Page 12 of Big Obsession

Her voice is a muffle. “What did the doctor say?”

When I don’t answer right away, she pulls back enough to look up at me. “Tucker Yates, what did the doctor say?”

“My ribs are bruised, not broken.”

Jace clears his throat and gives me a look. “AND he has a concussion. Someone needs to stay with him and wake him up every hour. No driving for two weeks, until he’s been rechecked.”

“I’m driving,” I state with a shrug of my shoulders.

Dolly pulls from my arms and points a finger at me. “No, you’re not. Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

She turns on her heel and marches up the steps and back inside the house, leaving Jace and me to follow.

As soon as we’re inside the lighted room, Dolly’s mouth drops looking at me. I’m covered in sweat, dirt, sawdust, and dried blood. I know I’m a mess.

She looks so worried. I open my arms again, and she steps against me, holding me tightly. I ignore the pain in my ribs and tell Jace, “Thanks again for picking me up at the hospital. I know you hate leaving Delaney and the kids at night.”

Jace just crosses his arms over his chest. “You don’t have to thank me.” He blows out a breath, then looks at Dolly and back to me. “You know you’re going to get yourself killed if you keep on like this. You're all Ace has, Tuck.”

Dolly gasps next to me. “What happened?”

When I don’t say anything, Jace starts to explain. “Tucker here decided after riding a bull, he would try his hand at barrel racing. He and Bullet got tripped up somehow, and Tuck ended up with his head hitting the last barrel.” He looks straight at me. “You could have died tonight.”

I open my mouth and then close it before I finally mutter, “I know.”

Jace points at me. “You want me to stick around? I can let Delaney know I’ll be home in the morning.”

Dolly looks up at me as if she’s asking if it’s all right. “I can stay with you, and I’ll make sure you wake up every hour.”

I nod. “We’re good, brother. Thanks again for coming to get me.”

We walk Jace to the front door, and after waving bye to him, Dolly looks up at me. “Bruised ribs and a concussion? Anything else?”

I pull a bottle of pills from my pocket. “Pain pills, but I won’t be taking any.”

She takes the bottle from me. “I’ll lock them up in the medicine chest just in case.” She looks me up and down. “Okay, first things first, I’m going to help you shower.”

And just like that, I’m hard.

CHAPTER 8

DOLLY

I sound all confident, but inside I’m shaking like a leaf. Tucker could have been killed tonight. I want to curl up in a ball and cry, but I’m going to let myself do that later. Right now, I need to help him get comfortable.

He points at me. “You’re going to help me shower?”

I roll my eyes. “Well, it’s not like you can do it on your own.”

He shakes his head. “Nope. No way, not going to happen.”

I point at him. “Okay, cowboy, let’s see. Can you take your clothes off?”

He easily undoes the buttons on his shirt, but when he tries to take the shirt off, his face is etched in pain, and it kills me to see him that way. “Look, just let me help you.”

I reach for him, and he grabs my wrists. “Dolly…”

We stand here facing each other, his hand wrapped around my wrists. “You’re being ridiculous.”

---