Beast
Iwas fine.
Completely fine.
The fact that half my face hurt was irrelevant.
The headache was irrelevant.
The swelling was irrelevant.
Everything was irrelevant.
Because Gerald was still out there.
Which meant I wasn't sleeping.
Simple.
Unfortunately.
Nobody else agreed.
"You're sleeping."
I looked at Wolf.
"No."
The former Ranger sat at Hank's kitchen table drinking my coffee.
My coffee.
The traitor.
Across from him, Trigger nodded.
"You're sleeping."
"No."
Saint pointed toward my face.
"You look like you got kicked by a horse."
"I won."
"That's not the point."
"It is to me."
The three Rangers exchanged looks.
The kind that usually ended badly for whoever they were looking at.
In this case?
Me.
Wonderful.
Hank sat at the end of the table.
Watching.
Enjoying himself entirely too much.
Sadie sat beside him.
Trying—and failing—not to smile.
Traitor.
Every one of them.
Wolf leaned back.
"When was the last time you slept?"
I frowned.
"Recently."
"Define recently."
"That's not important."
"It is if you're hallucinating."
"I am not hallucinating."
Trigger snorted.
"Beast, you spent ten minutes staring at a fence post yesterday."
"I thought it moved."
"It was a fence post."
"We don't know that for sure."
Saint laughed so hard that coffee nearly came out of his nose.
I hated all of them.
The kitchen door opened.
Mrs. Jenkins walked in carrying a casserole dish.
Because apparently the ranch no longer had doors.
People just entered whenever they felt like it.
She took one look at me.
Then shook her head.
"Oh, good."
I narrowed my eyes.
"What?"
"The intervention started."
Wolf looked offended.
"This isn't an intervention."
"It absolutely is."
"It is not."
"It absolutely is."
The two of them stared at each other.
Meanwhile, I considered escaping through a window.
Sadie caught me looking.
Immediately.
Her eyes narrowed.
Damn it.
She knew me too well.
"Don't even think about it."
"I wasn't."
"You were."
"I wasn't."
"You looked at the window."
Traitor.
Absolute traitor.
The Rangers laughed.
Again.
Eventually, Wolf set down his coffee.
"Here's the deal."
I didn't like the sound of that.
"You sleep."
"No."
"We rotate watch."
"No."
"We already discussed it."
"No."
"We weren't asking."
I looked at the three men.
My brothers.
Men I'd fought beside.
Bled beside.
Trusted with my life.
Unfortunately.
They knew exactly how stubborn I was.
Which meant they also knew how to beat me.
Saint smiled.
The smile of a man who enjoyed other people's suffering.
"Sadie."
I immediately knew where this was going.
And I hated it.
The woman beside me looked innocent.
Far too innocent.
"Yes?"
Saint pointed.
"Tell him to sleep."
She smiled.
And just like that, I knew I was doomed.
"Beast."
"No."
"Please."
Nope.
Not fair.
Not even remotely fair.
I could ignore the Rangers.
I could ignore Wolf.
I could ignore Trigger.
I could even ignore Mrs. Jenkins.
Ignoring Sadie?
That was becoming a problem.
A very serious problem.
The room fell silent.
Everyone watching.
Waiting.
The headache pounded.
The exhaustion I'd been ignoring caught up all at once.
And suddenly I realized something.
If I passed out standing up...
These people would never let me live it down.
Ever.
I pointed at Wolf.
"You get first watch."
The Ranger grinned.
"Done."
"Trigger gets second."
"Done."
"Saint gets third."
"Done."
I looked at all three of them.
"If anything happens—"
Wolf rolled his eyes.
"We know."
"I mean anything."
"We know."
"I'll kill all of you."
Trigger laughed.
"Go to bed, Beast."
The room erupted into smiles.
Even Hank.
Even Sadie.
Especially the Magnolia Ladies.
Mrs. Jenkins patted my shoulder.
"There you go, dear."
I sighed.
Defeated.
Completely defeated.
For the first time in days.
And as I headed toward the guest room, I caught Sadie watching me.
Worried.
Soft-eyed.
Relieved.
Something tightened in my chest.
Something that had nothing to do with Gerald.
Nothing to do with danger.
And everything to do with her.
Behind me, Wolf's voice carried through the kitchen.
"Ten bucks says he's in love."
"I'll take that bet," Trigger said.
"You're only taking it because you know he's in love too."
The entire kitchen burst out laughing.
I slammed the bedroom door.
The laughter got louder.