Hudson started to reply, but Camila’s gasp cut him off.“Lucy, oh my goodness, what did you do to yourself?”
Hudson’s brows rose in shock as he looked me over.“Christ, baby, I didn’t see it in the dark.What the hell happened?”
I looked down at my arms and legs, realizing they were covered in cuts—some worse than others.“Well, Sadie had gotten herself pretty far back in some thicket, and I had to coax her out.”
“Baby, you should have just left her and come to get one of us.That has to hurt like hell.”He winced.
“I wasn’t going to leave her there,” I replied firmly, looking him square in the eye.
We were still getting to know each other, but his gaze softened in understanding.“Okay, darlin’.But maybe we can talk next time before there’s a chance you might shed blood over a favor for one of my brothers.”
“I’ll take it into consideration,” I huffed, eliciting chuckles from Riley and a man I assumed was Hudson’s father, who stood off to the side with his arm around his wife.“I probably do need to shower and bandage some of this up,” I admitted.
“I’ll take you home,” Hudson offered immediately.“I’ll leave the boat and come back for it in the morning.”
“It was lovely to meet you, even under these circumstances.”Camila smiled as she offered me a plate she’d wrapped in tinfoil.“Make sure she eats, Hud.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And we’ll meet properly next time.”His dad lifted a hand.“But thank you for your help tonight.”
“Something tells me that we’ll have plenty of opportunities to hang out,” Riley muttered good-naturedly as he grabbed Ranger’s leash.“I’ll help you unhitch the boat.”
I waved in parting as Hudson took my other hand, genuinely having enjoyed meeting them.They were so real and clearly close—it was far from what I was used to.
“You get Rambo in the truck.I’ll start unhitching the boat,” Riley offered, and despite his jovial demeanor, it was clear how much he cared about his family.
“Rambo?”I raised a brow.“Like the 80’s action movie?”At his nod, I laughed.I had to admit, I didn’t hate the moniker.
“Rambo’s artillery had nothing on these guns,” I replied, flexing my arms.
Riley threw back his head and laughed.“Dude, hang on to this one.”He slapped his brother on the back as Hudson helped me into the passenger seat.
“I plan on it.”Hudson stroked my cheek tenderly before reaching over to buckle my seat belt.“We’ll get you home, cleaned up, and fed,” he promised before closing the door and getting Ranger up in the back seat.
Before long, we were pulling away from the curb.
“Your family is amazing.”I sighed.“You’re so lucky.”
He reached over and squeezed my thigh in silent acknowledgement, appearing deep in thought.I left him to it, content to ride in comfortable silence.
When we arrived at my place, he surprised me by cutting the engine.
“You’re coming in?”
He shot me an exasperated look.“Are you bleeding?”
“Well, yeah,” I replied in confusion.
For reasons I couldn’t understand, he seemed to be fighting for patience before turning to me.“Then yeah, baby.I’m going to come in.I’m going to make sure you’re good.Make sure you eat.And honestly, stay until you kick me out.”
“Do your first dates usually last twelve hours?”I teased.
He looked me over with an intensity that had settled over him since we’d left his brother’s house.“Not even close, babe.”
“Not in the mood for jokes.Noted,” I murmured to myself as he swung out of the truck and came around to my side to open the door.
“Okay if Ranger comes in?”He cocked a brow.
