Page 15 of Love Me Back
“Carson, stop!” I growled. “It’s not his fault. We don’t even know if it’s connected.”
“You think it’s a coincidence?” Emerson asked. He had been suspiciously quiet. Em wasn’t known for keeping his thoughts to himself. “I guess it’s possible. We still don’t know how those women were killed or how they got on the ranch to begin with. Maybe you stumbled upon a serial killer, and he took a shot at you.”
And there was the brother we knew.
“Or King was right, and the MC found Aspen and Banshee. We know they were at the ranch to hide; we just don’t know why.”
“No one outside the club—hell, no one outside the officers and a few Golden Skulls—knows I was the one who took the guy out. There is no reason to think the attack on Gray had anything to do with him. It’s more likely it had to do with Aspen and Banshee.”
Nurse Sally came in to check my vitals and shoo my brothers and sister out. She said it was past visiting hours, but I think she could hear us arguing and decided to save me.
Closing my eyes, I laid my head back against the pillow. I needed to go home and take care of my horse.
Jessie’s face flashed behind my eyelids. I had to find a way to take care of her too. I wanted her here. Wanted her to crawl into this bed with me and wrap her arms around me as she laid her head against my chest.
I wanted her to love me the way I loved her. I knew I was asking a lot, especially after I told her to leave. But she wasn’t there yet, and that was my fault. I hadn’t spent enough time seducing her. There was no way in hell I would saddle her with someone who couldn’t take care of her the way she deserved.
Christ, I didn’t even know if I could get it up. I had no way of knowing how extensive the damage was. The fucking catheter stuck up my dick kept me from knowing if I could even pee on my own. Much less anything else.
No, sending her away was the best decision for her. I would always put her before me. Her happiness was more important, and she would never be happy with a man who couldn’t walk beside her.
Chapter Six
Grayson
Two days later, I was finally going home. My injury was still there. The swelling had come down some, but not enough to regain the feeling in my legs.
As we pulled onto the dirt road leading to the ranch, I quickly made them change course.
“I want to go to the barn first. I need to check on Thunder.”
“Thunder is fine,” Emerson scoffed.
They all hated my horse. And I got it. Thunder was a bit like a pit bull. He had imprinted on me, and I was the only person he liked. The only one allowed near him.
“I assume he is still wearing his saddle. How have you been feeding him?”
“I get up even earlier than usual and open his gate to the paddock. Once he’s distracted, I close the gate to his stall, then go around and add his feed before opening the gate again to let him back in.”
Emerson was a hard worker; no one could fault that. He was always the first one up to feed the horses. He was also the first one to help out with something he didn’t normally do. My brothers and I gave him shit for his mouth, but everyone had their flaws.
“Gray’s right. Thunder has had that saddle on for two days,” Hudson affirmed. “Think he’ll let you near him in the chair?”
“I guess we’ll find out,” Emerson chuckled.
“He will,” I assured them both. Thunder and I had a bond that few people had with an animal. A bond forged in grief and cultivated in anger at the world around us.
I held onto the door handle as the truck bounced alongthe uneven terrain. The barn came into view, and the doors were wide open. A few horses milled around the paddock, but Thunder wasn’t one of them.
“Have you been letting him out during the day?”
“Not with the other horses. Not until we can get the saddle off,” Hudson explained.
My horse was my best friend. And he was being neglected. I knew it was my fault. No one could get near him without him rearing up and causing a ruckus.
The truck pulled to a stop by the open door, and I reached to push my door open. Only when I went to step out, my legs didn’t get the memo. Frustration roared through me. It had only been two days, and the doctor said it could take weeks for the swelling to go down and the feeling to return to the lower half of my body.
If it ever did.
