“I knocked for ten minutes, asshole.”
“Wait. MJ? As in your sister MJ?” I croaked.
The woman’s shit-eating grin widened. “Yep. That’s me. Nice to see you, Sheriff.”
I felt heat flood my face as I realized I was a very naked sheriff in bed with a very naked brother of MJ’s.
“Get out,” Otto snapped again. “I mean it.”
“You have five minutes to turn up for breakfast or else I’m barging in again, and I’m bringing Saint with me.”
“Fuck,” Otto muttered. “Wait. Saint’s here? When did he get in?”
“’Bout twenty minutes ago. We all rode together. Hudson, Saint, Hallie, Winnie, and me. Hudson and Saint found out you were hurt and about went apeshit. So get your ass in the kitchen before they come to give your person an inspection.” She raised her eyebrow with a cackle and left the room, but not before chucking a brown paper grocery bag on the foot of the bed. “For you two from Doc.”
“Wait,” Otto called. “How did he know—”
“Oh please,” she called back with a laugh. “The Hobie sheriff’s vehicle is parked front and center in the driveway. Everyone knows.”
“Shit,” Otto huffed. “Goddamned family. I swear to god…”
“It’s okay. I should probably, uh… go.” I looked around to see if I could remember where I’d put my clothes, but Otto reached out to grab my chin gently and turn my face to his.
“No. You’re staying here and enduring the Wilde love posse. You’re not leaving me here alone with those fuckers.”
I laughed and leaned in for a kiss of his pursed lips. He softened immediately and melted against me for the duration of the kiss. When I pulled back, I met his eyes. “Okay. I’ll stay for a little while, but then I’ll have to swing by the hospital and check on all those families.”
“Deal,” he said. “How were they all when you left last night?”
Otto climbed out of bed and reached for the brown paper bag, but not before flashing me a full frontal view of his sexy package.
I gulped.
His eyes snapped up to mine, and his grin was all knowing. “See something you like, Sheriff?”
I nodded.
“A firefighter with a nice hose.”
We both dissolved into laughter as Otto pulled clothes out of the bag. I realized quickly they were two sets of dark blue medical scrubs worn soft with age.
“God, this brings back memories,” I said, pulling a set on and tying the waist. “That time we fell in the lake and Doc put us in scrubs while he dried our clothes.”
“The time we exploded a can of spaghetti all over the kitchen,” Otto added.
“Oh my god and when we ate too much at the Hootenanny and both wound up puking our guts out in the back of your grandfather’s truck?”
“Thank god for Doc’s scrubs,” Otto said with a laugh, sliding his own pair on and robbing me of the perfect view I’d had only a moment before.
“Turn around and let me see your butt,” I demanded.
He did it without even stopping to question me, and his easy offering of his body made me feel light and free. His ass was high and round under the soft fabric, and I couldn’t help but reach out and squeeze a luscious globe.
Otto turned and grinned at me before swatting my hand away. “Hands off the goods, dude. You break it, you buy it.”
“I’ll buy it,” I promised. “Name your price.”
I stepped forward until we were toe to toe. Our eyes searched each other in this newness between us.
“For you?” Otto asked softly. “Free to a good home.”
I reached for his scruffy face with my hands and pulled him in for a kiss. Our mouths met softly and just sampled each other for a moment before we pulled back and touched foreheads.
“Let’s go face the firing squad,” I teased. “No time like the present.”
“You’ve obviously forgotten that time they surprised us with one of these interventions after junior prom night,” he groaned, opening the bedroom door and running right into two of his brothers. “Holy fuck!”
West and Saint cackled at him, pointing and laughing and giving him noogies until Sassy appeared from behind him and said, “Wait. Junior prom? Isn’t that when the two of you stayed out all night and lied about being at each other’s houses? You were in so much trouble.”
“How do you even remember that?” Otto asked. “You were like, a newborn when that happened.”
“It’s part of family lore,” she said with a straight face. “That and Mom and Dad made me wear a GPS tracker to my own damned proms because of it. Jackass.”
I laughed and followed them across the yard and into the big old farmhouse kitchen. It was as familiar to me as my own parents’ kitchen because Otto and I had spent way more time here than either of our parents’ houses at the edge of the ranch.