Cowboys & Kisses (16 page)

I smiled. “Okay.”

We were walking out of the hospital when Levi showed up. He jumped out of his truck, looking sincerely worried. “Allie, honey, you okay?”

“How did you know?” I asked.

“My aunt’s a nurse here. She knows I’m sweet on you.” Levi winked. “But don’t tell on her, she’d get fired for telling me.”

“Oh?” I paused. “I won’t.” We kept walking to Dax’s blue truck. It wasn’t jacked up, with huge tires or fancy metal grillwork—it was just a truck, like Wyatt’s.

“Ouch,” Levi said, inspecting my stings.

“You could say that.” I grimaced.

Levi opened the passenger door for me. “What do you need?”

“I’m taking her home,” Dax said.

“I can drive you,” Levi offered.

“She’s covered. I’m already sort of going that way, man.” Dax tried not to sound impatient.

“Okay.” Levi nodded. “If you didn’t
want
to go tubing on the river, all you had to do was say no. You didn’t have to go and get yourself stung.”

I had to laugh. “You’re hilarious.” He smiled.

“It’s sweet of you to come check on her, Levi,” Mom said. “We need to get her home. Come on, Allie.” I nodded, climbing into the truck and sliding to the middle.

“Yes, ma’am. Some R and R is just what she needs,” Levi said. “If I can help, let me know. And Mr. Cooper, sir, I’d be glad to lend a hand at your place.”

My dad looked surprised. I knew he wouldn’t turn him down; there was still a lot to get done. “I’d appreciate that, Levi. If you’re free Tuesday, I can put you to work.”

Tuesday? Wasn’t today Sunday? My head felt fuzzy.

“I’ll be there.” Levi started to close the door, but Wyatt caught it.

“Hold up,” Wyatt said.

“Your truck break down?” Levi asked, a definite edge to his tone.

“Nope,” Wyatt said, sliding onto the bench seat beside me.

For the first time, I glanced at Wyatt. It was hard to miss the tension. Levi’s jaw bulged while Wyatt’s nostrils flared. Great.

Dax started the truck. “See you later,” he said.

Wyatt pulled the door shut, making the frown on Levi’s face turn ugly.

“Looks like Tuesday will be interesting,” Dax groaned.

I smacked him on the shoulder. “You okay?” I asked Wyatt.

Wyatt’s smile was tired, drained, but at least he was still smiling. “You’re asking
me
?” He nodded. “I’m good.”

“You’re so full of shit,” Dax murmured.

Wyatt laughed. I sighed, resting my head on the back of the seat. “Are
you
okay?” Wyatt asked.

I turned my head, still resting it on the back of the seat. Heavy-lidded brown eyes were waiting for me. Seriously, I could look at him all day. A heavy stubble covered his jaw. I saw the muscle tighten there, clench, and looked up into his bloodshot eyes. He was watching me…and he looked so freaking gorgeous I didn’t bother pretending I wasn’t admiring him. He pressed his eyes closed, taking a deep breath.

“Comfortable?” Dax asked me.

I nodded, but didn’t look away from Wyatt. When he opened his eyes, I arched a brow. He shook his head, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. I smiled back.

Dax took the corner hard, sliding me into Wyatt—who caught me, his arm steadying me against him.
Perfect
.

“Deer,” Dax murmured.

Whatever
. Possible, but not likely. All that mattered was I ended up exactly where I wanted to be, burrowed into Wyatt’s side.

He held me close for a minute, relaxing his hold enough to slide his hand up my back, under my hair. I shivered. His hand rested lightly on the back of my neck, warm, intimate, tingle-inducing. He pressed my head to his chest, slouching against the seat enough that we were both comfortable. I was, at least.

I lay there, watching the scrub top he wore beat in time to his heartbeat. His breathing slowed, his hand sliding down to rest at the base of my spine. I was strangely relaxed but totally aware of his every twitch.

The drive home was nice, but not long enough. Not nearly long enough.

10 CHAPTER TEN

“We’re here,” Dax announced unnecessarily.

I sat up and Wyatt opened the truck door. He held it open, standing back for me. I climbed out after him, walking between the two of them up the steps and into the house.

“Recliner,” Dax commanded. “I’ll get you some water. Chill.”

