Unhurt Read Online Free PDF Page B

so I was just slightly overwhelmed with the concept of being responsible for another human being. Sure, winging it had always worked for me, but I wasn’t about to take those kinds of chances with someone else’s life. Not when he wasn’t even old enough to have a say in it. Well, he wasn’t old enough to say anything at all.”
    “Aha. So your carefree lifestyle just went out the window.” He was grinning, but I got the distinct feeling he still totally understood what I was saying.
    “For sure. Gardettos and Red Bull for dinner were suddenly out. Fresh, whole and organic foods were in. Before I knew it, I was gardening and raising chickens. I’ve almost purchased a cow twice already, but Bobby keeps talking me out of it by driving me past a dairy farm. The stench always kills my cattle ambitions in the moment, but the effect seems to only be temporary.”
    Derek chuckled. “I don’t know. I’ve smelled a dairy farm or two. I think I’d give up milk before I adopted a cow.”
    “Sure, milk I could give up. But ice cream?”
    “You make your own ice cream, too?” He wasn’t laughing anymore.
    “Of course. Anyway, it’s all good. I can have my ice cream and eat it too, so to speak. Living out here in the boonies means I’m not the only pseudo farmer around and I’ve made friends with a few people who are more than happy to exchange fresh eggs for milk once or twice a week.”
    “Nice.” He turned his attention from the open green back to me. He was squinting from the sun in his eyes. “I don’t suppose you have any homemade ice cream on hand right now?”
    I twisted my mouth back and forth trying to decide on my answer. Then, tilting my head to the side, I taunted him in my most seductive tone, “I’ve got some rocky road. Made it just last night.”
    “You’re kidding.” His jaw dropped in disbelief. “That is my absolute favorite.”
    “Hm.” I shrugged. “Well, maybe once we get these tubs unloaded and the furniture put up in my shop, I’ll fix you a bowl.”
    He didn’t even answer. Just took off toward the trailer.
    It was unloaded in record time.
    ***
    S itting inside Joss’s kitchen and peering around what I could see of her house, I really didn’t understand what she had found so impressive about my place. Her house was like living inside a piece of art. The place was warm and inviting, and yet so spectacularly unique that I felt completely engaged in my surroundings. Everywhere I looked, something else caught my eye. From the lighting dangling under the ceiling in the form of mason jars and paint cans, to the old wooden ladder she had hanging on the wall, now having been reincarnated as a bookshelf. Not to mention the sofa which was backed with a massive king-sized headboard. Hanging out in there made me feel a lot like I’d been dropped down the rabbit’s hole. But, you know...in a good way.
    “This is delicious. Seriously, Joss. I can’t stop eating.” I’d already made my way through two of the four scoops of ice cream she’d piled into my bowl after we came in to cool off. “What do you think, buddy? Best ice cream ever?”
    Wyatt was sitting in the chair beside me at the counter, sucking down his serving just as fast as I was. “Uh-huh. The bestest.” His chocolate-covered mouth was drawn up in the biggest smile I’d ever seen.
    “Yeah, okay,” Joss mocked us. “I see the sugar high is already kicking in for the both of you.”
    “I don’t know Wacko-doodle, you do make pretty good ice cream.” Her Aunt Deb. Aside from introducing herself, she hadn’t said much else since we’d come into the house, although I got the distinct feeling I was being observed from the moment she joined us.
    “I’m sorry. Wacko-doodle?” I furrowed my brow trying to sustain a serious expression, but my mouth was giving me away as it continuously jerked, desperate to break into a grin.
    “It’s a term of endearment,” Joss replied haughtily, staring me down past the tip of her