Page 7

Ever is tucked up in my jacket as close to me as I can possibly get her, and I’m having to grit my teeth.

She’s fucking freezing.

Something occurs to me, and still keeping my eyes on the track ahead, I duck my head so my lips are by her ear. “Ever, don’t go to sleep.”

“Why not?” She retorts indignantly.

“Because you might have a concussion, and we need to get you home and checked out before you can go to sleep,” I reply.

Her question is further proof of the fact that she does indeed have a concussion because she knows that she shouldn’t sleep until she’s been given the all-clear.

“Oh yeah, good point,” she replies. “I know that. I have a concussion.”

I don’t like the way her voice sounds. It sounds like her sleepy voice. Normally I love Ever’s sleepy voice, it’s absolutely adorable, but not in this scenario.

“Ever, don’t go to sleep,” I tell her again gently, well, as gently as I can when we’re racing through the woods in a storm.

Ever hums and doesn’t actually reply.

I put a bit more firmness in my voice as I say, “Ever, do not go to sleep, do you hear me?”

“Yes, sir,” she replies, her voice clearer.

Thank fuck for that.

I end up muttering absolutely useless shit at her for the rest of the drive back, making sure that she replies to me and that she isn’t going to go to sleep. At this point I’m not even sure what the fuck I’m saying, but it’s doing its job and keeping her awake, and that’s all I care about right now.

Finally, the cabin comes into view, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

I stop the four-wheeler as close to the house as I possibly can and then unzip Ever, shifting her so I can get up and take her inside.

“It’s hot when you carry me,” she grins up at me, thankfully looking more alert than she did.

The others all follow us up the steps, but we pause when Rage calls out after us.

“I’m going to take Tank back to the barn. I can’t leave him out in this, and there is nowhere safe to put him near the house,” Rage says reluctantly as he stares at Ever in my arms.

“I’ll come with you,” Cash offers. “The weather is really bad. We don’t want someone else to get lost or have an accident. Plus, I can bring a four-wheeler up, and then you don’t have to walk back.”

“Good idea,” Trick starts.

I carry on heading into the warmth of the house while they sort all of this out. Ever has spent far too long outside in the cold, and she needs to warm up.

“Wait,” she says as I start to sit down on the couch with her, “I am absolutely covered in mud, and fuck knows what else. I know that Luc is going to want to look at me before I can go in the shower, but we could at least minimize the mess by taking my dirty and very wet clothes off first.”

I nod and smile with relief because she is sounding so much more like herself.

Thank fuck.

“Do you need some help?” I ask her.

She nods, “Yes, please. I’m too cold, my fingers aren't working properly.”

I smile, “Of course, Angel.”

Ever

Once Jensen has stripped both of us down to our underwear, because we’re both soaking wet, thanks to me, he grabs two of the blankets that we keep down here, because in my opinion, a living room should always have blankets, and then sits us as close to the fire as we can comfortably get.