Wild Raspberries Read Online Free PDF

man surrounded himself with. “God, I’m sorry.”
    “My fault,” Tyler said. “Now, if you’d slipped and knocked me over, I might be pissed, but I can’t see what you’ve got to apologize for.” He raised his eyebrows. “Except for chatting when you should be going to get me some fucking ice.”
    There was no real bite to the words, but Dan flushed and backed away. “Ice. Right.”
    He moved as quickly as he could in the unfamiliar house. Ice cubes in a plastic freezer bag, a deep bowl of warm water with a splash of antiseptic in it and a clean washcloth, an Ace bandage, antibiotic cream, Band-Aids… His hands full, he went back out and found Tyler, sweating and pale and sitting on a log some thirty feet away from where he’d landed, his injured ankle propped up on a chopping post.
    “I could’ve helped you move,” Dan told him. He put everything down and gave Tyler a glare that glanced off the man like sunlight off water. “That was just plain dumb.”
    “Shut up and help me get my boot off.”
    Dan slapped Tyler’s hands away from the laces and put the bowl of water in Tyler’s lap. “Soak your hand.”
    Tyler rolled his eyes and dunked his hand in hard enough that the water splashed his shirt. He snatched it out a moment later. “Jesus! What did you put in here? Moonshine?”
    “Don’t be such a baby,” Dan said, savoring the moment. The man fell off a roof without even whimpering and then fussed over the sting of peroxide?
    Tyler flicked some of the water at him and then immersed the hand again. “Boy, you sure do like to live dangerously.”
    “Yeah,” Dan said as he eased Tyler’s boot off. “I’m about to take off your sweaty sock to prove it.”
    He peeled the sock away as carefully as he could, cradling Tyler’s heel in his hand. In the end, finding it easier that way, he sat on the stump with Tyler’s foot in his lap. He worked the Ace bandage slowly over a foot and ankle that were already swollen, bruises rising under the skin. Tyler’s foot was sweaty, yes, but the skin was clean, the nails clipped neatly. Then he draped the icepack over the bandage and turned his attention to Tyler’s hand.
    “Might need stitches,” Tyler told him, when Dan had blotted away the water. It was deep, but the bleeding had stopped. “At least my tetanus is up to date.” He pulled a face when he saw what Dan was holding. “A Band-Aid? She’ll just tear it off.”
    Dan stuck one over the torn skin anyway. “You don’t want to get dirt in it. That should do it.” He raised his eyes and met Tyler’s calm gaze. Reaction hit, and he began to shiver.
    “Hey.”
    “S-sorry.” His teeth were chattering. Fuck. “You could have been killed.”
    Tyler made a soft, scoffing sound. “From there? It couldn’t have been more than twelve feet, if that.”
    “It doesn’t matter.” Dan shook his head. “You could’ve, you could .”
    “But I didn’t.” Tyler’s unhurt hand cupped his face and held it still, thumb stroking Dan’s cheek. “You’re just all over the fucking place, aren’t you? And don’t say sorry again.”
    “I guess I am,” Dan admitted and tried to steady his voice. “Shit, I’m such a fucking girl.”
    Tyler took his hand away after an admonitory pat nowhere near hard enough to be a slap. “I know some girls who’d rip your head off if they heard you say that.”
    Dan thought about it and grinned a little shamefacedly. “Yeah, I do, too.”
    “Go get the truck keys from the hook by the kitchen door,” Tyler said. “And my cell phone is —” He hesitated.
    “Where?” Dan said after a moment.
    “Just get the keys,” Tyler said shortly. “And lock up the cabin. You’ll work out which key goes where.”
    “Did anyone ever teach you to say ‘please’?”
    Tyler just stared at him, gray eyes cool. Dan felt tempted to just drop Tyler’s foot down on the stump — hard — but remembered the sandwich and set it down gently instead. “Don’t go anywhere