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“Oh my,” I said breathily with feigned astonishment while I fanned myself dramatically. “Such a big strong man, what are you going to do, slam your shoulder into the wall like a super tough action hero?”
He rolled his eyes, almost as unimpressed as I was. “Are you going to help me or just sit there looking pretty?”
“I’ll put it back, but afterwards, you have to agree to go get it checked out. Deal?” I expected him to argue with me, but he didn’t get a chance.
“Deal,” Cruz said in his I’m the boss voice. The one that brooked no argument. Nash let out a sigh and nodded.
“Okay, let’s do this then.” I moved to the back of the couch to stand behind him. “Sit up for me.” I waited while he sat up straight and shifted his bottom back on the couch so I could reach him. “This is going to hurt. But it sounds to me like you already know that.”
“I do.” He huffed out a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
I reached down and gently took his arm, making a point not to look at his face because I had no doubt this hurt like a bitch, even if he wasn’t saying so, and I hated to see him in pain. I slowly extended his arm to the side and then raised it, bending the elbow so the palm of his hand dropped down behind his head. “Okay, relax for me, and take in a couple of slow, deep breaths.”
He did as I said, and while he focused on breathing, I gently maneuvered his hand toward the opposite shoulder until it was lined up. Then I stretched his arm out and, with a tug, popped it back in. I felt the moment everything slid back into place, not only in the joint but also in the way the tension quickly bled out of his body. All of him relaxed so dramatically that it was like someone let the air out of a balloon. No doubt the pain had been pretty intense for a moment there, and the arm would still be sore afterwards, but the soreness once the joint was back in place was nothing compared to the pain of it being dislocated.
I released his arm and took a step back, watching while he rolled his shoulder and tested the movement in his arm. Then he looked back over his shoulder at me. “Thanks, Spencer. That actually was way less painful than the last time someone popped it back into place. You did a good job. You have a soft touch.”
I felt my cheeks heat, and I knew they were probably pink. People at the urgent care thanked me for helping them all the time, and they often said I was good at my job, but for some reason, it seemed to mean more coming from Nash. “Thanks. Now, we made a deal. So off to the clinic with you to make sure you didn’t do any damage.”
“I really don’t think that’s necessary, but if it will make you happy, I’ll go. But you should come with me and hold my hand in case I get scared.”
I laughed and shook my head. “You aren’t going to get scared. I’m sure you’ll be just fine.”
He let out a big sigh. “Fine, be that way. Cruz, looks like your hand’ll have to do.”
“You can hold your own hand now that Spencer put you back to rights. Come on, let’s go.”
Chapter 3
Nash
I pulled on my coat, grabbed my gloves off the table by the door, and braced myself to step out in the West Texas wind. It didn’t normally get too terribly cold here, but that wind could be brutal.
“You headed out to check the horses?” Don asked.
I turned to face the older man who’d walked out of his room into the common area we shared. The quarters here were so much nicer than the ones at the ranch where I used to work, although from what Don had told me, a lot of those changes had come after Cruz had taken over as ranch foreman. The bunkhouse had four bedrooms that all connected to a shared living and kitchen area. We still called it a bunkhouse, but truthfully, it was just a four-bedroom house that I shared with two other roommates since one bedroom was empty because we were down a hand right now.
Today was my day off, which meant Levi would be handling the feeding, but I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the rest of the day until I’d taken a few minutes to make sure everything was as it should be. “Yep, I just want to make sure that colt is doing okay.”
“He seems to be calming down, but he still don’t wanna be messed with,” Don said.
“Yeah, Murphy suggested we give him until Monday to acclimate himself to his surroundings before we start working with him, but I’ll feel better making sure.”
“Makes sense. You just mind your shoulder out there.”
“My shoulder’s fine.” I shrugged my shoulder up and down to demonstrate, being extra careful not to cringe at the lingering pain that motion aggravated.
“If you say so.” He huffed and rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna fix me some breakfast. You want any?”
“Not today. I’m gonna run into town after I check on the colt, so I’ll just grab a donut and some coffee there.” During the week, the ranch house manager, Vivian, V for short, made breakfast for everyone, but on weekends, we were on our own. Often, if one of us were cooking, we would make enough for all three of us, and Don made the best breakfasts.
“Guess it’s just me then. I haven’t seen Levi today.” Don shrugged. “Before he left last night, he told me not to worry if he didn’t come home, so I assume he had plans.”
“Good for him. He deserves a bit of fun.” I liked the kid. He was a hard worker and was easy to get along with. Everyone on the Double C was. That was another of the biggest differences between the Double C and the Walking W. The people who worked here weren’t jerks.
“Yeah, well, he’s not the only one. You could use a little fun yourself.”
“I have plenty of fun. Don’t you worry about me.”
