call ‘so happy it’s sickening’. And they’re not wrong. I didn’t think life could get any better, but it is, and amidst all the chaos that is life, we’ve become a family. Thorin and the guys finish their set, and run off stage. He catches me in his arms, and spins me around before planting a kiss on my lips. This feeling never gets old, how he consumes me so wholly. I sigh into his mouth, and then he drops me back on my feet. “You were incredible out there,” He tells me, smiling like the loon he is. Benji, Carson, and Fletch nod in agreement, and I can tell they’re just as high on the adrenaline as I am. “Nailed it,” Fletch says, raising his hand for a high-five. “You know what this means, right?” Benji asks. “You’ll have to come on tour with us when the new album’s done.” I gulp. Performing once was terrifying enough, but to do it again? Uh. I stare at him, my eyes wide.

  “We’ll have to see if we can fit you into our schedule,” Mya chirps, coming to the rescue. “Reese here is an international sensation now, which is very time consuming.” She has a point. After the store opened, and our app went live, Mya has been receiving calls for radio interviews, and getting endorsement offers left, right and center. Hell, she even got a call from Cosmo, asking me to be on the cover for their September Influencer issue. Naturally, they wanted to do an interview with me and Thorin, but we politely declined. With the amount of media attention we’ve been getting, we’ve been working harder than usual to maintain some kind of private life. Not only for us, but for Eli, too. Like I said, things have been crazy. Dad even doubled up on his construction crew to help build the wall on the ranch faster so that we have more security. At the rate they’re going, we’ll be living in a damn compound.

  Thorin snaps his fingers in my face. “Hey, you spaced out, babe. You okay?”

  “Fine,” I squeak, earning a few laughs. “That was a total rush, but I’m still not sure I’m not going to puke.”

  Mya snorts. “You sure you’re not preggo?”

  Thorin stills, and the guys look between the two of us.

  “No.” I rest my hand his chest. “Definitely not.”

  He smirks. “Not for lack of trying.”

  Gah! He’s been bugging me about having a baby, but I’m just not ready, and call me old-fashioned, but I’d at least like a ring on my finger before I grow a human. Until then, we’ll just keep practicing. A lot. Like a lot a lot. Thorin winks, like he knows what I’m thinking. Perv. We stay on stage, out of sight, and watch the rest of the concert. When the last artist, Brett Young, closes the show, Thorin kisses my cheek, and runs back on stage. And that’s when I spot Maggie, and Dad coming up the steps on our side of the stage. Maggie’s carrying Eli, who has his noise-cancelling headphones on. “Did we miss it?” Maggie asks, her smile wide.

  “No,” Mya smiles back.

  “Miss what?” I ask, looking around at everyone. Something’s up, I can feel it in my gut. The guys won’t meet my eyes, but they’re all smiling like they have a damn secret, Dad included. The last time this happened, Thorin bought me a freakin’ store. As much I loved the surprise, I hate not knowing what’s going on, and everyone knows it drives me nuts. Especially Thorin.

  The crowd grows quiet, and I whip my head in Thorin’s direction, just in time to see him grab the mic. “Thank y’all so much for coming out tonight.” The crowd erupts, and he grins. “It’s been a great show, and we hope y’all have enjoyed it.” Someone yells, “We love you, Thorin,” and he chuckles. “Thanks, I love you too.” Then he looks over at me. “I have one last surprise left.” He exhales, and he looks nervous for the first time tonight. “Reese, babe, you wanna join me out here?” Without warning, Mya shoves me on stage, and the moment the lights hit me, the crowd cheers. Oh, Lord, please don’t ask me to perform again. I will legit throw up this time for sure, and it won’t be pretty. My knees wobble a little the closer I get to Thorin, and when I glance back, it’s not just us on stage. Our entire family has congregated where the crowd can see them, and why are they smiling like that? It’s creeping me the fuck out. My pulse races violently, and thank the good Lord my feet are still functioning, otherwise I’d be tripping over them right about now. Imagine that, me falling flat on my face in front of thousands. Hmm, no thanks. Thorin takes my hand, and I notice his is shaking too. And so is his voice. “Y’all know my girl, yeah?” More yelling, screaming. I want the Earth to swallow me whole from all this attention. “Well, what y’all don’t know, is that she’s not just my girl, but my best friend.” He gets a few awww’s for that one, and I’m sure every woman—married, single, or taken—just swooned. If I weren’t so damn anxious, I’d be doing the same. He lets go of my hand, reaches into his pocket, and drops to one knee.

  Oh.

  My.

  God.

  My hand flies to my mouth, the crowd gets rowdy, my heart makes a futile attempt at breaking through my ribs. Thorin swallows, pops open the box, and I suck in a breath, because again, Oh. My. God. Nestled between to small velvet pillows is a cushion-cut canary diamond centered between two beautifully displayed diamond baguettes. I look at Thorin. “A few months ago, I lost my brother,”—the crowd is now deathly quiet, I can hear the crickets chirping— “and if he were here tonight, he’d tell me to follow my heart and go for it.” He licks his lips, and swallows audibly. “So, I’m going for it, baby. Reese Hayes, you are everything that is good, and beautiful in this world. I didn’t deserve you when I was punk ass kid, and I sure as hell don’t deserve you now, but I almost lost you once, and baby, I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to keep you, if you’ll let me. You’re my heart, my soul, my home, my everything, and I want to have a family with you, live this incredible life with you, and grow old with you. Will you make me the luckiest sonofabitch on this planet, and be my wife?”

