Page 104 of Sweet Like Whiskey

He nods.

“Colt?” I yell.

“Hold tight,” my brother calls.

There’s pressure, and then Ash and I are being hefted into the air. I use my arm to keep us from rotating too much, my focus on Ash’s grimace more than the hard earth scraping along my back. As soon as we make it over the lip, Ash falls on top of me, calling out as his arm gets jostled.

“I know, I know,” I say, trying to soothe him as the horses tug us slowly up the hill, the rope around a tree keeping us moving in a straight line. “Just think. Once all of this is over, we’ll go home, get patched up, and sleep for a good year or so. How’s that sound?”

“Like heaven,” Ash says, his teeth gritted.

I kiss his temple, keeping my feet braced wide so we don’t spin on our way up the hill. Small debris rolls beneath my back, but I pay it no mind.

When we level out at the top of the slope, I let out a massive sigh of relief. Colton is there in an instant, untying us, helping Ash to ease off of me and stand.

“Dislocated?” my brother asks, gently touching Ash’s shoulder. Ash is holding his arm to his chest.

He nods. “Think so.”

Colton glances at me. “I’ll set it before we leave. He can’t ride like this.”

“Colt…”

“Jackson,” my brother interrupts. “YouknowI know how to reduce a shoulder. So let me. It’ll hurt until it doesn’t, and then we can go. It needs to happen.”

I nod, the tightness around my chest making it hard to breathe. Colton has EMT training. He’s right. Iknowhe knows what he’s doing, but that doesn’t make it any easier when it’s your loved one who’ll be in pain.

“Just do it,” Ash says, his voice stronger than before. “Jackson, look away if you need to.”

I huff, stepping up beside him. “Like I’m gonna do that. C’mon, let’s sit.”

Ash nods, and in the dark of the night, in the middle of a goddamn trail at the back of my family’s property, we sit across from one another on the cold hard ground. I aim my headlamp so it’s not shining on his face, and Ash holds my gaze as Colton squats down beside him. My brother tells Ash what he’s going to do every step of the way, getting his arm in position, something that has Ash grimacing and biting back his pain. I pretend to ignore the moisture I can see on his face.

“Here’s what we’ll do,” Colton says. “On the count of five—”

Ash cries out as Colton pops his shoulder back into the socket. It’s over fast, and then Ash is laughing, tears streaming down his face as my brother shoots me a concerned look.

“Fuuuck,” Ash groans, hanging his head. “You didn’t count at all, you dick.”

“Trick of the trade,” Colton says, letting Ash go so he can grab his med kit.

“You okay?” I ask, squeezing Ash’s hand tight.

He nods, tears in his eyes as he continues to chuckle. One look at my face, and the sound breaks into a sigh. “Nicholas didn’t get it, either. Why I’d be laughing on those days I was in so muchpain. Sometimes, you just have to laugh, you know? Because the alternative…”

He trails off, wincing again as Colton starts wrapping his arm against his chest to prevent further jostling.

“I’m probably going to be pretty sore after this,” Ash says, blinking slowly. “I think I’ve been blocking most of it out.”

I lean forward and kiss his hair. It smells like earth. Like rain and dirt. Not like Ash at all. “We’ll get you better, sunshine.”

“Yeah,” he sighs. “I want cocoa when we get home.”

“Anything you want.”

“With milk,” he adds. “None of that watered-down nonsense. And I don’t want to talk to people, okay? Not tonight. I know I was an idiot—”

“Hey,” I say softly, bringing his hand to my lips and kissing his knuckles. “No one’s gonna blame you, I promise. Everybody’s just gonna be relieved you’re all right. I—” I clear my throat and try again. “I’mrelieved you’re all right.”

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