Page 10 of Rogue Cowboy
“I got you.”
She didn’t see his lips move.But she heard him.Maybe they had telepathy.
Yeah, and Cinnamon can become a unicorn and fly.
Cole snapped the cold pack, and she sighed as he placed it against her cheek and looked at the badass watch that looked like it could command a mission to space.
“Hold that,” he said, his eyes a deep well she could swim in.“Can you take a look at the back of her head?She might need stitches.”
It was only then that Riley realized Cole had been holding a bandana to the back of her head, and when he gently removed it so Connor could take a look, she saw it was drenched in blood.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
“You owe me,” he deadpanned.“It was my favorite.”
“I’ll buy you a new one,” Riley promised.
“No, I will,” Rohan said.“I was the hothead.”
“We dating now?”
Rohan snorted.“You could have texted you were coming for a visit, Cole.Last time I saw you you had a full beard and hair down past your shoulders like a girl.”
Cole had had long hair?It was clipped close now, highlighting his high cheekbones like blades and his strong jaw.She wondered if he had a picture.
“I’m waiting for an explanation, Rohan,” their father snapped.
Riley’d never heard that tone from him, and she continued to focus on her breathing since she had such an avid audience.Tried to think of something jokey to say to calm everyone but came up blank.Cole communicated quietly with Connor but continued to tap out a count of four on her thigh like their own private Morse code.
“I can clean and glue it,” Connor said.“But she should go to the hospital and get a CAT scan for a concussion.”
“I’ll take her,” both Rohan and Cole said at the same time.
Rohan frowned.“She’s my sister.”
Her father’s suspicious and still angry stare burned back and forth between Rohan and Cole.
Double fabulous.At least Cinnamon had calmed, though she snorted her disapproval of the crowd.
“I’m fine.I’m not going to the hospital.And no, you’re not shaving my head so you can stitch or glue or whatever.”
“Is that a medical term I missed?”Connor’s smile was easy, but his gaze was far too assessing, and Riley wanted to stand up.Get some space.As if reading her mind, Cole lifted her up, held her loosely against him.
“Hey, I’m still treating,” Connor objected.“How many of me do you see?”
“One too many.And why aren’t you off on a helicopter playing hero this weekend?”
“And miss the rodeo?Never.I’m moonlighting three shifts this weekend.First time I’ve been able to do it, as everyone wants to be where the action is.”
“Let’s not have any more action like this,” her father said sourly.“Rohan, Cole, a word.”
Connor sat her on a bench and gently probed her scalp with antiseptic.She clenched her teeth to keep from crying out, and sat on her hands so she wouldn’t grab on to Cole when he stroked a hand down her arm and turned toward her father.Connor rooted around his kit, and Riley resigned herself to treatment.She didn’t want to go to the hospital.
“Think, it’s going to be more than a few words,” Rohan groused.
“Your sister’s no longer nineteen.”
“What the hell does that mean?”Rohan turned toward him.