  My stare is unintentional, and I can feel everyone around us holding their breath, including Thorin. Part of me wants to smack him for making this so public, but the bigger part of me, the most important part—my heart—knows that when Thorin goes big, he goes really big, and this beautiful man, who owns me, my past, present and future, is telling me he wants forever. I’ve never been good at denying him, and there’s not a single molecule, or strand of DNA inside me that doesn’t want his forever. His now. His tomorrow. His always. So, it’s simple really.

  I swallow the emotions clogging my throat, because this moment deserves more than just a nod, it deserves a, “Yes, Thorin Jude Decker, I’ll marry you.” He’s up on his feet, and if my heart wasn’t pounding in my ears, maybe I’d hear the way the crowd all but explodes. Thorin slips the ring on my finger, and cups my face before crushing his lips to mine. I’m not sure how long he k
isses me, time itself stands still until we’re rushed by our crazy family. Maggie and Mya are both crying, pulling me in for a hug, and then Dad’s got me in his arms. Fletch is next, and he hoists me up, making my laugh through my own tears. He puts me down, only for Benji and Carson to do the same. Crazy boys. When I’m finally able to make my way back to Thorin, he’s taken Eli out of his carrier, and holds him facing me. He wraps one arm around me, and God, his smile. It makes my insides twist. He lowers his head, and murmurs, “You said yes.”

  “I did.”

  “I thought for sure you were going to kick my ass for doing it front of so many people.”

  I smirk. “Oh, I’m definitely getting you back for this one.”

  His eyes glisten with mischief, he knows exactly where my head is at. “Promise?”

  “Hmmm,” is all I give him.

  “Damnit, I think you broke me,” Thorin grunts, falling back onto the bed. His chest glistens with sweat, and his hair is a glorious mess. I rock back and forth, and lean my hands on his thighs, riding out the most tempestuous orgasm of my life. Every part of me feels so alive. Thorin’s hips jolt, and he mutters, “Christ,” under his breath. His breathing is labored, his chest moving up and down as he tries to fill his lungs with air. “I told you I’d get you back,” I giggle. I wriggle my hips, and he curses again, trying to keep me still. We got home three hours ago, and the moment I had him alone, he knew he was in trouble.

  “Is it just me, or was that a triple threat?”

  I push forward and lower my body onto his, my arms on either side of his head. I suck his bottom lip into my mouth, and squeeze my thighs. He shivers, and I smile against his mouth. “Not just you,” I whisper. “I got you good, didn’t I.” He’s exhausted, and my own limbs are lax, but it was so worth the effort. To know I can turn this big, stunning man into putty makes me feel so powerful, and shameless. Confident. Beautiful. I rub my nose against his, and he opens his eyes. Though, it looks like it’s a herculean effort on his part. Huh. Maybe I did break him. I smile, catching the way the moonlight coming in through our bedroom window bounces off my ring. I didn’t need something so flashy, but knowing he picked it out—he flew to New York to buy it—makes me love it. I trail my lips down his neck, and scrape my teeth over his pulse.

  “Baby,” he moans. “Give a man a chance to recover, please.”

  “That’s what you get for proposing in front of thousands, Caveman.”

  I lie on top of him, my chin on his sternum, and just watch him breath. My fiancé.

  When he manages to look at me, his lips curve up on one side, a lop-sided grin. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I want the world to know you’re mine, and if that makes me a caveman, then so be it.”

  I squeeze my thighs, clench my pussy, and he grips my hips. “Reese,” he warns. Cheeky bastard.

  I bat my eyelashes, feigning innocence. “What?”

  I’m about to do it again when he sits up, and pins my wrists behind my back. “Consider me punished,” he grumbles. “Pretty sure I’ll be out of commission for like a week after what you just did.” He lifts me from the bed, and carries me to the bathroom. Despite my devious ways, I’ve tired myself out, too. “Shower, and bed.”

  I don’t argue. And I don’t torture him any more than I already have. We have a quick shower, and then slip into bed, sans clothing. I stare at my ring, my hand on his bare chest.

  “Reese?”

  I glance up at him. “Hmm?”

  “I’m sorry I broke that promise.” I know what he’s talking about, but we’ve already had this conversation, months ago.

  “I’m not,” I whisper. “Because if you hadn’t broken it, we wouldn’t be here right now.”

  “You really believe that?”

  “I do. You needed to become you, and I needed to become me.”

  “And if I made the same promise to you right here, right now, would you believe me?”

  “Yes, but only because it’s different now.”

  “How so?”

