Page 5 of Scoring the Mountain Man

“His grandparents' cabin?” I question and she nods.

I stand up with the file in my hand and make my way out of Emily’s office and back to the locker room. I take deep breaths, knowing I need to get my feelings for Jaxon under control. He is a patient and I could be working with him for months.

I grab my stuff and head out to my car. I input the address into the GPS and drive. Ten minutes into my drive, the phone rings and I see my brother’s name pop up on the screen.

“Hey Wes, what’s going on?” I ask him as I accept the call.

“Are you on your way to see Jaxon?” he asks.

“How do you know that?” I question him.

“I may have asked the doctor here to contact Emily and ask that you be his physical therapist,” he says with guilt in his voice.

“Why?” I ask, confused.

Growing up, Wes hated for me to be around him and Jaxon, especially Jaxon.

“Jax is in a bad place, and I know if anyone can cheer him up, it’s you. You have a way about making everyone feel good about themselves and he needs that. He needs your sunshine, Brey,” Wes tells me.

I can’t help but sigh and chuckle a little bit. Is he that bad?” I have to ask.

“Worse. I don’t think he’s left that cabin since he was released from the hospital and I took him up there. He’s grumpy and I get it, he can’t do what he loves, but I’m worried about him.”

“Okay, I’ll see if I can not only fix his knee, but his attitude too,” I say with a little laugh, but worry gnaws at my gut.

“That’s all I ask, sis. Thanks,” Wes says before disconnecting the call.

“What have I gotten myself into?” I whisper aloud.

Once I get up the mountain and find the cabin, I realize very quickly how isolated he is. I grab the initial intake forms, pamphlets, and my stop watch.

I walk up to the cabin’s front door and knock. I hear what I think is a faint, “Come in,” so I open the door and call out, “Hello, Jaxon?”

“In here,” I hear a gruff voice say.

I find Jaxon sitting in a recliner in the living room with the tv on a hockey game. I take in his appearance and notice the man has a full grown beard. It doesn’t make him less attractive, if anything it makes him look rugged and sexy. He has no shirt on and I can see the definition of each of his muscled abs. He’s wearing gray sweatpants and the brace on his knee.

I walk further into his living room and plaster a bright smile on my face. The man looks like a God, but I can see he needs help.

“Hey Jax, how are you feeling?” I ask him with a bright smile on my face.

“What are you doing here, Aubrey? Did Wes send you over to check on me?”

“No. I’m your physical therapist,” I tell him as I open the curtains and allow the sun to shine in.

I watch him flinch from the light as he looks at me.

“Why?” he asks.

I look at him, confused. “Why what?”

“Why you? Why are you my therapist?”

“Because you were assigned to me as a patient and I’m here to do my job,” I tell him, not allowing his gruffness or questioning to deter me as I set my stuff down and look at his brace.

“First things first, let’s take off the brace and make sure all the swelling has gone down and the incision is healed well enough to start some therapy,” I tell him as I begin to take the brace off.

“I can do it,” he says gruffly, pushing my hands away.

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