“Yes you are. You held your head high for years when everyone thought you were the one who got drunk and stupid. Now we know better.”
“Everyone knows better.” Rory’s head fell forward, giving in to his hands.
“How is that bad? They need to know that bastard deserves to be in jail. Now you can be a hero for buying all that land instead of just an obsessive weirdo.”
“I need this to be over. I’m so tired.”
“Rest, babe. What you need is sleep. That always brings perspective.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen to you.” Rory helped him scoot down and they both settled into one another, spooning. “Go to sleep.”
“Mmmhmm. Be here when I wake up,” Luke demanded.
“I can do that.” Rory nodded and pulled the blankets up over them.
Luke knew it was true. Rory wouldn’t run from him again, and if he did, well, Luke would just hunt him down again.
Really though, together they would figure it out. They had to.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Rory kept waking with a headache and going back to sleep, over and over.
Finally, blessedly, he woke up with a mouth that felt like a desert, but with a head that was clear enough to believe that he might not die. Luke was sitting in the wheelchair across the room, pulled up to a little table and tapping away on a laptop. “Hey, babe. How you feeling?”
“Hey. I need to brush my teeth. I feel like an army goose stepped over my tongue.”
“Ew. I set up all the stuff in the bathroom. You kinda packed willy-nilly.” Those dark eyes watched him carefully, assessing his condition, he thought.
“I more stopped at the Walgreens than packed.”
“Ah. Well, at least you got a toothbrush.”
“Yeah.” He rose, a little unsteady, then walked to the bathroom, his head blessedly calm. Once he’d brushed his teeth, he stuck his head back out of the door. “There’s a teak shower seat. Want to?”
“I do. Will you join me?”
“Yeah. If you want me.” He didn’t want the world to have changed.
“Shit yes.” Luke rolled his eyes. “Maybe you were too hungover when I told you yesterday. I’ll always want you.”
“Shut up. You know what I mean, asshole.”
“I do.” Luke rolled back, then turned on a dime, that fancy new chair super neat.
“Look at you, stud. I like it. You’re swift.”
“I know, right? The newest in fashionable wheels. Light but strong.” Luke slid past him into the bathroom. “Man, I am sore. Help me?”
“Any time.” He got Luke stripped down, then shucked his clothes. “We have a tankless, so the water heats up fast.”
“Schmancy,” Luke said. “I like it. I looked into the tankless for the main house at Rocking W, and I think we can just swing it.”
Luke reached up, so Rory leaned down and helped Luke out of the chair, slipping him right into the shower and down on the bench. He would have to stand behind Luke, or in front of him, but that was okay. He was feeling better already.
“Where do you want me, honey?”
“Anywhere I can get you.” Luke chuckled for him. “How about you wash me and I’ll wash you?”