Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 70162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
“Sometimes they do good things. There are good men at the FBI, and there are a hell of a lot of good men in the marines, but there are a lot of assholes too.
“Same with the rodeo.”
“You look fucking hot riding bulls.”
He grinned. “That was the general consensus.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You should get some sleep.”
“I know. You don’t want to change your mind and stay, do you?”
“Yes, but I’m not going to.”
I sighed. “Okay.”
“Do you feel better?”
He frowned. “After cake?”
“No, after telling me all that.”
I considered that for a minute. “I do. I feel… lighter.”
“I meant what I said about helping you find your sister if you want me to.”
I knew he meant it. Even if he decided he didn’t want me as his boyfriend, he’d still help. His brothers would too. “Thank you. Promise me you’ll sleep in. You shouldn’t be doing all the morning chores yet anyway.”
Rogue frowned. “I’ll be fine. I can do a lot now. More than my brothers think I can.”
“Don’t you dare push yourself.”
“Ghost, I—”
“You need sleep.”
He sighed. “I can text Rhys and see if they’ll be fine without me.”
“Go to bed. Let me take care of that.”
“You’re the one who needs sleep the most. You have new injury, and you—”
“Just let me do this for you. I promise to sleep all day tomorrow if I can.”
“All right. Good night.”
“Good night, Riley.”
I heard him suck in his breath. He glanced at me over his shoulder, but he didn’t say anything else. When the door closed behind him, I sent a text to Grant. Rogue is just now going to bed. See that he sleeps in tomorrow, and ask Rhys to come see me.
I didn’t expect him to answer, but he did. Does anyone in this house sleep? I’ll make the idiot take the morning off, and I’m sure Rhys has plenty to say to you.
I was sure he would too, but I wanted to go ahead and get it out of the way.
When you’ve hardly slept in days, and your foot is throbbing? My inner voice could be kind of a bitch, but I wasn’t going to be able to sleep, so I might as well do something.
But I was actually dozing when there was a knock on my door. “Ghost?”
“It was Rhys.”
“Come in.”
“Did I wake you up?”
I shook my head and cleared my throat to stop my voice from being so raspy. “We need to talk.”
“Damn right we do. Do you know how much it hurt Riley when you walked away?”
“I did it to keep him safe.”
Rhys raised his brows and stared.
If I was going to do this, I was going to do it right. “And because I was fucking scared, okay?”
“That’s better.”
“He almost died.
“That’s right, and when he recovered, you were gone. You didn’t contact him. You didn’t come see him.”
“It was my fault he was hurt.”
“Was it?” Rhys asked.
“You said so.”
“I was scared. I thought my brother was dying. I would’ve blamed anyone in that moment, but he’s a stubborn asshole, and he made that choice all by himself.”
“And I don’t want him to have to make a choice like that again.”
“Did you tell him that? Or did you just disappear?”
“I’ve told him now.”
“Now, when you needed help, you came to him, knowing he wouldn’t turn you away.”
I deserved that. Everything he said was true. “Yes. I knew I’d be safe here, but I also knew I would put all of you in danger, so I hesitated, but Rogue had told me that…”
“What?” Rhys’s voice was a little softer than it had been before.
“He told me he’d be waiting here for me whenever I was ready to come home.”
Rhys shook his head. “He really is a piece of work.”
“I love your brother.”
“Have you told him that?”
“Not yet. He wants to take things slowly, and that will just put pressure on him.”
Rhys nodded. “You’re right, but don’t wait too long. You know you could’ve told him that in the hospital.”
“I didn’t know—”
“Yes, you did.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Because of how fast I knew with TJ.”
“That’s a story I’d like to hear more about sometime.”
Rhys laughed. “Not a fucking chance.”
“I want to give Rogue the chance to figure out what he wants. I want to stay here as long as he wants me and to be able to tell him I love him, and I want to do that with your blessing.”
Rhys sighed as he sank down onto the edge of the bed. “I admired the hell out of the shit you did when you were with our platoon. I was angry as hell when you disappeared, but I’m willing to assume you really didn’t have a choice.”
“I could’ve gotten in touch with Grant at least, but joining the FBI was nonnegotiable.”
“I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me why.”
I shook my head. “I can’t.”