Page 4 of Better Together

“I’m fine. I just need food and ice.”

“Mr. Pizza?” Remi asked.

“Yes. I need comfort food.” They were regulars, and Remi only needed to make the call and say hello before Willa at Mr. Pizza knew to put in their usual order.

“You want to add–”

Remi’s question was cut off as she gasped and tumbled off the paved walkway, falling face first into a puddle at the base of the gutter spout.

Clumsiness strikes again. The woman couldn’t pass a hole or a small body of water without tumbling into it. She had a gift.

Colt crouched beside her. “You could have just asked me if you wanted to know how cold the water was.”

Remi huffed and pushed up onto her hands and knees. “A hand would be nice,” she growled.

“You’ve got two legs.”

Remi raised up and lifted her arms. The whole front of her body was wet. “Seriously?”

Colt bent to wrap his good arm around her at the waist, positioning his good shoulder in front of her. Lifting with his legs, he stood with her cold, wet body draped over his shoulder.

“Colt! Put me down!”

“No, I don’t trust you to make it inside on your own. You’re a danger to yourself.”

Remi’s voice shook. “Colt, I’m serious.”

“You’re seriously freezing.”

She chuckled, but even that shuttered with cold. “Come on, caveman. I can walk.”

“I’m not convinced. I’m not putting you down so you can scar yourself up. It’s best if I take care of you.” He hefted her higher onto his good shoulder while the other screamed in protest.

“I’m supposed to be taking care of you! Don’t get things twisted around here.”

Colt stepped up onto the porch and crouched to turn the knob with Remi still dangling over his shoulder. The back door was always unlocked because Colt kept losing the key.

“Says the woman draped over my shoulder because she can’t walk inside without kissing the ground.”

Remi laughed. A full-belly, melodic laugh that was so contagious that Colt couldn’t help but grin at her happiness. That was one thing he loved about Remi: she wasn’t afraid to laugh at herself.

Still laughing, Remi sucked in a deep breath and said, “You’re going to hurt your shoulder.”

Colt stepped inside and kicked the door closed behind him. “It’s already hurt, and I only need one good shoulder to carry you around with.” The pain in his other shoulder was numbing. That was either a good thing or a bad thing. Joking with Remi was a natural pain reliever, but he’d probably pay for it later.

Which was more dangerous, pills or Remi?

If he had to have a weakness, he was glad it was Remi.

He bent to gently place her feet on the floor, and she immediately crossed her arms over her chest. His wet shoulder and back were thirty-degrees colder without her warmth.

“Freezing,” she said through chattering teeth.

“Let’s get you into dry clothes.” Colt led the way up the stairs to his room and tossed a flannel shirt and sweatpants with a drawstring to her. He pointed to the bathroom connected to the bedroom. “You can take a shower if you want.”

Remi turned the clothes over in her shaky hands. “What would I do without you?”

That wasn’t the joking thanks he’d expected. The slight sadness in her voice cut him like that rusty barbed wire fence. “You won’t ever have to find out.”

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