Page 61 of My Cowboy Freedom
Chapter 16
Rock
I dozed with Maisy in the backseat of the truck, while Elena and Sky rode up front. As we bumped along the highway, I had to swallow hard to keep from getting sick. The car’s window felt cool against my skin. It felt good, so I leaned my temple against it, drifting between sleep and waking.
If only I’d been quick enough, I could have come up with some reason for Sky to ride in the back with me. If I’d said I needed his help with Maisy, we could have talked on the way home. I should have asked him to put my guitar in the front seat. Pretended I was worried about the instrument or something.
But Elena had been watching me for any sign I was too interested in our new hand, and Sky...
Sky had let his head lie back on the seat. His hat had fallen into the foot well next to me. His hair was a sticky, matted mess. From what I could tell, he was well and truly wrung out.
Of course the pungent scent coming from Sky’s clothes had been saying it all along—Sky had been out on the trail since before dawn. He should have been allowed to shower and go to bed. Instead, he’d been dragged into Bitterroot to play nursemaid to me.
I tried to see Elena’s face in the rearview mirror but it was too dark. Under the circumstances, the best thing I could have done was get some shut-eye, but I couldn’t stop staring at Skyler’s profile.
The way the moonlight fell over his face—the way it dripped along his nose and eyelashes like icing, the way it deepened the contrast between the planes and valleys of his face, making him look craggy and rough. His face was striped by light with every oncoming car, by shadow with every utility pole we passed.
“You doing okay?” Elena turned toward me. “Temperature okay?”
“Tired.” Maisy nudged under my wrist. She could be very proactive about petting.
“Did you test?” Elena asked.
“Yes.” Keeping records of an episode is part of the package. I record what I can on my phone, and then make a written record later, for the Doc.
“Doc will want to take a look at your meds again.”
“Boss says I can’t go to Doc Winters anymore because of Ryder.”
“You let me worry about that.”
“Are you diabetic?” Apparently Skyler wasn’t asleep after all.
“No.” My voice came out sharper than I’d meant it to. “Not yet anyway.”
“Because of Rocky’s seizures,” said Elena. “He needs a glucose supplement sometimes.”
“Speaking of which...” I pulled a couple of protein bars from my backpack and tore into one. I held the second out to Sky. “Want one?”
“Only if you don’t need it.”
“Take it.” I shook my head and pushed it toward him again. He glanced at his hand.
“Can I have a wipe first?”
“Sure.” Our fingers brushed when he took it from me and my dick tried to give a little shimmy.
We ate in silence, but after a few minutes, saliva filled my mouth.
Shit. “Stop the car.”
Elena pulled over and because she’s thoughtful, she put the truck in reverse, so I’d have plenty of light to puke by. “Need anything else?”
Shaking my head, I lurched out onto the side of the road and lost what little I’d eaten. The front passenger door opened a crack, but a sharp word from Elena stopped Skyler from getting out. I hung on to the fender, wiping my mouth on my sleeve. Sweat dried on my forehead while I waited to see if the show was going to have an encore.
Inside the car, Elena and Sky argued. Maisy watched me anxiously through the back window. I’d heard it all before, so it didn’t surprise me to hear Elena call me “a grown man with a complicated medical problem” who would not appreciate being coddled.
She stared straight ahead, waiting for me to clean myself up and come back. Elena wouldn’t consider intruding on my privacy at this time and she trained the hands to stay away too.
