Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Meyer
I hummed, pretending to think about the idea. Dex rolled his eyes and thumped me— hard—on the bicep.
“Ow! What the heck! That hurt!” I glared at him as I rubbed my arm. That skinny kid wasn’t skinny any longer. He had solid muscles. And I wanted to feel them all over. Hands or tongue, I wasn’t fussy. I was a visceral kind of guy.
“You deserved that,” he insisted. Then he cupped my neck and drew me closer for another kiss. “That’s to keep you warm and waiting for me.”
I licked my lips, tasting the sweetness of his mouth and the buttermilk bar. “Maybe I can ask our rescuers to come back later?”
“You want to ask them to hold on while we get down and dirty?”
Well, when he put it like that…
But the ground shook again, and more stones jostled loose and fell. Dex yelped, and I tugged him closer to me, hoping they weren’t going to bring the cavern down on our heads.
“Are you hurt?” I demanded when everything seemed to settle, shining the flashlight on his face. I saw a trickle of blood from the edge of his hairline. “You’re bleeding.”
“Am I?” Dex touched his forehead, then looked at the red on his fingers. “A small stone clipped me. It took me by surprise.”
It was just a graze, and I wiped away the blood with my thumb. “You’re fine, but we’ll get it checked when we’re out of here.
Then I sent a message to the chief, warning him of the danger to us. If they got too enthusiastic, the whole cave could come down on top of us. The screen flashed with a thumbs up.
Dex leaned against me. “What say we get out of here before you try to rock my world?”
I held him close, feeling him snuggle closer. “You don’t want to rock my world?”
“I guess we should have had that conversation already.”
“The who does what conversation?”
“That’s the one,” he agreed.
“What do you like?” It was important to me to know what my partners preferred.
“I like to bottom, but I can top, too.”
“Then we fit perfectly,” I said. “I prefer to top but I don’t mind being fucked.”
A ding interrupted us, and I checked my phone.
Gonna get noisy.
“Now comes the fun times,” I said. “It could get dicey.”
I hauled him against me and covered him as best I could. Dex resisted for a moment, then subsided, tucking himself against my chest.
“You don’t have to be my white knight,” he grumbled.
“I’m a firefighter. It’s what I do,” I pointed out.
His reply was lost in a loud noise from outside, then the cave started shaking again, small stones raining down on us. I buried my face in Dex’s hair and prayed we’d both walk out of this alive. The rumbling seemed to go on forever. Then the shaking was replaced by shouting. I knew that voice.
I raised my head to see a beam of light through the fallen rocks so intense I had to look away for a second. Dex stirred, then he pulled away, sitting up to run his hands through his hair. I wanted to haul him back into my arms. Was he ashamed to be seen with me?
Then he smiled, and my fears dissipated. “Let’s get out of here, big guy. You and I have unfinished business.”
“Something about rocking your world?” I teased.
“That’s the one.”
“Jones? You all right in there? What about Dex?”
A knot of tension inside me eased at the sound of that gruff question from Brannigan. The cavalry had arrived.
“We’re both good, chief,” I called out. “Dex needs an EMT to check his head.”
“You didn’t have to tell him that,” Dex hissed.
I fixed him with my sternest ‘don’t mess with me’ firefighter scowl. “You’re getting it checked. Besides, you’ve got blood down your forehead. You think anyone out there is gonna let you just walk away?”
“But we have plans.” His almost-a-whine was so cute.
“There’ll be no rocking of worlds until I know you’re not gonna pass out in the middle. And you know they’re going to want to take endless statements the second we emerge.”
If Dex could have stomped his foot without bringing debris down on his head, I reckon he would have.
I leaned forward to make sure he could hear me. “Don’t worry. I’ll have your dick in my mouth before the day’s out.”
He shivered, whether from my breath over his ear or the promise of what I was going to do to him, or maybe both.
“You’d better,” he muttered. “Don’t you let me down, Meyer Jones. I’ve waited too long for this.”
“You’re not the only one,” I promised him, squirming a little as my pants grew tight.
