“I’m sorry, sweetheart, not to be rude, but I killed a man for you a week ago.Killed. And you think I was just here for fun and intend to just…leave?” Duke is incredulous and the look on his face is so comically offended that both Cash and I snicker, earning a frown.
“Well, you said you had to leave?” I’m confused.
“Yeah, because we went on an unplanned impromptu rescue mission while we were sitting aroundthe fire and are in Duke’s truck. We can’t even get you home unless you want to spend the drive squished between us with a shifter between your legs.”
“Do not respond the way your face says you want to. You’re injured, Caroline,” Duke scolds me before I can even put words to the thoughts that are clearly written on my face. I giggle, and both their faces soften.
“We discussed it last night, before bed,” Cash adds.
“Before bed…?”
“Yeah, at the hotel?” Cash seems confused by my confusion.
“Listen, I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about this whole situation but you saying ‘before bed’ conjured an interesting picture, okay?” I snicker at him, crinkling my nose.
“Simmer down, Callie. We have separate beds. And you calledmeshameless. I swear.” Cash rubs his hand down his face, his cheeks a little pink at my implication.
Duke looks at Cash, tilting his head just a little, then rubs the week of beard he’s grown. “Sorry, sweetheart, he’s just not my type.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Can we focus please?”
Duke exhales a laugh at Cash’s words. It’s a real live, deep, throaty laugh and it makes my heart sing. He’s so reserved but it seems he saves his joy for Cash which is such a cowboy bromance thing.
“Anyway,” Cash continues, “we talked. Before we went to our separate beds and hugged ourownpillows. And one of us snored. It wasn’t me.” Duke rolls his eyes. “We are going back to Inspiration and swapping Duke’s truck for mine. It has a backseat. That way you can ride up front, and Duke can watch over us from his perch in back.”
Duke lets out a beleaguered sigh, as though this is all too much for him.
“I can ride in the back,” I volunteer.
“No, you can’t. You need to be able to lean back. I’ll be behind you to help you however you need, and Cash will drive the speed limit and get us home. And, I have no idea the state of your apartment, but we think it will be best if you stay with Cash at the farmhouse for a bit. Just until you’re back on your feet.”
“Youboththink it will be best?” I’m sorry, these men are jointly making decisions for me now? “I actually think you two need to tell me what is happening here. The last time I saw you, before you busted in like white knights, you hated me. Rightfully so, but I am just confused.”
Looking between them, I wait to see who will break first. Surprisingly, it’s Duke.
“Look, Caroline, this isn’t the ideal place or time for a conversation as serious as this. We can’t do confession hour while you’re injured. Wewillhave the conversation, but can we please just get you home, settled in at Cash’s, and then go from there?”
“Yeah, Hurricane.” Hearing his nickname for me warms me from my toes to the top of my head. “Big conversations are needed, and I would like to have them at home. Will you let us take you home?”
I nod. “But only if Duke is there too. It’s the three of us or it’s nothing.”
Duke looks at Cash and they do the silent communication thing I’ve noticed a lot these last few days before Duke nods.
“Okay, I’ll be there, Sunshine.”
Chapter 35
Free and Easy
Duke
“I meant what I said when I said I would be there until she doesn’t want me to be,” I tell Cash on the drive back to Inspiration. The doctor thinks he will be sending Caroline home tomorrow, and we have work to do before she gets there.
She was sad to see us go this afternoon but it’s a few hours’ drive home and we need to get the house ready for her, stop by her apartment and get her some clothes, swap trucks, sleep and get back, all before visiting hours start.
“Okay, but ‘it’s the three of us or nothing’ sounds really...ominous. Are we in a throuple? Are you my new boyfriend?” Cash bats his eyelashes at me.
“Shut up. I honestly don’t know if any of us know what the hell is going on. If it’s worth anything, I don’t actually think that’s what she meant. I think she is trying to figure this out, just like us, and the only way to do it is if we are together.”
