Katie
When I get home I eat a snack and hop into the shower.

Now I'm dressed and Izzy is curling my hair.

"I still can't believe you did that," Izzy says astonished.

"What else were we supposed to do?"

"You know how loud Derek snores," I say with a small grin.

"Yeah, I know. You and Wyatt sharing a bed sounds like something from a book."

I put my head in my hands and groan.

When I told Izzy about last night she almost passed out from excitement.

"Katie!" Izzy hisses then she sticks her finger in her mouth. I guess she burned it.

"I'm so screwed." I groan.

Izzy pats my back. "No, you're not, these feelings are good."

I give her a blank look through the mirror. "In what world is liking your fake boyfriend good?"

Izzy gives me a scolding look. "Having feelings for someone is not bad Katie. Wyatt's different and he's good for you. I think he might have feelings for you as well."

I look at Izzy in the mirror. "You think?"

She nods.

The doorbell rings and I open the door.

When Wyatt sees me his eyes widen. "Wow Kate, you look gorgeous."

I feel my face heat. "Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself."

Wyatt smirks. "Of course, I always look good."

I roll my eyes, but he is one hundred percent correct.

He is wearing dark Levi jeans, Derek's cowboy boots, and a navy blue button-up cowboy shirt. It matches my dress perfectly.

"Gracie, for god's sake, let him in, you're letting in bugs," Derek whines from the living room.

"No need, I'm leaving," I yell over my shoulder.

I close the door behind me and Wyatt gives me a nervous smile. "We are going to have to take your car my mom has mine."

"No problem," I say throwing him the keys.

As we're getting in my truck the front door opens and Tyler sticks his head out. "Children, don't do anything stupid."

I turn around so Tyler can see my face. "Okay. As long as we don't do anything you would do we should be fine."

Tyler glares at me. "Smart ass!"

I salute Tyler through the window while Wyatt backs out.

Wyatt
We arrive at a big white barn with a pond beside it. It takes me a few minutes to find a parking space.

We get out of Katie's truck and walk towards the barn.

When we walk in a guy is handing out name tags. He gives Katie a weird look.

Katie smiles. "My dad is Mike Fleming."

The man nods his head. "Oh okay."

He hands us two name tags. Katie takes a pen and before she can write on mine I take it from her.

"Awe come on, let me write it," Katie whines.

"Hell no!"

"Do you think I'm that dumb?" I deadpan.

Katie sighs. "I was only going to write Muriel."

When I see how many people are inside my heart races and my hands go clammy.

Big crowds or groups of people scare me.

Katie notices and pats my arm. "It's okay Just Wyatt, I'll be with you the whole time."

I give her a soft smile and let her lead the way.

She stops at a Silent Auction table. "Can you believe someone bid five hundred dollars on this painting?" Katie says.

"I could paint that," I exclaim.

Katie laughs and moves towards a sign that's said, 'Paris trip for two'.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Placing a bid," Katie says like it's obvious.

"There's no way you can afford that."

She grins at me. "That's why I guessed two hundred dollars."

I roll my eyes and we continue down the line.

We move on and Katie spots her dad with Clair.

I grab Katie's hand so I don't lose her in the crowd.

"You know something I just realized," Katie says to Mike and Clair.

"What?"

"If y'all get married Tyler is going to become my stepbrother."

Clair's face pales and Mike chokes on his drink.

I bite my tongue to keep from laughing.

One thing I love about Katie is her always being straightforward.

"Katie!" Mike groans.

Katie's eyebrows shoot up. "What. Y'all have been dating for almost two years, isn't that the next step?"

Clair looks like she might get sick and Mike presses the palms of his hands into his eyes.

Katie's face morphs into embarrassment. "Oh, y'all haven't talked about marriage yet."

She waves her hands. "There's nothing wrong with that. I know plenty of couples that live together without getting married."

I place my hand on her shoulder to stop her from vomiting more words.

