Rough and Rugged: A Meet Me In Milwaukee Charity Anthology

Chapter Nine

Dax

My brother hasn’t noticed I’m awake, so I grab my phone.

DAX: Thank you.

COLT: He’s alive! Picking up the girls at school, then to you. Pops wants to take you to dinner.

DAX: Sure. She likes dinner.

COLT: A 10,000 a plate donor dinner?

DAX: He did move mountains for us. I’ll send him some blue label.

COLT: Ghost label. And maybe leave out the part about coming in front of thirty first-responders.

I groan as I think about the emergency team watching me climax. I covered Monica instantly because no one gets to fucking see my girl but me. Especially when we’re fucking. I need to know if she’s ok. I have scrapes, but that’s all. There were separate snowmobile rigs, helicopters to the hospital. Lust, love and panic kept me up for almost 24 hours and I must have crashed.

“Huzzah Daxxie bear is awake!”

“Where’s Monica?” I croak out to my brother.

Tony rakes his hair. “Here’s a question. When did you go all in on your assistant? I mean fellas talk and the rescue team had to write a report... And you kept this from us.”

“She ok? She walked away from me before.”

“She’s ok. All this time we thought that hangdog rejected look was because of the harpy.”

“I’ve always been in love with her and not...”

“Don’t say her name. Hayden’s with Monica. Her neck ---”

“What about her neck?” I growl.

“Her neck is covered in freaking hickeys, you animal. Fucking your ex-assistant while she was injured, that’s seems like an HR violation, young man.”

I swing my legs over, then let my head catch up. “Not the first time. She wasn’t injured before.”

Tony bounces up. “Mak totally called this!” My sister-in-law sees all. “Monica’s fine. There’s lots of bruising and a partial tendon tear. Boot and PT but she’s ok. But there’s a mark you didn’t make that might always be sensitive to cold. No ice play from now on.”

“She’s it, man.” He tries to help me. “Move.”

I put on my shoes and wince. My muscles are sore from trudging like I was in a car accident.

“Sleeping down the hall. Mom’s on her way up.” I put on a flannel robe.

“No. Monica first. And from now on.”

Tony covers his chest with his hand. “Ah, love finally finds our quiet one.”

I glare at him. “Shut the fuck up. I’ll be back.”

“You should thank the VP before you pledge your pathetic love to her. And there’s a box from the cabins. How much dry soup did you think you needed?”

I rifle through and find my envelope full of assorted notes, leaving it on the bed. “The outdoor guy said it was important,” I say absently to Tony.

“You hate soup.”

“I’ve also discovered, I hate being an outdoorsman.” I raise an eyebrow at my brother.

“Seems something we could’ve worked through before you almost got fucking killed.” He pulls me into a hug. “Scared the fuck out of us. Law and I do dumb shit. Not you. You were voted most likely to stay home.”

“But now I have her because of my dumb shit.” Goosebumps fly up my arms that we’re past all the damn pining.

Tony pokes me while bouncing. “Fuck Mom and Dad. Let’s go tell her. That’s what you do when you figure out the rest of your life, you run toward it. Not sure if you knew that, bro.”

“Thanks, it’s a powerfully annoying message, which is your favorite kind.”

Tony rushes out of the room and then he stops short. I slam into him like a fucking cartoon. “Change of plans.”

My jaw drops as I see Sophie’s furrowed brow.

“Dax.” She throws her arms around me.

“Oh, you’re fucked,” I hear my brother hiss out.