Sanctuary Found (Pelican Bay 2)

But none of those rules seemed to apply to Isaac.

I’d already gotten past the fact that he was a guy. Maybe it was so easy because of the more intense emotions he stirred in me that went way past desire. Or maybe because I’d always been someone who dealt with a situation head-on and then moved forward. I didn’t ruminate or wonder or waffle back and forth. I saw something, I made a decision about it, and I moved on to the next thing.

So being attracted to a guy was kind of easy in that sense. My dick responded whenever I was around Isaac and I accepted what that meant.

But the emotional shit…

That was a whole other ballgame.

I may have stuck to my routine of saying what I thought when I’d spit out all that stuff about how he made me feel, but now what the hell was I supposed to do? Straight, gay, or bi… didn’t matter. I needed the damn handbook that told you how to deal with the stuff that came in addition to attraction and desire.

I glanced at my brother where he was tossing debris into the back of his truck. I still had half the building to tear down, but Dallas was making good progress with cleaning up the scattered lumber. It’d been a couple of weeks since his surgery and he’d only recently gone with Nolan to Minneapolis to follow up with his surgeon and to have the stitches removed. He had another appointment in two weeks where the surgeon would actually do the testing to see if Dallas’s voice would fully return and that it was safe to start using it more regularly. If things went well, he’d be working with a speech therapist on a regular basis. Fortunately, he’d found one in Pelican Bay he’d be able to work with, so he wouldn’t need to travel for those appointments.

Pain suddenly lanced through my hand as I reached for a piece of wood to throw on the pile.

“Son of a biscuit!” I snapped as the sharp edge of a piece of broken metal I hadn’t seen ripped through my glove and into my palm.

Blood began pouring from the wound as I pulled my glove off. Dallas was by my side instantly. He pulled a bandana from his pocket and quickly wrapped it around my hand. Blood immediately seeped through the material.

“Stupid,” I muttered more to myself than anything else.

Dallas quickly typed something into his phone and handed it to me as he grabbed me by the arm and led me toward his truck.

You need stitches. Come on. Nice swear word, BTW.

I smiled to myself at the last part. All of us adults had started to temper our language in deference to Newt. And while I hadn’t been around the little boy as much, I’d heard the stories of the various punishments Newt and Isaac had been inflicting. Nolan had, in fact, missed out on a coveted pedicure and Sawyer had yet to actually get his nails done because the man cursed worse than a sailor.

My humor lasted about as long as it took me to realize Dallas was leading me to his truck. The second he opened the door for me, I broke out into a cold sweat and it became hard to breathe. I was backing away before I could even stop myself.

“It’s fine,” I said. “I just need a bandage.”

Coward that I was, I didn’t give Dallas a chance to respond using his phone. I just turned around and hurried up the trail that would lead to the office where the first aid kit was. Not surprisingly, Dallas’s truck was sitting outside the office by the time I got there and four sets of eyes settled on me the second I walked in the door.

True to form, my eyes zeroed in on Isaac first. He was wearing what had to be the most boring clothes I’d ever seen on him. A simple cable-knit sweater that looked a little big on him, his dark skinny jeans, and boring navy-blue moon boots. I couldn’t help but wonder what he was wearing beneath the jeans. At least the sweater was bright pink and he was wearing his normal eyeliner and gloss.

“You’re going,” Isaac said, his arms crossed.

I glared at Dallas, who’d clearly ratted me out.

“Where’s Sawyer?” I asked. “I’m sure he can take care of it.”

“He had an emergency call,” Nolan interjected. “You need to go to urgent care.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but Isaac shook his head. “You’re going and I’m driving you and that’s all there is to it. Any questions?” he asked. His pretty lips were pulled into a tight line and I just wanted to kiss the frown away.

“Fine,” I said. My whole body immediately reacted and it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Isaac was there, his soft hands framing my face.