Page 101 of The Rowdy Ones

No more clinic or internet or phone.

There will be isolation from the outside world, hard, demanding physical work, and family who can be overbearing. With expansive wilderness all around us there, I’ll feel caged and claustrophobic.

There’s no better situation here.

If it involves Rowdy, it’ll be complicated either way.

Is it worth it?

“I want to show you something I made,” Rowdy says when he pulls away from our kiss, ending my rampant thoughts. “You may hate it, but it’ll at least get you by through the weekend. Wait here.”

Scout, no longer excited by our visitor, pads away down the hallway and then hops onto Rowdy’s bed. I hear the tag on his collar jangle against the metal loop as he finds a comfortable spot to lie in.

“Okay, close your eyes,” Rowdy instructs in a teasing tone when he’s near again.

I stick my tongue out at him, which causes him to laugh. His laughter is rich and warm and rare. I could wrap up in it like my favorite cozy blanket.

He finds my hand and then guides it to something smooth. I take it from him and inspect it. It’s as long as my aluminum cane and about as thin too. From the smell of it, it’s a branch from a tree, carved to perfection. At the top, I feel a familiar arrangement of dots. I just learned my name in Braille this past week and it’s somehow been etched into this cane. I’m not shocked at the craftsmanship, but I am immensely impressed that Rowdy was able to obtain this information.

“This is beautiful,” I tell him, voice wobbly. “How did you know the Braille?”

He grunts. “Took me far too long searching the internet, but it was there.”

My gruff, possessive, protective brother-turned-lover made me a walking cane.

“When did you plan on giving this to me?” I ask, testing the weight of it and swiping it out in front of me like I do with the aluminum one.

“Never.” He chuckles at my gasp. “I started on it before they gave you one at the clinic. Felt kind of stupid in comparison. But I kept working on it anyway. Just in case I worked up the nerve to give it to you.”

I throw myself into his arms and give him another kiss. This man is worth all the complication and hardship there’ll no doubt be for us. There’s no one else on Earth like him. We’ll figure it out together.

A blast of cold air hits us and then Wild groans. We quickly pull apart to face him.

“Evan was here,” Rowdy blurts out, guilt in his tone.

“I know,” Wild deadpans. “I had to make sure you weren’t dead over here.”

“Nope. He murdered Dez’s cane, though.”

“I see that,” Wild says, heavy footsteps thudding closer to us. “What a fucking prick.”

Scout, unable to keep from saying hi to Wild, bursts through the hallway, shoving past us. He gives Scout smooches and words of praise, which melts my heart.

“When are you going to do these dishes?” Rowdy asks. “This place is starting to smell like ass.”

Wild snorts. “That’s the smell of fucked-up sibling love.”

A giggle erupts from me.

“Speaking of which,” Wild says, a grin in his voice. “Mom told me to send you back to the cabin when I got in here. Better cover up that hickey if you don’t want her to bitch you out.”

Letting Rowdy suck on my neck was worth any potential gripe session.

Still, I pull my hair over on that side and yank up the hood of my sweatshirt to help hide it.

I’m still flying high on sex with Rowdy and then his sweet gift. No need to ruin that.

Why won’t they go to sleep?