Page 13 of Utah

“Good.” Brick turned his attention to me. “Don’t hesitate to call if you need help with anything. Other than a sponge bath.” He looked at Ria. “That’s all you, sweetheart.”

A pink hue tinted Ria’s cheeks, an adorable reaction.

What is happening to me?I didn’t think things likeadorable, and I certainly wasn’t someone who got caught up in feelings for a woman.

But as I sat at the edge of the bed, I shoved aside the notion of how I had been and opened my mind and heart to how I wanted to be.

A man Ria could be proud of.

8

“Make sure to clean and change his bandage every day. The one on his head is less of a concern but—”

“We got it, brother. Thanks.” Knox had been talking to me, but Utah cut him off. He seemed more irritable than when he was back at the clubhouse, and I could only assume it was because he’d been moving around more and was in pain.

“I warned you,” my brother said. “Good luck.” He smirked at Utah before he walked out of my bedroom.

“When was the last time you had your pill?”

I rummaged through the chest in front of the bed, retrieving a pillow. Whenever Utah used to spend the night, the extra pillow that I slept with always somehow found its way beneath his head.

“I’m due now.” He carefully kicked off his boots and scooted back on the bed, grunting as he moved.

“Careful,” I scolded. “The last thing you need is to rip your stitches open.”

He parted his lips to respond, but Evie knocked on the doorframe. “Hey, Utah. How are you?”

“I’ll be okay once your sister gives me my pain pill.” His gruff tone softened when he smiled in my direction.

“I’ll grab you some water,” my sister offered, disappearing only to return thirty seconds later. “Here you go.” She approached the bed and handed Utah a bottle of water, looking at the bandage on his temple as I handed him his pill. “Does it hurt?”

“My head doesn’t, but my stomach is killing me. This will help,” he said, popping the pill in his mouth.

I’d told Evie about his injuries and what little information I knew about the circumstances surrounding them. But before I did, I made her promise not to tell anyone, especially our mom. She took the news better than I did, but that might’ve been because she wasn’t carrying the child of the man who’d almost lost his life.

The story we told our mom was that he’d been in an accident, and because I didn’t want him to be alone while he healed, he was staying with us for a little while. We didn’t want to lie about everything.

My mom had met Utah only once while we’d been hooking up, but I made her swear not to say anything to Knox. She was aware of how overprotective and sometimes irrational her son was toward me and Evie, so she agreed not to tell him.

“Are you hungry?” I asked. “I think my mom made spaghetti.”

“She did,” Evie said. “She dropped some off earlier. I can heat it up.”

Utah nodded, and I smiled at my sister, giving her the go-ahead.

“Are you sure your sister doesn’t mind me staying here?” he asked once she disappeared.

“Yeah, she doesn’t care. Besides, you’ll probably be spending most of your time in this room. And even if you didn’t, she’s at work during the day.”

“Okay, just making sure I’m not being an inconvenience.”

“You’re not, so stop worrying.” I removed his socks before working my way up to the hem of his gray sweatpants. He wore them because the waistband of his jeans would’ve rubbed against his wound. “Do you want these on? I know how hot you get when you sleep.”

“I’m not wearing any underwear.”

His heated stare lit a fire inside me, but I tried my best to tamp it down because there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to appease the ache blooming in my belly.

Clearing my throat to distract myself from the memories of his delectable body, I tugged on the material. “It’s not like I haven’t seen it.” My grin reflected his. “Careful. Lift up slowly.” I shimmied the sweatpants down his thighs, making sure not to stare at his dick when it popped free.

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