Wyatt handed me the remote control.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Dax shook his head. “You can’t just hand over the power like that. I know she’s wounded and all, but she might put on some chick-flick or something.”

I laughed, turning on the TV, and searching until I found a soccer game. Dax sighed. “Could be worse,” I said. Dax rolled his eyes and headed for the kitchen while Wyatt stood there. “Sit.” I pointed at the couch. “Before you fall.”

He flopped onto the couch, listing to the side. I really wished I was there on the couch with him. My hand fisted around the remote. Yes, I’d used him as a human pillow on the way home, but that didn’t mean anything…as long as I didn’t act like it meant anything. I mean, I’d have flopped on Dax if he hadn’t been driving, right? Sure.

So treat Wyatt like Dax…
I swallowed. Was I really going to try to convince myself that Wyatt was anything like Dax? That the feelings I had for my brother were anything like what I had for Wyatt? I mean, I guess they sort of were. I loved them both.

I glanced at him, and he looked at me. “You okay?” he asked. I nodded. His gaze turned heavy and intense. “Allie…” He sat forward. “I’m sorry—”

Mom and Dad arrived just then, breaking the tension in the room and dragging Wyatt into the kitchen with them. While everyone ate in the kitchen, I was banished to the recliner—giving me plenty of time to wonder what the hell Wyatt was sorry for. I was the one who kept throwing herself at him before telling him I wasn’t interested.

Mom tucked a blanket over my lap. “You might get a chill.”

“A chill?” I shook my head, my argument only half-hearted. “It’s like a hundred and three degrees!”

“Outside, yes,” she countered. “So hush. Eat.”

I sighed, but smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”

I was feeling rotten, both physically and emotionally, and the burger held about as much interest as taking a chemistry test. I hated chemistry.

Mom was right. I was going to crash soon, I could feel it. I was feeling all sorts of new things today and not all of it was good. Scorpions, bad. Falling in love…not so sure. But now that I knew how I felt, I sort of needed to decide what to do about it.
If
I was going to do anything about it.
I guess I could keep pretending I don’t feel anything for him. I could try to ignore him.

I felt sick.

“You look a little green around the gills,” Dad commented as he sat on the couch. I grunted in response.

“Need anything?” Mom asked.

“Water?”

Wyatt came out of the kitchen carrying a tall glass of ice water. He put the glass on the marble-top table beside the recliner.

I smiled at him. “Thanks.”

He nodded, his gaze traveling over my face. He sucked in a deep breath. “Well, I’ve got to get home. Hank’ll be there with the trailer soon.”

“Dax and I will come.” Dad stood. “Then we’ll go get your truck.”

“Take care of yourself,” he murmured softly to me.

“O-okay…I will,” I promised, tongue-tied and flustered like an idiot.

He smiled at me, a small smile, looking sweet and concerned and…I took a deep breath and stared at the remote in my hands. When I looked back, he was gone.

***

Wyatt didn’t come over on Monday. I spent most of the day with my parents hovering over me. If they weren’t doing it, Molly and Dax were.

The perk to Molly and Dax—Molly had a lot to teach me. I knew rodeo was a big part of Wyatt’s life. I also knew that I knew next to nothing about it. But Molly was…from his world, so I’d soak up every little thing she wanted to share. I tried to be discreet about it, flipping channels until—surprise!—I found a rodeo event on one of the sports channels.

Three hours later my head and heart hurt. Wyatt was shooting for all-around champion and big scholarship bucks. If I thought steer wrestling was hard to watch, I didn’t know how I was going to make it when he was bull riding.

“Wyatt’s really good,” Molly said for the hundredth time.

I guess my reactions to grown men being thrown twenty feet in the air, stomped on, or hobbling out of the arena weren’t so discreet after all. “He…he does
this?
” I asked as the TV showed an especially horrific slow-motion shot of a cowboy getting tossed by the bull’s horns into the wall.

“Since he was fourteen,” Molly said.

“Fourteen?” Dax asked, letting out a low whistle. “And I thought football was tough.”

“You played football?” she asked, turning to Dax.

“No.” He shook his head. “I’m not a jock.”

I watched the huge smile on her face. “I’m glad.”

