Page 95 of Leading the Blind
“No. It could have been Kynan. Or Raul. That bull got him hurt.” Bax said it fiercely, and it was partly true, but he’d frozen up and he knew it.
“I’ll call Dillon again. He’ll want to know what Ace said before Steele gets there.”
Daniel left them at their room. “See you in an hour, boys.”
He went in and sat, listening to Bax chatter to Dillon, but not hearing a single word.
He was done. He’d won…against the bulls and against his body.
Why didn’t it feel better?
Why didn’t he feel proud?
“Coke is out of surgery. He’s resting.”
“He going to be okay?” He needed to hear that.
“Dillon says he’ll recover just fine.” Bax sat next to him, then took his hand.
“I’m sorry.”
“Coke says to smack you if you say that. They want us to come by on the way out of town.”
“So you talked to him?”
“Yeah. He’s just getting older, Mini. He’s fixin’ to go the way of us, I bet.”
“I bet Ace asks him to.” He sighed. “You heard what Cash said about liability.”
“I did. And our liability is over. We do this thing, then it’s over, Jason.”
“It is. Can we leave in the morning after we see Coke?”
“Mini, you cain’t see him, you’re blind.”
The words hit him just right and he started chuckling, then that laughter turned wild and happy.
Bax leaned into him and laughed with him, each one sending the other into new spasms when they stopped.
Finally they were clinging together, and Jason took a hard, happy kiss. “I love you, Bax. We did it. We won. Now we get to walk away.”
“We do, babe. We do. I love you.” Bax just hung on and knew exactly what his man was feeling.
Relief.
They’d survived.
Better than that, they’d won.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Bax stared down at the baby he held in his arms, fascinated by the faces the kid made as he slept. His lips moved, his forehead creasing—and he was working hard in there somewhere. Growing.
Jason held Em and Cotton’s other baby, looking surprisingly relaxed. They were packed up, and from here they were heading to the hospital then home. They’d had a good talk with Emmy, and Balta and Raul had stopped by. Bax felt like he could start to relax.
“You look like you can breathe,” Cotton said. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” He held the baby out to Cotton, who hooted. “Seriously. It’s good. All but Coke.”