Mike looks at Clair and then back towards us. "I love Clair very much and that's all that matters."

"Wyatt, why didn't you stop me!" Katie whines pressing her forehead into my chest.

I chuckle. "And miss that performance, hell no."

Katie pulls away to give me a pissed-off look. "You're an ass!"

"Only for you, baby," I say flirtatiously, earning me a very dramatic eye roll.

"Are you Katie Fleming?"

Katie turns around and her entire face lights up. "Yes, I am."

A middle-aged woman shakes Katie's hand. "It's nice to finally meet you I'm Lauren Scott, the head of the Clearbrook College riding team."

"It's nice to meet you," Katie stutters.

"You're very gifted Katie. After you won today I did a little bit of research on you and your horse. It's incredible all the work and training you've put into him." Lauren says.

Katie smiles nervously and a faint pink dusts her cheeks. "Thank you."

Lauren smiles. "Unfortunately I don't get to choose who the board decides to give scholarships to but I will put in a good word for you."

"That would be amazing," Katie says.

"Do you have any internships lined up for this summer?" Lauren asks

"No, I don't."

"If you are interested I would love it if you could do your internship at my barn. You would ride at least every day and would get to help train my five-star horses." Lauren says to Katie.

Katie's eyes widen. "Mrs Scott I am honored."

"Here's my card, call me if you're interested," Lauren says and walks away.

Katie looks at me with a huge smile and jumps up in down. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!"

Seeing her so happy warmed my heart.

I hug Katie. "Are you going to do it?"

"I don't know. I'll be gone a lot," Katie says glancing at the ground.

"So, isn't this your dream?" I exclaim.

Katie stares into my eyes. "It is. Working at a five-star barn is any equestrian's dream."

I place my hands on her shoulders. "Then do it."

Katie
It took a lot of convincing but I finally got Wyatt out on the dance floor. After a while, more people flock over.

I notice Wyatt looks uncomfortable with all the people around us. "Do you want to go outside for some fresh air?" I yell over the music.

Wyatt nods his head and pulls me towards an exit.

Once we're outside Wyatt relaxes. "I'm sorry, but something about big crowds puts me on edge," Wyatt says embarrassed.

I wrap an arm around his waist. "Don't apologize for something you can't control."

Wyatt gives me a smile that I feel all the way to my toes.

We wander to the gazebo on the pond.

I lean against the railing to get a better look at the full moon.

"Isn't it beautiful how the moon reflects onto the water?" I say quietly.

Wyatt stands beside me, his arm brushing against mine. "Yeah, it is."

We stare out at the lake, listening to the music from inside the barn.

It feels so peaceful being out here with Wyatt.

Watching the water ripple ever so slightly when the wind blows.

The upbeat song changes and a slower song begins. Immediately I recognize the song, Those Eyes by New West.

I turn to Wyatt and he's already looking at me. "Let me guess, you want to dance to this song," Wyatt says trying to look agitated but his eyes give him away.

I give him my best puppy dog eyes. "Please?"

Wyatt sighs and pulls me toward him. He wraps his arms around my waist and I place my hands on the back of his neck.

Tingles shot up my spin from his touch.

Last time I was too scared to get close to him.

Screw it, you only live once.

I move closer to him and rest my head on his shoulder. He tightens his hold on me and places his chin on top of my head.

We sway slowly to the music.

Even when I'm old and gray I will always remember this moment. For the first time In my life, I realized what it feels like to let someone in.

I wanted more than anything for this to be real.

Maybe it is?

You can't fake these feelings. You can't fake the small smiles and the light touches that cause goosebumps to break out on both of our bodies.

Being with Wyatt is natural even in the beginning when I didn't know him at all. I felt as if Ive known him my whole life.

In the last four weeks, I realized I'm missing something in my life and now I've found it.

The song ends way too soon, but neither of us moves.

Wyatt takes his chin off my head and I move back slightly to look at his eyes.

