Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
S loan closed the kitchen door behind them and leaned on it a moment while Lance walked into the mudroom with Abby, then started stripping off his clothes.
Jesus Christ on a sparkly pony, he was?—
Shit, Sloan didn’t know what he was.
He put down the bag of hamburgers, fries, onion rings, and shakes from the Dairy Dart, then stripped off his muddy uniform along with his boots.
“What time is it?” Lance asked.
“Eight-fifteen.” His voice was shaking, and so were his hands.
“Let me get you a towel. You sound cold.” Lance found the pile of folded towels on top of the dryer. “I’ll dry off the dogs, and you get the laundry. Then we can eat and take a shower and head to bed.”
He couldn’t believe how calm Lance was being, how focused he still was.
It was a little maddening, really.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” He looked Lance over and caught his breath when he saw bruises all along that lean ribcage. “Damn, honey. You’re beat to hell.”
“Medical cleared me,” Lance said with a shrug.
“How the hell are you so calm?” he snapped.
Lance’s eyes went wide, and his face went pale. “What the fuck do you want me to be? In hysterics? Crying? I did my fucking job.”
“You scared the ever-loving fuck out of me. You could have been hurt badly. You could have died.” He just couldn’t stop… shouting.
“Okay. And?” Lance bent over to towel Abby off.
What? “And?”
“And you do it every day. Every day you go to work. You could die. You could get hurt. I was in a freak accident. Two different things.”
Sloan stared, absolutely gobsmacked, as they would say on British cop shows. “What?”
“I was out riding and a tornado blew up. This is East Texas. It happens.”
“Oh, fuck that. It still scared the bejesus out of me.”
“Yes. When the lightning hit and the horses threw us, I was too unconscious to be scared.”
“Lightning!” Sloan knew he was losing it, and that Lance didn’t deserve it, but he was— “Unconscious? What the hell, baby? You didn’t tell the medics that!”
“The lightning didn’t hit me. Brick said it hit right between me and Boone. That’s why our horses got separated.”
“I— I— I?—”
Lance got another towel and started on Maynard. “Are you having a stroke?”
“Yes! I think I am. This is some bullshit.”
“Hey.” Lance stopped, standing up to face him, if not look at him since he couldn’t. “I’m okay. So are you. You were on the road for work. You know I had to be worried you’d get caught in it.”
“Yes, but?—”
“Nope.” Lance held up a hand. “No buts.”
“I— Can you stop drying the dogs so I can kiss you?”
“Fuck yes.” Up this close, he could see the lines in Lance’s face, and he got it, how scared Lance had to have been, and he dragged Lance into his arms, leaning down to slam their mouths together.
He held Lance to him, not letting go even when they had to heave for air and the dogs were whining. He needed to hold on.
Until Lance laughed. “My ass is frozen.”
“My feet are too. Shower? We’ll heat everything but the shakes up when we get out.”
“Okay. We need to put the shakes in the fridge and the rest where Frick and Frack can’t reach. They think they’re starving.”
“I’ll do that. Get the hot water going, fair?”
“Fair.” Lance turned, and his lover’s back was covered in bruises.
Fuck, that pissed him off. Still, Lance had managed, hadn’t he? He’d kept Boone alive. He’d gotten them all to shelter. It was a stunning feat for someone who hadn’t graduated from therapy yet.
Lance headed to the back hall, and he put the shakes away, then gave the dogs their dental bones. He’d feed them when they ate their supper, and they would all snuggle until the pups needed to go out.
He wandered to the bathroom, where steam was already billowing. “I think you’ve graduated, baby,” Sloan said.
“Pardon?” Lance turned to face him, the water pouring over the lean body.
He stepped into the spray with his lover. “From functioning blind Lance school. I mean, you might need more physio? But you’re pretty damn functional.”
Lance blinked at him, then whapped his butt. “Does that mean you’re done yelling, asshat?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, honey. I freaked out. It was an endless day for you, but it was a long one for me too and then I found out you were missing. I was as calm as I could be, but now?” He shook his head, running his hands gently over that bruised skin. “I love you.”
“I love you too. It was…I don’t want to wait around. Life keeps happening. I want to go home.”
His heart felt like it might stop, but this time in a good way. “I want you there too. We’ll figure out the logistics.” He swallowed hard. “And I figured out something today too.”
“Yeah?” Lance held onto his hips, hands solid, hot.
“Uh-huh. I’m giving notice when I get home. I want to work with search and rescue. With Maynard. Maybe train scent dogs for non-police work. Airport sniffing. Rescue. That kind of thing. I want to be with you more and not get shot at.”
Lance tilted his head. “That would make you happy?”
“If it doesn’t, I can always go back, but yeah. Training dogs is…this is what I do. You should have seen Maynard out there. He was so happy, so joyous, so proud of himself.”
Lance grinned at him. “I heard him, and I was so goddamn thrilled. I knew y’all were coming to help us. I was—I just wanted to keep them alive.”
“You did. You did it, honey. And I think massage therapy or some kind of physical therapy work would be perfect for you. You help people. You’re a medic. It’s what you do.” He lathered up Lance’s hair, which was sticky with mud.
“Yeah. I just…you came for me. Just like every time. You came for me after the bomb. You came for me here. You came for me at the ranch.”
“I’ll always come for you, baby. You’re it for me.” He took one more kiss, which was a little soapy, but not gritty anymore. Lance’s bad leg was shaking, though, and it was time to eat. “Let’s get dried off and get some food.”
“Hell, yes. Then we feed the dogs, then you hold me until tomorrow.” Lance kissed his jaw. “Then we’ll get ready to go home.”
“Together.” The thought suited him to the ground.
“You know it. You, me and the dogs.”
Yeah, like it was supposed to be.