Only Mine (Honey Mountain #5)(63)

And I didn’t have a fucking clue what that even meant.





twenty-five





Dylan





When I woke up, I was under the covers; the towel was gone and so was Wolf. Had I dreamed that? Had he really been here?

Yes. The man had washed my hair and my body and had cleaned my hand.

He’d been so gentle.

He’d come to Honey Mountain to find me.

And the most surprising part… it didn’t bother me. Normally, if a man wanted to shower with me, I would have kicked him to the curb. But with Wolf, I had thoroughly enjoyed every minute of him taking care of me.

And I’d cried in front of him.

I pulled the covers up over my face as I remembered my breakdown.

I didn’t mind that he’d seen me naked or that he’d found me in a hospital bed in a day-old Halloween costume, but the fact that he’d seen me cry… I’d never cried in front of a man. Hell, I could count on my fingers the number of times I’d cried in front of my sisters. I didn’t shed tears easily, and when I did, I preferred to be alone.

“Why are you under the covers?” Wolf’s gruff voice said, and I knew he was standing nearby because I could feel his presence.

“Did I cry last night?”

He was silent, which answered my question for me.

“Hey,” he said, and the mattress dipped as he tugged down the comforter and looked at me. “I don’t care that you cried. You were worried about your dad. That doesn’t make you weak.”

“Yes, it does. It’s the epitome of weakness. When was the last time you cried?”

“Not that long ago.” He smirked, and I knew he was lying.

“Liar. I’ll bet you haven’t cried since you were a kid,” I said, and damn, he looked good this morning. “And why do you look so good?”

“I have to admit, I like this vulnerable side of you. I do look good, don’t I?”

He was wearing nothing but his boxer briefs, and his toned, tanned skin was on full display. He reached for my arm and pulled out my hand to inspect my palm. His thumb gently ran across all the little cuts that were left there. Like he was soothing my pain away.

“Listen. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. I’m the one who came here uninvited, but you don’t see me hiding under the covers.”

“True. That does make you a bit needy, doesn’t it?” I chuckled, and he dove forward on top of me.

“No one has ever called me needy,” he growled, before kissing my neck.

“Just admit that you missed me,” I said.

He pulled back. “Fine. I did. And I was worried about you. I don’t know what the fuck it means, but I don’t live my life trying to figure it out. I trust my gut. So here I am.”

“Here you are,” I said.

“Do you want me to leave? I mean, you’re okay now. Your dad’s going to be okay. I can head home if you want your space.”

“I think I actually want you to stay.” A lump formed in my throat as I said the words because I couldn’t even believe that I was saying them.

Even more shocking was that I meant it.

“You obviously missed me, too,” he teased.

“Don’t get cocky. Let me check on my dad real quick, and then we can figure out what we want to do.”

He pulled back and grabbed my phone off the nightstand and handed it to me.

I dialed my father’s number, and he answered on the first ring. “Hey, Dilly. Did you get some sleep?”

“Yes. I slept really well. How about you?”

“I just woke up. I’m about to have breakfast, and I’m hoping to get out of this bed and move a little bit today.”

“That’s great news, Dad.”

“I’m going to be just fine, sweetheart. Is the enemy still in town?” he teased.

“He is.”

“Why don’t you show him around Honey Mountain? I’m going to eat, see the doctor, take a walk down the hallway, and hopefully, get some more sleep. Big Al said a bunch of the guys from the firehouse are coming by today, so take a break, all right?”

“Nice try. I’ll be by later today to check on you. Call me if you need anything.”

I ended the call and took in the man watching me like I was some sort of mystery he was trying to figure out.

“How’s he doing?” he asked.

“He sounds great. It’s crazy that just thirty-six hours ago, I was afraid he was going to die, and now he’s anxious to get out of bed.”

Wolf nodded. “I get that. I’ve had some pretty bad injuries myself, and I’ve seen friends get wounded in a way that I didn’t think they’d survive, and then a few days later, they were up and moving. The human body is pretty amazing, and your dad is clearly in good shape from fighting fires, so he will rebound pretty quickly. Although the broken ribs and arm are going to take some time.”

“How long were you down from the bullet wounds?” I asked, leaning forward to trace the scars that ran along his upper arm.

“Not long. Broken bones are different. They take longer to heal. Bullet wounds are only bad if they hit you in the wrong place. I got lucky.”

“Is it weird that you were away doing undercover shenanigans and now you’re just here, working at a normal job?”