Chapter 49

Three months later...

Today was going to suck. And not the good kind. Nope. The big, sweaty, hairy donkey balls variety. He thought he'd been prepared for this, but the shift in his gut said otherwise.

Biting back a sigh, Nakos Hunt glanced from the two men standing beside him to the wide open expanse of Cattenach Ranch. Two-thousand acres of rolling grasslands and high plains. The Laramie Mountains just to the south were little more than a bluish mirage in the distance, but a slightly cool breeze wafted across the basin to provide some relief from the heat.

A rare hot Wyoming sun beat down from a cloudless sky as prairie grass crackled in the wind. He shoved his index finger between his neck and the white collar of the button down shirt Olivia had forced him to wear, trying to get liberation from the upper eighties temperature. With his dark skin, courtesy of his native Arapaho tribe, he was roasting. At least she'd let him wear jeans and cowboy boots, but he felt naked without his Stetson. And she'd made him leave his hair down, too.

Only for her.

Olivia, sole owner of Cattenach Ranch where he'd served as her foreman for going on ten years, had him wrapped around her pinkie since age nine when his family had left the reservation to work for hers. As one of his best friends, she was the most stubborn, mule-headed woman in existence, but her heart was bigger than the damn state. No one deserved this happy day more than her, so he mentally got his shit together.

Again, only for her.

"Are you all right?" Nathan Roldan gave Nakos a quick head-to-toe sweep, his golden eyes glittering hard as if he'd seen the worst humanity had to offer and had fought it with his bare hands.

Then again, he truly had. Abandoned by a junkie mother, Nate had grown up in foster care, later joined a gang in his teens, and subsequently had enlisted in the Army to escape. It was there he'd met Olivia's brother. Except, after finally having found a genuine friend, Nate had watched Justin die overseas right in front of him.

Olivia wasn't the only one who deserved this bit of happiness. The guy was long overdue.

"I'm fine." Nakos shifted his weight to his other foot. "Shouldn't I be asking you? I'm not the one getting married."

"Exactly."

Right. This again. Because everyone in creation knew Nakos had a thing for Olivia.

He blamed it on culture shock. Having been raised with other Arapaho, catching sight of her red hair, fair skin, and freckles the first time as a kid had been like a gut-punch that never subsided. Even all these years later.

Yet, he thought he'd assuaged everyone's concerns. Was he attracted to her? Yes. Had he sometimes wished she'd look at him with something more than affection? Yes. But it hadn't happened and he was okay with that. Though he'd lie down and die for her, he wasn't the man she wanted. Somewhere in the back of his mind and in the underbelly of his heart, he'd known that all along. Thus, he'd never allowed himself to pine or permit hope to build.

Well, not much, anyway.

"I wouldn't be standing here as your best man if I wasn't one-hundred percent behind you." He'd said it before and he'd say it a million times more. "You're the right guy for her."

Another truth that had cemented in Nakos's brain since Nate had first rode up the driveway on his Harley. And the ex-soldier had stuck. Which, ultimately, was what Justin and Olivia wanted. And what they wanted, Nakos would do everything in his power to provide. He'd gone as far as to push Olivia and Nate together when they'd stumbled over their attraction.

If that had torn Nakos's insides to shreds like a dull, rusty blade...well, no one had to be the wiser.

Since Nate was still studying him in that assessing, silent way he was prone to do, Nakos looked him straight in the eye. "I love her. I always will. But I'm not in love with her." Much. "And since the Cattenachs care about you, I've grown fond of you, as well. At the risk of you pulling out a gun and shooting me for being sentimental, I'll say one last thing, and then we're through with this. I'll stand beside you as a friend and a beacon of support while both the people I love get their happy ending. Okay? We done?"

Nate's eyes widened a fraction of a beat in surprise like they always did when someone claimed any sort of support on his behalf. Friendship, love, family...he'd never had any of those things until arriving in Meadowlark, so he was still adjusting. Nakos got that. Understood, even. And he'd meant every word. Nate, damn him, was as solid as they came.

"Thank you," Nate muttered and rubbed his hand over his shaved head as if uncomfortable. The camo fatigues Olivia insisted he wear stretched against the bulking muscles underneath. The guy was enormous and covered in ink. Buried under all that testosterone was a good heart with noble intentions. "That means a lot."

Rip, Nate's boss and the town sheriff who'd be presiding over the service, ran his tongue over his yellow teeth, causing his FuManchu to twitch. "I'm getting all misty." His sarcastic tone had Nakos rolling his eyes. "And my balls just shrank."

"Christ." Nate glanced heavenward. "You ever use the phrase my balls in a sentence again, I'll force you into medical retirement."

"I'll help." Expelling a breath, Nakos looked around.

Four rows of white folding chairs were set up on either side of a makeshift aisle with a lattice archway at the end. There were only roughly fifty people present, as the bride and groom wanted something small. Nakos and the two other men were waiting off to the side for the cue to start. And had been for forty-five minutes.

"What's taking them so long?"

"Women," Rip said by way of explanation.

As if reading Nakos's mind, Kyle jogged around the bend toward them. He worked as one of Olivia's ranch hands and was Amy's little brother. Amy was the maid of honor, but Nakos hadn't seen her today.

Kyle wiped his forehead with his arm. He didn't have to wear a dress shirt. "They're ready. I'm supposed to tell you to get into place." He glanced quickly at Nakos. "You doing okay, man? Holding up?"

At Nate's chuckle, Nakos narrowed his eyes at Kyle with a look that said he'd single-handedly put the laugh in manslaughter.

"Pretend I didn't ask." Kyle retreated the way he'd come, but made a hard right and claimed a chair next to Nakos's parents.

Nate rolled his lips over his teeth, which did nothing to hide his grin.

"Shut up."