He was right, of course. Maddox was nothing if not protective of the people he cared most about.
"Did you know your grandmother called him shortly before she died?"
He couldn't have caught me more off guard if he'd up and decked me. "What?" I said in disbelief.
Dallas nodded. "She was worried about you, Jett. She was afraid of what you would do once she was gone. Maddox came and got you for her just as much as he did it for you. You can call him every name in the book and blame him for every bad turn your life has taken, but he's not going to let you go. He's not going to let you just disappear. You don't want to fight, that's fine. He'll fight for you. You want to believe that he is responsible for what happened that day over there, you go right ahead. If hating him is what keeps you moving forward, he'll be the first one to tell you to do it."
Dallas reached up to touch his throat. The skin there was mangled and covered in new and old scars. "We all need something to live for, to fight for. Love, hate, rage… whatever it takes to make it possible to greet a new day."
Dallas made a move to stand. "You were supposed to threaten me," I murmured.
The man across from me seemed to know exactly what I was talking about. "You don't need me to threaten you and you've got plenty of guilt to go around. You did have a choice to come here, Jett. We all have a choice. Maddox is just making sure you remember that."
With that, Dallas stepped past me, dropping a hand on my shoulder in the process. The physical contact felt strange and awkward but not entirely unwelcome. I tried to think back to the last person who'd touched me merely for the sake of comforting me. Sawyer had, of course, but there had been no one else in a long time. Even my grandmother had seemed uncomfortable when it had come to physical contact after I’d lost my legs. Since she'd been one of the most demonstrative persons I'd ever known, I’d had to accept that I'd been the one who'd made the whole thing uncomfortable. That I'd sent out that hands-off message.
As Dallas left the room, my thoughts returned to the sexy doctor who'd stitched me up. Had Sawyer missed that same message today or had he just ignored it? The idea that maybe he'd wanted to touch me for no other reason than he’d wanted to touch me was almost too much to bear.
I felt my cock once again stirring and automatically looked down at my lap. The only thing I really saw, though, were the stubs that had once been my legs. I frowned because Dallas was right. I did have a choice and I'd made it a long time ago and nothing, not my best friend's intervention or a fresh start in a new town or even a sexy-as-fuck yet completely annoying doctor would change that.
CHAPTER FIVE
SAWYER
“Same rules apply, Jerry. You take a shi-…dump on me, you’re toast,” I reminded the zebra as I scanned the bottom of his foot.
“You’re a fucking vet?!”
The question was asked with such outrage and volume that Jerry kicked out his back leg, tearing his hoof from my grasp and grazing my forearm in the process. Then the zebra was off and running toward the opposite end of the paddock, scattering the cows, goats, and other livestock in his path.
“Son of a bitch!” I shouted as fire flared up my arm.
“Sawyer?” Isaac yelled from somewhere behind me, his voice full of worry. I tried to tamp down my response to the pain as I turned around. A very worried Isaac and a clearly pissed-off Jett were at the top of the path that led down to the livestock barn.
“Oh God, are you alright?” Isaac called.
“I’m good,” I lied.
Isaac rushed to the fence and put out his hands. “Lemme see,” he demanded.
“Isaac, I’m fine. Jerry just grazed me—”
“Let me see!” Isaac barked. It was his I-know-I’m-not-your-father-but-don’t-mess-with-me-right-now voice. I obediently stuck my arm through the fence slats. “It’s already starting to bruise,” Isaac said as he gently moved my arm back and forth. “Do you think it’s broken?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s fine,” I said. I moved my arm enough to prove that my mobility wasn’t affected. It still hurt like hell, but I could tell it wouldn’t be long until the pain began to recede. I met Isaac’s eyes and held them. “It’s fine, Isaac, I swear.”
Though clearly still upset, Isaac nodded. “I’ll, um, I’ll get you some ice,” he said. He still had a hold of my arm when he turned his head in Jett’s direction. Jett, for his part, continued to look pissed. Even more so than he had been a minute ago.