Colorado Flames WIth A Texas Twist (5 page)

“Shit, you have some nasty scratches,” James said as he helped Brody into the shirt. “Your back is kind of torn up. The tree mush have scratched you”

“It hurts,” Brody said.

They were silent as they lifted him, half pushed him into the seat. He started to scoot to the middle but James put his hand on Brody's arm, stopping him from moving.

"Just stay there. I'll sit in the center."

The door slammed and it took James and Tucker only a second to start whispering. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he gathered that Tucker was ripping into James. Their voices rose then suddenly stopped. Both James and Tucker glared at him before stepping around the back of the truck to the driver's side. They loaded in, James sitting beside him.

"To the hospital?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah, the hospital."

James threw his arm over Brody's shoulder and settled close to him. It was strange sitting with James pressed up against him but oddly comforting. They'd been in the truck for a short while when he felt James's fingertips running over his shoulder. The gentle brush against his arm sent tendrils of heat through him. His dick stirred again and no matter how much he fought the attraction, it was there, back in his face, making itself known.

Brody glanced up and found James staring at him. This man was making him feel things he didn't want. When he'd first started really noticing guys, he'd pushed back, ignoring the tug of desire. When he'd been in Denver the last time, he'd gone to a gay bar, enjoying the attention he'd received from the guys, but he didn't really participate until a cute young thing approached him. The guy had been irresistible and insistent. He’d pushed all of Brody’s buttons without even trying. He looked like a much younger version of James, and a bit smaller too, but still, the same look as the man sitting beside him. At first, Brody said no to the very cute guy, but then he’d slid his fingers down Brody's chest and toyed with his belt buckle. Desire had filled Brody, and they’d gone to the back.

In the dirty, rancid beer smelling hall, he’d had his first gay kiss. His dick had gone wild, filling out so quickly it hurt. Then the cute guy tried to open Brody’s pants and he’d freaked, running out to his truck and hopping in faster than lightning. He’d wanted to spend the night wrapped in the arms of a man, but he couldn’t take that step. With James, he knew he could.

When he’d come home from Denver, he’d stuffed those desires away and focused on what he'd been told all his life mattered most, getting married to a good woman and having kids. He wanted kids, lots of them, but he didn't want a woman. Jessica had been available and a couple of friends set them up. He still woke in a sweat with thoughts of that guy kissing him, but now he feared he’d be thinking of James kissing him instead. Fuck, why did he want men, not women?

Attraction was an odd thing. Women were nice, but they did nothing for him. He wanted a man. And though he shouldn’t admit it because it went against everything he’d learned as a kid, the truth was he liked guys. The conditioning from his upbringing had left him unable to acknowledge who he really was, so right now might be the only time he actually was honest with himself.

They pulled up at the small hospital, all three of them silently staring at the emergency room door. Now that they were here, he wasn't sure he wanted to go in. The pain was lessening but not enough to skip the ER.

"What are you going to tell them?" Tucker asked.

"No clue." Telling the doctors he'd been hit by a car would lead to questions. Hell, everything would lead to questions.

"I'll go in with you," James said.

"Your truck. How will you get that?" Brody asked.

James sighed and pinched his lips together. “I'll go in and make sure you get seen. Then I'll have Tucker take me to pick up my truck. I'll be back to take you home before they release you."

Tucker cut the engine and rolled down the windows before stepping out of the truck. Then James slid over, and exited, leaving him alone. Brody let go of the breath he’d been holding. How the hell was this going to work? He’d been hit by a freaking car. They had to come up with a reasonable explanation before he entered the ER. Tucker and James both came around to help him slide out of the seat. Pain raced up his leg, but he stayed tough, not leaning on James too much until he wrapped his arm under Brody's for support.

They walked about ten feet before stopping. “We need a plan,” Brody said.

“Yeah, a good one,” James agreed.

After hashing out a quick plan, James helped him to the entrance. The automatic doors slid open as they approached. No backing out now. His hands slicked with sweat as he walked into the waiting room. Nothing good could come from this.

