Page 5 of Her Three Rangers
“Four more years,” he answered, still glaring. “But I was referring more to maturity than age.”
“Hey, I’m mature,” Jaeger said, his indignant tone blown by the slight smile playing across his lips. “And besides, you’re only a few years older than we are.” He paused, then added under his breath, “But you are short.”
I laughed as Jaeger dodged a flying tent pole. “Okay, okay… nobody is old or short. But it is hot as fuck out here, so let’s give Cody a hand, eh?”
Jaeger was already moving to help. It was what I loved about these guys. We might all talk a big game—and could absolutely back it up when necessary—but we all treated each other like family. These guys were just as close to me as any blood relative I had, and I wouldn’t hesitate to take a bullet for them.
I also knew they’d do the same for me, if it came down to it.
A couple of times, it nearly had.
“I hope we’re out of here in a couple of days, like she said,” Cody grimaced, finally able to stake down the tent without it flying back in his face now that we were each holding part of it. “We need to be able to pick up and go if we get a lead, and we might not have more than a couple of days until that happens.”
He wasn’t saying anything I didn’t already know, but it still took more than a little willpower not to snap. Maybe it was the heat. Or the stress. Or the fact that my bike looked ridiculous with a custom dog seat in the back and no fucking dog to ride in it.
Having Rambo harnessed in behind me made the world feel right. Even just the short ride from the parking lot of the clinic to the barn a few hundred yards away had felt wrong. It had felt… off. Like I was missing something.
And I was, really.
I was missing my best friend.
“We’re not going anywhere until Rambo is better,” I said, hoping Cody would recognize by my tone that it wasn’t up for discussion. “I don’t give a damn how long it takes. He’s part of the club. He rides with us.”
Just talking about Rambo made my throat feel tight. If he hadn’t made it through that surgery, there was no way I could have forgiven myself. As it was, I had already prayed and promised a million times that I’d never be so fucking careless again.
He just needed to get better.
Soon.
“You guys got this under control?” I asked, nodding toward the tent.
Cody and Jaeger shot me the same puzzled look. Jaeger was the first to speak. “Yeah… what’s up?”
“I need to go check on Rambo,” I said, looking across the field to the back of the clinic.
He was in there somewhere, probably wondering what the hell was going on and why the hell I wasn’t there with him. I should be there with him. I needed to be.
“Didn’t she say he’s probably going to be sleeping for a few hours?” Jaeger asked, exchanging a quick, knowing glance with Cody that made me want to reach across the tent and pop him in the jaw. “You sure you’re not just going there to check up on the pretty little pet doctor?”
“Fuck off,” I said, turning away. “It’s not even like that.”
Behind me, I could hear them snicker, but that was fine. Let them think whatever they wanted. Rambo wasn’t Jaeger’s dog, and he wasn’t Cody’s, either. He was my responsibility, my friend.
They didn’t understand. Until they shared that same kind of bond with an animal, they would never really get it.
“Fine,” Cody waved me away. “Go on, then. We’ll get this shit taken care of while you’re gone.”
I nodded and turned toward my bike, considering for a moment whether I should just walk across the pasture to the clinic.
But it was hot, and even though it didn’t look like such a long way, I wanted to get there as soon as possible. I wanted to see Rambo.
Now.
“Oh, and see if you can get her to invite us over for dinner tonight,” Jaeger called after me.
I pretended not to hear him as I swung my leg over the bike and revved the engine. Just being on the back of a motorcycle soothed something in my soul. It somehow kept me sane, kept me grounded.
The only thing missing was Rambo.