Free Almost a Cowboy by Em Petrova

see just what I mean. In the meantime, I’m going to clean up this mess our pa left us. You two just go on being the assholes time has made you.”
    He turned to lead Caroline back to the truck. Another wave of nausea hit him, but he swallowed it. No way would he puke in front of his kid brothers. Showing weakness meant the vultures would swoop in again.
    “Oh God, Utah, are you all right?” Caroline’s voice cracked.
    “Yeah. Just. Give me a minute.” He opened the door and put her inside, and then walked around to slowly climb behind the driver’s wheel. Before he gave in to the desire to rest his head against the steering wheel, he started the engine and drove down the lane.
    Once he hit the main road, he felt improved. Caroline gaped at him.
    “You all right, baby?” They hit a bump, and the motion jarred him enough to cause a wince.
    “Yes, but you’re not.” Her voice wavered.
    He snorted. “A little rumble like that can’t put me down. Until you’ve come out of your cabin, ridden through a record snowfall, stopping every hour to warm up and eat to stay alive in the cold, eventually to make it into town to sell furs, you can’t really call yourself tough. Then when you go for a beer, someone steals the furs you’ve fought so hard to bring.”
    Caroline’s eyes widened, the blue depths watery.
    He held up a fist. “I thought my knuckles would never heal. But no one ever fucked with me again.”
    She didn’t respond. They hit the highway and headed east to Colorado, where they’d try to track down Aurora and Bennett. Utah’s brother and sister.
    After half an hour, Caroline relaxed against his side, snuggling close.
    Their journey had begun.
    •●•
    It took sixty miles of driving before Caroline could take a full breath. Seeing Utah and his brother fight had spurred too many memories of Jeremy.
    She’d dragged his sorry ass away from more than one fight and even sprung him from jail twice.
    I should have left him there.
    Utah was obviously changed too. To her he’d always been rugged, but it was apparent he was now like aged oak, so hard you could barely hammer a nail into it.
    That blow to the kidney should have had him pissing blood. When they stopped for gas forty-five minutes into their trip, and he returned from the restroom, she asked about it. He said he was fine.
    He pulled a candy bar from his shirt pocket and handed it to her. “A peace offering,” he said, voice low.
    With a start, she accepted her favorite candy. “Why?”
    “I can see I’ve made you wary of me.”
    She tried to set the brake on her pinwheeling emotions.
    She was driving across the country with the boy—no, man—who’d once been her world. But his harsh words and ability to fight were flashing red lights in her mind. Utah was the guy who calmed everyone on the football field or stepped in during a fight in the school hallway. He was the peacemaker. Right?
    To her, fearing this wilder side of him was natural.
    He skimmed a fingertip along her jaw and down her throat. He rested it atop her pulse, which tripped faster. “I’m sorry about that scene at the ranch.”
    “They were pretty ruthless with their opinion of you.”
    He sighed and removed his finger. She felt the loss of his touch to the marrow of her bones. She wanted him to burn her up, make her forget everything but passion.
    “Yeah, they obviously hold me in the highest regard. To them I live somewhere between the third and fourth circles of hell.”
    She chuckled, easing a bit more. Being this close to him threaded new longing through her core. The sight of his shirt pulling so perfectly tight across his chest and biceps made her nipples pucker. A few minutes before, he’d sauntered into the convenience store, his tight buns taunting her. He looked just as good going as coming.
    He looks amazing “coming.” That dark look in his eyes…
    He put the truck into gear and rolled out onto the highway once more. The light was fading, the sky a