I turned my attention back to the TV since
my brother was going in for a kiss…

It was official. This was definitely a parallel universe. My brother was making out while I was sitting in a recliner under a nappy-ass felt blanket, with red welts on my neck and face, getting all hot and bothered over a cowboy. I sighed.

I went to bed early, the big dose of Benadryl helping me sleep the night through.

I woke up to one of my favorite sounds in the world.

Thump.

I lay there, smiling at the ceiling.

Thump
.

My heart was going three times as fast.

Thump
.

I rolled over, peering out the window.

Thump
.

Dax. Dad. Levi…
Doesn’t matter.

Thump
.

Wyatt. His shirt was still on…but I didn’t mind. I sighed in contentment.

I took a shower—the red was almost completely gone from the stings—and made my way downstairs. Mom had left me a note, giving me the day off from the clinic. I should have been happy, but instead I felt like I was letting her down. Of course, she had staff now; she wasn’t alone, and the place was starting to come together.

“How are you this morning?” Dax asked, leaning in the back door.

“Okay,” I said, filling a plastic glass with water. “What’s on the schedule for today?”

He shook his head. “You’re holding down the couch.”

“I’m
fine
,” I argued.

“Dad said you’re not to do anything. Mom tried to tell him you could go in with her, but he vetoed it.”

I frowned out the window at my father. “Why?”

“Um, maybe because you almost died—
again—
on Sunday?” He realized he’d made a mistake as soon as he’d said it. I saw it on his face, the way his smile dimmed and he shook his head as he said, “Dammit, Allie, I’m sorry.”

I knew he was sorry. It was a slip. Exactly what I needed.

There is something seriously wrong with me.

It had been four months and I was moving on. Four months since my best friend died and my life went to hell.
Four months makes everything okay?
No. No. Everything was
not
okay. I shook my head, my hands fisting at my sides, my chest heavy.
God, I’m a horrible, selfish, shallow person.
I was…falling in love. I swallowed, hard.

And Lindie was stuck in a box under a couple of feet of dirt.

“Allie?” Dax walked inside, letting the screen door slam behind him. “Don’t shut down.”

I shot him a look. “I’m going for a run.”

“You should rest,” he argued, frowning.

“Why? I’m fine.”

“You’re not—”

“Shut
up
, will you?” I snapped.

He did, for a moment. “Allie…” I saw him flounder. “Can you…can you wait a minute? I kind of need…some advice…”

I sighed. “Advice? From me? Please.”

He frowned. “Will you just listen for a minute? Or are you too invested in transforming into your angry self-absorbed witch alter ego—”

I couldn’t help it, my mouth fell open. “Dax…”

“It’s Molly. I need help with Molly.”

That took some of the sting out of his words. I knew how crazy he was over her and, judging from his red cheeks and how uncomfortable he looked, maybe he wasn’t just trying to distract me from losing it—again. “I’m listening.”

“Well…” He cleared his throat, glancing out the back door. “I…We…I keep messing things up.”

“Things?” Did I really want to know?
No sex talks, please, no sex talks.

“I…I keep…” He paused, closing his eyes. “I’m freezing up, when I want to…kiss her.” He sounded so frustrated I couldn’t help but smile.

Relief. Kiss. Fine. Crisis averted
. “But…I saw you, the other day. You totally went in for the kiss.”

“And ended up planting one on her cheek.” He groaned. “Her
cheek
.”

I smiled, trying not to laugh. “Why?”

He looked at me like I had two heads. “I have no idea.
Obviously
. That’s why I’m asking you.”

Dax had no idea that my romantic explorations were just as limited as his. It wasn’t for lack of opportunities, just lack of interest. Maybe it was because I’d known all the guys since we were in diapers practically, or that most of the boys I knew were interested in conquests, not me.

Lindie had said I was too picky. Maybe so. But my focus had always been on the game and competition. Some girls might lump boys into their competitive arena, but to me, boys, dating, and relationships meant distractions.

“You
want
to kiss her?” I clarified. “I mean, you’re not having second thoughts?”

“No second thoughts.” He frowned. “She’s all I think about. Kissing her would be…nice.”

I didn’t know what to say. I knew I needed to say something. He was really upset. “So you want me to tell you what, exactly?” I asked.