"Kate?" He asks under his breath.

"Yes."

"There's something I've been wanting to do for a long time, but I keep getting interrupted." Wyatt's eyes go dark and serious.

Guys, the Edward eyes are back!

I blink and I notice his gaze move from my eyes to my lips.

"What is this thing?" I ask breathy.

I feel Wyatt's arms tighten around me and his gaze never leaves my face.

"To kiss you."

Butterflies irrupt in my stomach and somehow move upwards into my chest making it difficult to breathe.

"Then what are you waiting for?" I ask.

I meant for it to sound cocky and confident but it comes out barely a whisper.

Wyatt wastes no time and presses his lips to mine.

He's almost hesitant at first. I pull him closer and run my fingers through the small curls on the back of his neck.

I didn't realize how much I wanted this till now.

This is way better than our first kiss.

I've read plenty of romance books and I always thought they were being dramatic about a kiss.

Well hell, I was wrong.

I could kiss Wyatt.
All.
Day.
Long.

Forget the butterflies my entire insides explode and my knees go weak.

Wyatt pulls away, ending the kiss. When I open my eye I find his eyes dancing all over my face.

Wyatt
Okay Wyatt you didn't stick to the plan.

The plan was to tell her how you feel and then kiss her to your heart's content.

But my heart had other plans.

Kissing Katie was like nothing I've ever experienced before.

As soon as our lips touched my entire body lit up.

Before I can bully myself into telling her that I'm crazy about her, Katie says something that shocks me.

"You know that kiss in the hall was my first kiss," Katie says nonchalantly.

My entire body freezes. "Seriously?"

Katie nods her head with a smile dancing on her lips.

"Well, that was a pretty crapy first kiss," I say agitated.

I can't believe she wasted her first kiss on me in a hall surrounded by people.

Katie shrugs. "I think it's a pretty cool story to tell."

I smile. This girl can step in a piece of dog crap and be like, "Hey, my once white shoe looks so much better with a brown splotch on it."

"That will be a pretty neat story to tell your grandkids when they visit you at the nursing home," I say teasingly.

"Or my grandnieces and nephews visiting Izzy and me."

I tighten my arms around Katie's waist.

"You don't want kids?" I ask.

Katie tightens her lips. "They're just so much work and incredibly expensive."

I smile. "Yes, they are."

We stay in each other's arms, swaying back and forth.

As much as I wanted to kiss her again I don't. I want our next kiss to be after I tell her my feelings for her.

I want to tell her how I feel but this moment is too special. Telling her my feelings might ruin the moment.

She might not feel the same about me.

I'll give myself today to pretend she's mine then I'll face reality tomorrow.

Katie shivers and I give her a look. "Are you cold?"

"What no!" Katie says quickly.

I roll my eyes. "If I was wearing a jacket I would give it to you."

"Are you ready to go?" Katie asks.

"Yeah. How do you feel about Irish goodbyes?"

Katie grins. "I'm actually quite fond of them. In fact, that's how I leave most functions."

We walk back to her truck hand in hand.

Katie moves to the middle of the bench seat and rests her head on my shoulder while I drive home.

Gosh, this girl is going to kill me.

When we get to her house I see my Jeep parked in her driveway. I guess my mom parked it here so wouldn't have to walk.

"Thank you for everything Just Wyatt," Katie says leaning against her front door.

I lean closer to her. "No thank you, Katie. You showed me what I was missing in life."

She smiles. "I guess we helped each other then."

"I guess we did," I say staring into her eyes.

I close the small distance between us and give her a quick kiss. Before she registers what I'm doing and kisses me back, I pull away.

"Goodnight Kate."

Teasing her has become one of my favorite things.

I skip down the stairs to my car. "Hey, Muriel!" Katie yells.

I turn around and Katie waves both of her middle fingers at me.

I blow her a kiss and she goes inside slamming the door shut behind her.

Finally!