25. Chapter 25
Chapter 25
River
I t’s been just over two weeks since Gray’s injury and almost a week since he came home. Though he’s progressively improved each day and his strength has returned to normal, I worry. So when Joy needed a girls’ night to vent, I didn’t hesitate to come out drinking with her.
It’s been hours of drowning in liquor alone with Joy in this bar. Our conversation focused on how ridiculous both our men are. Well, at least I’m still claiming Gray, even though he’s pissing me off.
Joy is trying to pretend she can cut off her feelings so easily. But she still has it bad for the other Garrison. She can accept that or not; it doesn’t change the truth.
It’s been a hellish two weeks.
Right after I watched Gray get thrown from that massive bull, my entire world stopped. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe.
I’m not sure who held me back from running down there to check on him as I watched him lie there, lifeless, for what felt like days. His mental status so altered by the time I got to his side that we had no idea what he was babbling about at first.
Even after they got him to the hospital, it was hours before I could see him. Of course, it was Buckner who refused to give me access to the information on Gray or see him.
“You’re not kin,” he’d recited over and over. And I swear I could see that asshole holding back his smug grin.
Then, it was days before Gray stayed awake long enough to talk to me for more than five minutes.
Fear like that isn’t something I am well acquainted with. I’ve always been good at staying even keel in critical situations, but not this one. I was a wreck. A zombie moving through the motions of trying to keep up things on the ranch, although thankfully, Gray had already hired help, and Tate came by every day. Even Wilber showed up ready to muck stalls and feed the animals for me with others from around Cole County. A village rallied behind us, and I was thankful for it.
Every moment I wasn’t working, I was by Gray’s side, praying that he would be okay.
The ribs and oozing liver were no big deal. They’d heal with time. The subdural hematoma was what worried me. The swelling went down considerably within a few days, but Gray couldn’t hold consciousness. It wasn’t until day three in the hospital that he’d had the ability to tell me he loved me and to stop crying.
“Darlin’, you didn’t have to go through all this trouble just to see me.”
My eyes dart up at the sound of Tate’s voice, a very broody-looking Gray standing right next to him. I’d been so lost in my thoughts I forgot I was pity-drinking with my best friend in the middle of a bar.
“Oh boy,” I gulp, chugging the rest of my whiskey. The hiss to follow as I bare my teeth against the burn only making Gray chuckle.
“Come on, Boss.”
“You, sir…” the words slow and over-enunciated as I work against the booze. “…should be home in bed. You’re not supposed to be up and driving and coming to bars.”
“Let’s go, River.”
With a sigh, I push to my feet, my balance off as the floor shifts beneath me. Gray’s hand finds my waist, holding me steady. His fingers flexing against my soft flesh, awakening my desire down below. Fuck, it’s been too long since I had him inside me and he looks so good.
Shaking my head to clear my dirty thoughts centered on riding my cowboy, I clear my throat. “I think I should stay here. Joy needs company.” Only when I look over to where she’d been, they’re gone. When did they leave? “Where?”
Gray pulls me into his hard body, his warmth shooting straight down to the apex of my thighs. I’d fuck him right here if it weren’t a public place, and he wasn’t supposed to be staying away from strenuous activity, the exact opposite of what he’s been doing. “Let’s go home. We’ll get you showered and in bed. My doctor has surgery in the morning.”
My fight against his hold is no match for his strength. His patience for my resistance growing thin as we step out into the balmy night air. “You’re not supposed to be driving.”
“River, I swear… Get in the truck.” Exasperation leaving him removing that backward ball cap to run his fingers through his hair before placing it back on his head.
“No. You’re not supposed to be driving.”
Without warning, his arms loop around my legs, tossing me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The passenger side door creaking open moments later, before he deposits me in the seat and fastens my belt.
“Listen to me,” he grips my chin hard enough that I can’t break away, but not to the point of pain. “At work, you get to be a doctor. With me, you don’t. I am fine. I am going to take care of you and our home. Now, if you don’t want me overexerting myself, then stop being so difficult.”
Gray’s words sober me enough to process the moment. Rarely does he turn into this possessive alpha male character, but fuck does it make my core ache when he does.
“Fine. Then I am going to be your overbearing girlfriend instead.”
He slams the door before slipping into the driver’s side. “River,” my name a warning on his tongue.
“No, Grayson. You’re going to listen to me. You haven’t obeyed a single doctor’s order, except for not having sex with me. And the only reason we’re not fucking is because I tell you no. You’re out there ranching every day, you’ve been driving me around, you just threw me over your shoulder, and I know you were on a practice bull yesterday.” He has the nerve to flinch away from that last one.
“River, I’ve been hurt before. I will be fine. Stop fussing over me.”
“And how am I supposed to do that, Gray? How am I supposed to just let you continue to beat yourself up over and over again? How do you love someone and let them do that before your eyes?”
I hadn’t meant for the words to slip free, my hand instantly slapping over my mouth. My eyes wide as they meet his.
He’d only just pulled out on the road, immediately swerving the truck to the gravel shoulder, before throwing the truck in park.
He slowly peels his hand away from my mouth. “What did you just say?”
My eyes are wide, searching his. I’ve been thinking the words for weeks, trying to pretend like I didn’t feel them, but when I saw him in that hospital bed, and I wasn’t sure he was going to wake up, there was no denying them. There was no pretending, but I wanted to say them at the right time. I wanted him to know I meant them, and they didn’t come from a place of fear.
He’d whispered those very three words to me once in the hospital. The first day he stayed awake long enough to talk to me and the doctors, but he hadn’t said them again, so I told myself it was just the drugs.
“River, I’m going to need you to repeat what you just said.” His thumb rubs over the curve of my cheek, his eyes boring into mine through the dark. The liquor that had made me clumsy and brave moments ago no longer aiding me.
“I said I love you.”
The saddest but happiest smile spreads on his face, his mouth pressing to mine. “It’s about time you admitted it. I love you, too, baby.” His forehead presses to mine, his cap sliding back as he breathes me in. “I can’t wait to marry you.”
“Gray.”
“I know I haven’t said it since the hospital.”
“I thought it was the drugs talking. Are you still taking them? You just said you’re going to marry me.”
His chuckle is soft before he presses his lips to mine again. “I didn’t say that part before?”
“Nope. You didn’t.”
“Hmm,” he shrugs, pulling back out onto the road. “Well, now you know.”