I had to think of something other than being on my knees in front of him, or I was going to walk out of the cave showing a boner to the whole world. I caught the smirk on Dex’s face. He knew what my problem was. Bastard!
I thought of anything I could to kill my erection. My mawmaw sneezing and her teeth flying across the room into my dad’s morning cup of coffee. Rescuing a drunk guy who’d smacked me across the mouth because he didn’t want to leave his warm bed. He didn’t seem to care it was about to get a whole lot warmer. Then he’d hurled over my feet. I was more than happy to hand that dude over to the cops. By the time I’d finished that thought, my dick cried surrender, and I could move again.
The small hole to the outside world grew larger. I waited impatiently, not moving until I was sure it was safe. Finally, a firefighter climbed into the cavern, and I recognized Skip White.
“Hey, Chief,” he drawled. “Hi, Dex. You’ve had a fun time. Want to get out of here?”
“You bet,” Dex said.
Skip handed us two hard hats, then led us out, blinking, into the sunshine to be greeted by a chaos of uniforms and flashing lights. Fire trucks, ambulances, and the police chief’s car. There was a round of applause which was kind of embarrassing, and lots of cameras aimed our way. Everyone was kept back behind tape, but a large crowd had gathered.
“Shit, the local media are here,” Dex hissed.
“What did you expect?” Skip said. “New assistant fire chief and local rancher get trapped trying to save a child. It’s all over the news.”
I groaned. Now my mom would hear about it, and she’d be furious.
“Lindy’s gonna kill you,” Dex cooed.
I scowled at him as Skip chuckled.
“She sure is,” Skip agreed. “The chief called her as soon as we got the news. Oh look, there she is.”
I followed where he pointed to see my mom standing by the firetruck inside the cordon, staring anxiously at him. She’d aged a decade since I saw her this morning, and she’d clearly been crying. My stomach clenched at putting her through this worry. It was the last thing she needed with her heart condition.
“Garcia kept an eye on her,” Skip said, his tone low so no one else heard. “I don’t think she realized it, but he was ready if there was an issue.”
I swallowed around the sudden lump in my throat. “Thanks. I appreciate it.” I was going to buy them all a drink after today.
“Go to her,” Dex urged.
“Only if Skip takes you over to Garcia. You’re not going anywhere before they’ve checked your head.”
“You’ve got blood down your face,” Skip agreed. “Come on.”
I didn’t want to let Dex go, but he was in good hands, and my mom needed me right now. I jogged over to her and swept her into my arms. More cameras aimed at us as she burst into tears, but I didn’t care. My mom had always been a solid presence in my life, but right this moment she felt fragile, and I realized how much I’d scared her. I hugged and soothed her, murmuring that I was okay over and over until her crying had trickled to the occasional sob. She shuddered and took a deep breath. Then she looked up at me. “Wildie is safe.”
That’s not what I expected to come out of her mouth. I expected her to ream me out. But I said, “I know. The chief told me. What a relief.”
“I want to yell at you. When I got that call…” She sobbed. “It was like your father all over again.”
I held her tightly. “I’m so sorry, Mom.” Now I wanted to cry, remembering that day.
But she shook her head. “You’re a firefighter. I wouldn’t expect any different from you. I would have whooped your ass if you hadn’t tried to rescue him.”
“Mom,” I whined. I couldn’t keep up with her changes in direction.
“But heavens to Betsy, you just took ten years off my life, Meyer Jones. Don’t do it again.”
“No promises,” I said ruefully. “I’m a firefighter, remember?”
She sighed and kissed my cheek. “No promises. I guess I’d put it out of my mind while you were in Chicago. Could you not have gotten past the first week?”
“This wasn’t my fault. I was just meeting Dex to sign the rental agreement.”
Mom pursed her lips. “How is poor Dex? I heard he was injured.”
“I think it’s just a graze, but I sent him over to Garcia.”
“We should check on him,” she said.
I was more than happy to do that. I took her arm and led her over to the waiting ambulance, where Dex sat while Pérez tended to his wound. It was just a graze; it wouldn’t even need stitches.