Chapter Six

James left Brody with a competent and capable nurse before rushing out to Tucker’s
truck. He was fucked. Tucker would mention it to Duff and he would be pissed. Only a few hours ago he’d told Duff that everything was fine. He'd fucked up, probably put the ranch at risk, and now he had to worry about Brody. Whoever had hurt Brody wasn't his problem, but he wanted to make it his problem. Hell, he’d seen the guy watching them, so he could argue that it was his problem, but he knew it really wasn’t. Duff would tell him as much. Fuck, he’d tell himself as much. The only reason he’d been following Brody around was because he wanted him. In the back of his mind, he knew that if he could figure out who had gone after Brody, maybe he could stop the attacks.

Tucker said nothing when he got in the truck. They rolled out of the hospital parking lot and headed to Brody's house. When they were less than a mile from where he'd parked his truck, he couldn’t stand the silence any longer.

"How did you know where my truck was?"

Tucker huffed out a breath and rolled his eyes. "Are you serious?"

"How long have you known?"

"Today, actually on the way over here. Billy searched it out. It's pathetic. I have no idea why no one else knew about your little activities. You're good. How the fuck did no one know? Really, how did you not give it away? Are you really that interested in him?"

"I think I like him."

Tucker was silent as he pulled in behind James’s truck. They both sat still for a long time as the truck idled. His brain was flashing over the last few hours, thinking about everything that had happened, but mostly he was thinking of the guy who’d been watching Brody.

"Do you like him enough to give up the ranch?" Tucker asked. His voice was quiet, his gaze serious.

Maybe he did like Brody enough to give up the life. It was getting old. Well, not really. Craig coming back and trying to kill them had put a damper on everything, making life tough. But was he ready to give up the missions, his buddies, and the satisfaction he got when taking down a killer or saving someone from certain death? He couldn't make that decision yet.

"I'll be home tomorrow," James said.

"Duff is angry."

"I'm sure he is."

"You'll probably be disciplined."

He nodded and stepped out of the truck. Tucker rolled down the window and James leaned in, his gaze not meeting Tucker’s.

"I can't tell you what to do, but if someone actually hit Brody on purpose, they might know who you are and they could be trying to attack you where it will hurt the most. Our location is still secure, as far as we know, but for how long, that’s anybody’s guess."

James slid his gaze over and met Tucker’s. "Craig could have told someone."

"Exactly, which scares the shit out of me."

James stood tall and pulled his keys from his pocket. "I'll be safe and keep an eye out. This could be totally unrelated."

"Maybe."

He didn’t think Tucker believed this incident was unrelated for a minute. There were too many coincidences and they hated when things lined up too nicely. Brody was now connected to the ranch and as scary as that was, he kind of liked that Brody knew a few of his secrets. He stepped away from Tucker’s truck and headed to his vehicle.

“I’ll be back at the ranch soon,” he called over his shoulder.

“Hey, you’ve been missing so...never mind.”

“What?”

“You’ve been away and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Get your story straight. Duff is going to be angry enough as it is.”

James nodded and slapped the side of the truck. Tucker drove off and James watched for a minute before he hopped into his truck and drove out to the area where Brody had been hit. It was dark and deserted along the stretch of road where the incident had occurred. The car was long gone and had left nothing behind. Being night, there wasn't anything to see so he headed to the hospital, hoping Brody would be ready to leave.

There'd be hell to pay once he got back to Wild Bluff, and he wasn't looking forward to the punishment. It wasn’t that he was seeing a guy, but Brody knew things and that was dangerous. If he was angry enough, Duff might kick him out, but James doubted Duff would go that far. The rules were in place for a reason, though Duff was hardly ever in their face about them. They all knew what was at stake, so why the fuck was he flirting with Brody? There could never be a future with him since Brody knew more than he should. He and Brody weren't going to go off and become boyfriends, getting cozy, and eventually moving in together. Brody could only be someone James fucked on the side and that was all. But that’s not all it felt like. There was more to their relationship, even if he had a hard time admitting it.