  I throw my leg over his, and lie on top of him, my hand cupping his face. “Because you are my sky, Thorin. And as long as I have you, I have everything.” He rolls me over, and kisses me until my lips are raw, until my legs are wrapped around his waist. He inhales a shaky breath, his forehead against mine. “My sky, my stars, my sun, my moon, my always,” he says.

  “My always,” I repeat. “My forever.”

  Epilogue

  Mya

  I breath in through my nose and out through my mouth, trying to listen to Thorin give his speech, but I’m not sure how much longer I can take it. I’ve been chanting don’t puke, don’t puke, don’t puke, for the last thirty minutes but now that the smell of food is in the air, mixed with the end-of-summer heat, I feel like I’m going to hurl. Big time. This is usually the part where I admire how gorgeous my best friend looks in her iconic ivory Vera Wang strapless tulle ball gown, with the crystal-embroidered bodice, and how beautifully her curled, brown hair drapes over her shoulders. How lovingly she looks at her new husband while he waxes poetic about how much he loves her, how she’s the love of his life. Instead, I’m trying not to feel stifled by the heat, and the hundred or so guests filling the tent, all seated around the dance floor. Sadly for me, I’m seated at the table in front of the bride and groom, with Thorin’s mom, Maggie, Reese’s dad, Walker, and Benji, Carson, and Fletch. And Fletch’s date. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t be a big deal. I am, of course, the maid of honor, and Thorin’s bandmates are his groomsmen. But, these are not normal circumstances by any stretch of the imagination. With my gaze trained on Thorin, who’s just about to wrap up his speech, thank you mother of Mary, I focus on trying to keep my lunch from coming up—shit! I bolt from my chair, knocking it over, and run out the tent, and oh look, there’s a bush. I bend over at the waste, and toss my cookies. The tent is eerily quiet, but who cares, right? Um, I do, because this is Reese and Thorin’s wedding, and causing a scene was not on the agenda. Then again, neither was having a hot fling with a rockstar, and I did it anyway. And now I’m paying the price.

  “Mya?”

  If I weren’t trying to not throw up my stomach itself, I’d freeze at the sound of his voice, but as of right now, Fletcher Malone Andrews can go fuck himself. Or his date. Whichever will get him the hell away from me. His hand comes to rest on my bare back, and I swat his hand away with the arm currently not clutching at my midsection. Thank God my hair is up, and out of my face.

  “Mya?” Reese is at my side, and I sigh in relief. Then I realize I ran out of the start of hers and Thorin’s reception because my stomach contents refused to stay inside said stomach.

  “I’m sorry,” I moan, and then retch again. Reese bends down, and tries to look at my face. “Mya, are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Oh good, that means my cheeks aren’t pink from embarrassment. Gotta take those small mercies where you can get ‘em, I guess. I cant my head to the side, and give her a pithy nod. “I’m fine. Go back inside, I’ll be—” I hurl again, except nothing comes out.

  “Oh, dear.” That would be Maggie. “Sweetheart, let’s get you inside the house.”

  Another small mercy: Reese and Thorin decided to get married on the ranch, now that the wall is finished, and my house, which used to be Reese’s house, is within walking distance.

  “Let me take her,” Fletch says, trying to step between me and Reese. Wrong move, buddy. Reese’s head whips up, and I imagine she’s trying not to throttle him with her bare hands. “Touch her, and I’ll make sure you never lift a drumstick again,” she growls. Actually growls. My girl is fierce. And obviously still pissed, even though Fletch and I were over a month ago. For the record, he called it off. Said he wanted to focus on his music, and that I was a distraction. It’s all bullshit. He got cold feet after we’d been fooling around for five or so months, and I accidentally caught the feels. It’s laughable, actually. Never in a million years did I think I’d fall for a fucking rockstar, but
I did.

  My bad.

  “Babe.” Oh for fuck’s sake, Thorin too?

  “Hey, everything okay?” And that’s Benji.

  When I’m sure my nausea has eased, I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, and stand, my back to my small audience. Maggie looks at me, brows furrowed, and I swear she knows what’s wrong. She has that motherly instinct about her. My eyes burn but I blink my tear ducts into submission. Not today, Satan. And not in front of the cockhead who broke my heart.

  “I’m fine,” I say, turning slowly. “Something obviously isn’t agreeing with me. No need to be worried, you can all go back inside.”

  Thorin, Benji and Fletch all frown, and Reese, bless her, glares at Fletch as if he’s the reason I ran out and puked in the nearest bush. Technically, he is, but no one knows that yet, and now is not the time to break the news, either. I went to great lengths to protect my secret, driving all the way to Dallas at buttfuck o’clock to avoid being recognized at the pharmacy in town. Last thing I needed was someone seeing me buy six different pregnancy tests. So I drove three hours out of Horseshoe Bay, and used the restroom at a restaurant. All six sticks read ‘pregnant’. I cried for a good hour, whether they were happy tears or sad tears is yet to be decided, and then drove the three hours back to Horseshoe Bay wondering what I’m going to do. Helping Reese get ready for her big day served as a good distraction, and the fact that she got married only a few months after Thorin’s epic proposal should mean she might be pregnant—the media has been on bump watch—but, no, that would be me.