I considered saying something else. Being railroaded was not how things usually played out for me, but hell, I was bone-weary.
“Thanks, son.” Tom bobbed his head at Ross before flicking his own concerned stare at me. Shit, how did he not look as wrecked as me? “Go. You’ve done back-to-back call-outs, worked at least double what I’ve done.” The man was a goddamn mind reader. But I supposed he knew me far too well.
“’Kay,” I settled on. “Thanks, but call if anything changes or you need me?”
“Sure thing,” Tom answered, amused.
Yeah, I wasn’t quite sure I believed him.
“Come on, let’s get these koalas where they need to go, and you home.” Ross’s hand took mine, and I allowed myself the moment to savour the contact and the newness of it all. I seriously was tired, so much so, I was becoming increasingly worried about what I may say in my exhausted state.
He led me to his vehicle and edged me towards the passenger seat.
“I’ve got it.” I grinned at him when he tried to buckle me in. “It’s sweet though,” I said, causing him to grin and lean in and place a kiss on my waiting mouth.
“Seriously, I can’t be dealing with your level of loved up.” Craig’s loud groan followed. “Definitely not in such close proximity.” He yawned. “And I swear,” he said around a second yawn, “if I dream about the two of you doing that, I’ll kick both your arses.” His shudder was dramatic and almost warranted me reaching into the back seat and punching him in the arm. I didn’t have the energy to follow through.
“Frank said Ross needed to make sure I wouldn’t drown in the shower,” I said instead, just as the man of my shower fantasies opened the door and sat behind the wheel. “Just some extra fodder for your nightmares, Craig.”
Ross snorted and shook his head. I grinned. Poor Craig moaned to the point I was concerned I’d pushed him over the edge. But honestly, he’d pushed for this… or at least pushed for me to pull my head out of my arse.
It was official. My head was well and truly out and all up in Ross’s business.
“I’m going to ignore everything you just said and put my whole energy into soothing this cute koala and her baby and hoping like hell positive karma comes my way and erases everything that came before.”
I laughed and reached over the console and took Ross’s hand in mine, giving it a light squeeze. “I can probably handle a shower by myself,” I reluctantly admitted in a whisper.
Ross put the car in Drive and pulled away, his attention flicking my way. A smile turned up his lips. “I’m not quite sure you’ve seen the level of soot and dirt on you.” He squeezed my hand back. “Those hard-to-reach places are going to need a definite helping hand.”
Heat unfurled in my gut. I liked the sound of that a hell of a lot.
After a few moments and Ross yawning like it was going out of fashion, I demanded he pulled over so I could drive. He grumbled, ridiculously so, complaining that I needed to rest more than him considering I’d been awake for so long, and while I was shattered, the man was dead on his feet. I expected the adrenalin crash from worrying about his parents was hitting him hard.
We were quiet the rest of the drive, all of us exhausted from the madness of the day. Craig had fallen asleep about two minutes after I’d swapped seats with Ross, and Ross’s eyes had slid shut about five minutes after.
The past few weeks had been full-on, the past thirty-six hours or so more so than usual. I flicked my gaze at Ross. His chest lifted and relaxed, his breathing quiet in comparison to his brother’s.
I’d spent many nights sharing the same space as Ross—and his brother—when camping and such, but tonight would be phenomenally different.
Well, likely tomorrow morning, considering after a shower—where in truth I expected to prop Ross up rather than the other way around—Ross needed to simply sleep, as did I. But my plan was to be wrapped around him, and from the crackling heat between us earlier, I was confident he was on board.
I’d waited so long for this, danced around it to the point of frustration. In truth, I’d half given up on the possibility.
When I’d reached for him just a few short hours ago, something had snapped inside me. The reality of the danger we were in, the folly of not pursuing something with Ross finally clicked into place.
And my mouth on his, Ross reciprocating… it all made sense and was absolutely worth the risk.
I pulled up outside of the vet where the wildlife contact had said he’d meet us. I climbed out, not waking up either of the sleeping men, then headed to the closed door. I rapped my knuckles against the wooden door. A few beats later, I heard movement, so stepped back a little.
An older guy in his midfifties answered, a warm smile on his face. “Ross?” he asked.
I reached out and shook his offered hand. “Dan. Ross is getting some shut-eye.”
Understanding registered in his stare. “It’s not pretty out there, is it?” I shook my head. “I’m Harry. Thanks so much for the rescue. What shape are they in?”
I led him to the car, saying, “The mum was walking, somewhat tentatively from what Ross said. The baby was wriggling around a fair bit. They’re dirty, so I wasn’t sure about burns or anything.” I made to pull open the car door, only to jerk back when Craig beat me to it.
“Hey,” he said with a yawn. “I’ve got her.”