When he pulled into the hospital parking lot, he cut the engine and sat for a long moment. How could he have been so stupid? Brody would never be the type of guy to stay on the sidelines. No one wanted that type of life. It sucked to be the boy on the side, the one left in the dust. If and when James retired from Wild Bluff, he'd want someone full-time in his life. Taking a part-time guy and making him a full-time partner wouldn't work. He'd seen a few of his army buddies try that and it didn't turn out too good for any of them.

He had to end this. Tonight, he'd walk away from Brody and never look back. Brody didn't know how dangerous James's life was and he wanted to keep it that way. James got out of his truck and strode into the hospital. He went to the front desk, glad that the woman working recognized him.

"Back with your car?" She asked, her voice overly bright for the ER.

"Yes. So my friend, Brody, is he still here? Can I see him?"

"Sure. Let me see where he is."

She picked up the phone and placed a call. He listened to her end of the conversation. It didn't sound like she was going to try to shut him out and prevent him from seeing Brody. When she hung up, she smiled and nodded.

"If you could just have a seat over there, the nurse will be out in a few minutes to get you."

He nodded and headed to the other side of the room where the lady had indicated he should sit. When one of the guys from the ranch was injured, no one ever prevented them from going back in the emergency room. Maybe that was because they almost never used the emergency room. They could take care of their own. Craig coming onto the ranch, trying to kill them, had forced them out of their protective enclave. For years he’d lived in a bubble of military protection or at the ranch. The real world sucked.

How would the guys have reacted if he’d brought Brody back to the ranch? They wouldn’t have been happy. Keeping the ranch life separated from Brody would be difficult. This was why he needed to end it before anything grew between them that couldn’t be stopped. The back and forth in his head over Brody was driving him crazy. Each time he told himself he didn’t want the guy, his emotions would take over, leaving him wondering if he could have him.

James had taken a seat in the far corner of the waiting area and was watching the room out of habit. Two men came in, one dropping to a chair near the door, the other heading to the desk James had just vacated. A woman carrying a baby came out from the emergency doors, her eyes rimmed with red. Her smile was huge and made him think the reason they’d came to the emergency room had been taken care of. Being a parent had to be hard. He wondered if Brody wanted kids. His heart squeezed and he drew in a slow breath. Had he really started thinking about kids with Brody?

Time seemed to standstill, which he knew was just an illusion brought on by his desire to see Brody. The minutes still ticked by, and he hadn't been inside the ER for long, maybe ten minutes, but it felt like forever. Boredom was a sharpshooter's worse enemy. Had the woman at the reception desk put him on ice to keep him out of the patient area, or was she really going to have the nurse come get him? He knew how to deal with empty time on a mission, but sitting in an emergency room waiting to find out the extent of Brody’s injuries was driving him crazy. After a few more minutes, the door opened and a man dressed in blue scrubs stepped into the waiting room. His gaze swept to James and settled. A brief smile passed over the man's features as he moved closer.

"Are you James?"

"Yes." James stood and reached out to shake the man's hand.

"Brody is almost ready to go. He seems to have been knocked around a bit. He says he fell. Were you there to see the fall?"

James hated being interrogated. This nurse was digging and for once he personally had nothing to hide, but that wasn't quite the truth. He had one secret that could never be told, and he’d protect the secret with his life.

The nurse didn't have a nametag visible and hadn't introduced himself, so James couldn’t get chummy. This was time to be as real as he could be without revealing the truth.

"I came up on him. I didn't actually see what happened."

"Okay, so you were in another room?"

James had done interrogations like this before, tricking the guy he was questioning, trying to get him to slip up. He would watch for the sweat to start pouring, indicating heightened stress. But James was a trained liar. He knew how to force his body not to respond to the lies and traps. This nurse might be smooth, but he wasn't fast enough to trap James. Before Brody had gone in to the ER, they'd agreed on what they were going to say.