Garcia looked up from his tablet. “I was just about to send Skip after you, chief. Your turn.” He pointed at the space by Dex. “Sit.”
“I’m fine. Nothing hit me.”
He waited, one eyebrow raised in a ‘don’t give me attitude’ expression.
“I think he means it,” Mom stage whispered.
I knew better than to argue with an EMT.
“Huh.” I huffed as I slumped next to Dex. I turned to him. “Are you all right?”
“He’s fine,” Garcia said before Dex could answer. “Now it’s your turn.”
“You sit here without making a fuss, and I’ll hunt for coffee and water.”
“I love you,” I moaned. Just the thought of coffee was orgasmic. Then I realized what I’d said from the squints they were giving me.
“The chief wants to talk to you two,” Brannigan called out. He’d been chatting to the cops nearby.
“Oh lord, we’ll be here forever,” Dex muttered.
I heard a couple of snickers and looked up to see Mom and Garcia smirking at each other. “The chief still talks a lot?”
Yeah, I remembered Chief Wally of old. Lovely guy, but getting away from him could be a problem.
“Chief Wally has a lot to say,” Mom agreed.
“I’ll find coffee and speak to him,” Dex said, hopping off the ambulance. “You get checked out, then catch up with Chief Brannigan.”
“Yessir.” I saluted him.
He went to flip me the bird and realized where he was. “Later,” he grumbled.
I caught my mom staring after him, then turning to me.
“He seems anxious to get away from here,” Mom observed.
“We were interrupted before we could finalize the details for the cottage.” I would not blush. I would not blush. From her snicker and Garcia’s snort, I failed. I ignored them both.
The checkup didn’t take long. I passed all the tests, and Garcia pronounced me fit to return to duty. It hadn’t even occurred to me I’d be benched on the second day in my new job. I’d never have lived it down.
“Jones is good to go, chief,” Garcia yelled to Brannigan who turned and jogged over to us to stand next to Mom. It didn’t escape my notice how close they stood together.
“Thank the lord for that,” he said. “You had an interesting day, son.”
I bristled a little at the ‘son’, but I knew he meant well. “Is it always so much fun?”
Garcia barked out a laugh. “You know Charming. There’s always something going on.”
I swear Charming Butte used to be so quiet even the crickets got bored. But apparently, a lot had changed in ten years.
“Tell me what happened, Jones,” Brannigan ordered. “Why did you and Dex go into the cave without backup?”
I heard the disapproval in his tone. I took a deep breath and launched into the story.
“We were here for lunch to sort out the rental. Tommy and Ryan…” I paused because I didn’t know their surname, but the chief just nodded, so I continued. “Told us Wildie was in the mine and in trouble. I called dispatch. But Dex was worried Wildie would go further into the mine or that he was hurt. We couldn’t hear him. Dex…” I stopped, not wanting to throw Dex under the bus, but I saw the understanding in his eyes. “We went in together to find him and the entrance caved in.”
“Understandable. You did the right thing calling it in. Next time you wait for backup and make him wait, you hear me?” He stabbed a finger at me. “Or you’ll be demoted or dismissed.”
“Understood, Chief Brannigan.” I sucked in a deep breath.
I’d gotten off lightly, I knew that. He could have canned my ass for this stunt. There would be no second chance the next time. It was a conversation I needed to have with Dex…after I rocked his world.
“Coffee time!” Alejandra joined us with a tray of cups. “Water and coffee for our hero.”
As I looked behind her for Dex, I spotted him talking with a woman I didn’t recognize. I had a sudden stab of jealousy until I spotted three boys beside her, two of whom I recognized. I watched them talk, she was gesticulating wildly, and her boys ducked a couple of times. Ooh, they were in trouble.
“Wildie’s mom,” Mom said, following my gaze.
She handed me the bottle of water. I drank it dry, thanked Alejandra, and took the coffee, draining that one too.
Alejandra raised an eyebrow. “Thirsty?”
“Rock dust,” I explained. It was better than explaining I didn’t want to be caught fixating on the fact Dex was over there when I wanted him here with me. I was being a dork. I knew that.
