Free Fearless: Complicated Creatures Part Three by Alexi Lawless

answered.
    “We both lobbied hard to stay with them, but Carey told us Sam would be more upset if we let Lennox Chase go to hell in a handbasket,” Evan added. “And he has to help run the board at Wyatt Petroleum.”
    “So I’ll only have de Soto to keep me company in Texas?” Wes joked. “That’ll be a fuckin’ ball of laughs.”
    “Yeah, about that…” Evan clasped Wes on the shoulder, looking him in the eye. “Listen, I know this is going to be hard for you to hear, but I want you to take a breath before you react, alright?”
    Wes could feel his hackles rising. He had a feeling he knew exactly what was coming.
    “Sam and Carey are going back to Texas,” Evan began, “She’s given explicit instructions, Wes: she doesn’t want you there. She’s asked that you stay away,” he told him, expression sympathetic.
    “She’s not thinking clearly,” Wes replied calmly.
    “Carey’s backing her,” Talon added quietly. “I know you want to be with her right now, but she’s laid down the law.”
    “I’ll go talk some sense into her.” Wes made it one step before Talon caught him and pushed him back gently, but with just the right amount of pressure to show he meant business. Wes might be able to get past him, but he knew he’d never get through both him and Rush, then Alejo down the hall.
    “Calm down, man—”
    Wes took a deep breath through his nostrils. Christ, it was always one step forward, two steps back with Sammy.
    “She needs my help—whether she wants to admit it or not,” he told the guys.
    “It’s not just about that—” Evan started.
    Wes met his eyes. “Then what is it about?”
    “Wes, one of the reasons Sam doesn’t want you anywhere near her is because she doesn’t think Lightner knows anything about you. She’s asked me to tell you to split—to go take some assignment far off where you’ll be safe.”
    That was an echo of what she’d said to him earlier. She was basically telling him to pull a repeat of what he’d done to her before, back when they were kids. Basically prove her right after Wes’d promised her left, right, and center that he’d changed. His jaw ticked with the effort not to lose his shit.
    “Not going to happen,” he gritted out. “I’m not bailing on her. Not again.”
    Evan shrugged, like it was a foregone conclusion. “I told Carey as much but Sammy’s mind is fixed. You know better than anyone, once she decides, it’s done.”
    “Man, take a second to look at it from her point of view,” Talon chimed in. “She barely got out of this last mission alive. Her back is FUBAR and she can’t protect you—much less herself,” he pointed out in a moment of extreme insight. “I know you’re pissed and you want to push your way in, but now’s not the time for that. You know Sam better than all of us. What is she going to do if you go in guns blazing?”
    Fuck. Shit. Fuck.
    Talon had a point. Sam didn’t get backed into corners—no matter what the circumstance. Besides, he wasn’t completely lacking in self-awareness, even if he preferred to ignore it more often than not. What right did he have to push back into Sam’s life uninvited, when he’d been the one to walk out? This was her show, her call—but that didn’t mean he had to stick to the play—not absolutely.
    “Are y’all still leaving tomorrow?” he asked.
    Evan gave a short nod. “The surgeons aren’t happy about it, but they think she’s stable enough to make the trip with our doctor on board.”
    Wes sighed. “Where’s Carey? I’d like to speak with him.”
    “He’s in the cafeteria getting some coffee,” Talon told him, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. “You just missed him.”
    Wes nodded shortly. “I could use a warmer. I’m gonna go find him.”
    As he turned toward the hospital canteen, Evan put a hand on his shoulder. “For what it’s worth—I’m glad you showed up in Afghanistan.”
    Wes cocked his head. “Yeah? Why’s that?”
    “You helped