Then Dex looked my way, and he smiled at me. Me, no one else. I smiled at him and mouthed, “Okay?”
He nodded and beckoned me over.
“Are we done here, Chief?”
Brannigan waved me away. “Go on. I expect Wildie’s mom wants to talk to you.”
I jogged over to Dex, and he introduced me to the woman.
“Meyer, this is Alice Bird, the boys’ mom. Alice, this is Meyer Jones, the new assistant chief at the firehouse.”
Wildie Bird? Oh, poor kid.
I smiled and held out my hand. “Mrs. Bird, pleased to meet you.”
She took my hand, her grip firm. “Thank you, Chief Jones.”
“Call me Meyer.”
“Meyer. Thank you for what you did today.” She was still holding my hand and squeezed it tighter.
“We didn’t actually do?—”
Alice let go of my hand and hushed me into silence. “You came when my sons asked for help. You followed Dex even though you knew it could be dangerous. I won’t forget that. And Wildie here has something to say.”
Wildie looked as if he wanted the ground to open and swallow him whole. “Sorry, Chief Jones. We was just playing.”
I looked down at him, seeing the tear tracks through the dirt. “Okay, Wildie, just be more careful next time, and stay away from the mine.”
He nodded and hopped from foot to foot.
“I’ll take them home,” Alice said. “Thank you both again. I don’t know what I would have done…” She teared up and pressed a hand to her mouth as she hurried away, the three boys in tow.
Dex let out a breath when we were alone. “Those boys’ll be grounded for life.”
I shoved my hands in my pockets. “They’ll be back causing havoc soon. Did you get a drink?”
Dex nodded. “I did. Alejandra took yours because I had to call the ranch and explain what happened, and Alice wanted to speak to me. Can we get out of here?”
“I need to talk to the chief.”
“Right behind you,” Brannigan rumbled.
I turned to see him standing next to Chief Wally. Goodness, in the ten years since I last saw him, the police chief had gotten smaller and more wrinkled than ever. Now he resembled a prune.
“Chief Brannigan and I will handle the press,” Wally said. “You two go home. I’ll want statements from both of you, but that can wait until tomorrow.”
“Is the mine going to be closed off?” I asked.
“It is now. It’s too unstable. You were lucky.” His wrinkled face scowled at me.
We were, I knew that. The whole thing could have come down on top of us. My blood went cold at the thought of it collapsing on little Wildie.
“Get out of here,” Brannigan said. “You’re done for today. Jones, see you in the morning. Don’t be late.”
My cheeks burned. Did he have to have that leer while he said that in front of my mom? “No, sir.”
I don’t know how Brannigan managed it, but we drove away without being chased by the media. I leaned back in the seat and closed my eyes.
“Hey, no falling asleep, Jones,” Dex grumbled. “You and I have unfinished business, remember?”
I kept my eyes shut. “Short nap. It’s been a long day.”
“I bet I got up before you.”
“You’re a rancher. You wake up before everybody.”
“True, true. It’s nice of the chief to give you the rest of the shift off.”
“What’s left of it. My shift was almost over.”
Dex groaned. “You’re right. It’s been a long day. Lunch was a long time ago.”
My stomach rumbled just the memory. “Is there any food at the cottage?”
“I have food in my kitchen,” Dex pointed out. “But Alejandra packed us a takeout bag. No pies. I said you were allergic.”
“That’s nice of her. We’ll need the food…later.”
I think I must have dozed off because the next thing I remembered was Dex shaking my arm.
“You can stay here if you want, Meyer.”
I grumbled something incoherent and sat up, rubbing my eyes, not surprised to see we were parked outside Dex’s house. “Sorry, sorry. I really didn’t mean to crash out despite what I said about a nap.”
He grinned at me. “It’s okay. Old men need their naps.”
I scowled at him, and he laughed even harder.
“You’ll be old one day.”
“And you’ll be even older.”
I let it go with a huff, too tired to argue with that logic. I mean, Dex was right, damn him.
“Come on,” Dex said. “We had plans…before you get too old to enjoy me.