Rescued

Chapter 1-3

Colt blinked twice, chuckled, and got to work. Two hands were better than one, and it took half the time to get the road clear. Watching Dean pull and tug and grunt and groan as he lifted the limbs and dragged them out of the way wasn’t bad either. Colt could look at the stranger. There was no law against looking. Colt was lost wondering what Dean looked like under his coat and many layers of clothes when the chainsaw blade got stuck in a knot in the tree. He yanked and yanked until it came free, but he landed right on his ass. Of course, there had to be a huge puddle of ice cold water right where he slipped and fell.

“Son of a b***h!”

Struck dumb at the splash he made when his ass hit the water, Colt had a hard time getting up out of the puddle, the chainsaw still in his hand. Dean chuckled and grabbed the saw. He placed it on the ground away from the water, letting it idle as he reached a hand down to Colt. When Colt straightened, he realized Dean was at the perfect height, just below his chin. It always turned Colt on when a man was a little shorter than him. He could control the kiss…

Wait. What the f**k was he thinking? Kiss? A f*****g kiss? He met the man an hour ago, and he thought of kissing. Hell, no.

Colt berated himself when Coop hit the horn on the truck, stunning him and Dean. They lost their footing and went down into the same puddle. Sputtering and cursing ensued as they tried to get up from the ground as dignified as they could.

As Colt made eye contact with Dean, Dean grinned and waved at Coop in the car. Well, at least Dean wasn’t a hot head like most guys Colt knew. Especially his own dad, Coop’s grandpa. He would have ripped Coop a new one. Chuckling, Colt looked up and realized the tree was cut up enough for them to move the final pieces to the side. The only problem was now they were soaked through, and the temp had to be below zero. If they weren’t quick about it, they would catch pneumonia.

“Last piece.”

Dean reached for the log as Colt shut the saw down and put his gear in the back of the truck. He loved his truck; it was one of his only luxuries. He needed a reliable truck to take Coop to and from school and get some work done along the way. He was a handy man of sorts, CPR trainer, and search and rescue worker while he figured out his and Coop’s next step in life.

Since his brother Travis died suddenly and left Coop to him rather than their good-for-nothing father, Colt reevaluated his life after getting home from the military. He thought maybe driving a truck and being on the road would be good for him, seeing new places, being his own boss, but he knew he would take responsibility for Coop. He hadn’t been there for Travis, and he missed large parts of his nephew’s life. His brother had been just like their father, an ornery drunk bastard, but still his brother.

Colt set up a homestead away from town, and being a medic in the Army gave him skills for what he really enjoyed doing: rescuing and tracking. Many tourists came out to the country to hike and venture out of their norm, but they usually ended up in trouble. While growing up, he loved being outside rather than dealing with his asshole brother and drunk-ass father. He learned his tracking and other skills along the way.

“I am soaked through, and I don’t want to get your truck wet. Do you have a towel I could use?”

Colt handed a towel to Dean. As Dean sat in the truck, shucking his shoes and jeans, Colt realized the guy he’d been ogling a short time ago was now going to be sitting naked from the waist down in his truck.

Jesus, help me.

* * * *

“We are all dudes, right?” Dean looked at Coop, and Coop couldn’t help the giggle.

“Yes, dudes!”

Coop apparently thought it funny as hell to put his uncle into an uncomfortable situation. Dean could tell Coop knew his uncle liked men, and although Coop was only around the age of thirteen, as far as Dean could tell, he seemed to understand the attraction going on between Dean and Colt.

Dean handed Colt his wet clothes and slid over in the seat. He rubbed his freezing hands together in front of the heater and dabbed at his soaking wet hair. Colt stared at the clothes, looked at Dean, then shook his head before walking to the back of the truck.

The intimacy was a little much in the warmth of the cab, and the teenager’s eyes gleefully bugged out of his head.

Dean watched in the rearview mirror as Colt changed out of his pants in the freezing, ice cold wind, apparently grumbling under his breath while doing it. Damn, Colt was hot, but Dean couldn’t imagine how smoking hot he must be under all his clothes, and here Dean sat with no pants or underwear on, only a T-shirt. He watched as Colt wrestled into an well-worn mechanic’s jumpsuit, adjusting himself as he walked back to the truck. Dean knew Colt was naked under his monkey suit and all but got a b***r thinking about it.

“Oh, I love this song!” Coop turned up the radio.

Dean wondered how the hell he was going to get home, how the hell he was going to get dry, and how the hell he wouldn’t get a hard-on. Luckily, when Colt opened the door in the monkey suit, even though he looked badass in it, Dean thought it would hold his hormones at bay for the time being.

“What the hell is the radio so loud for?” Colt grumped at Coop as Coop continued to sing at the top of his lungs. Colt smiled at his nephew with the love a parent would give their own child.

The change in Colt’s face when he genuinely smiled startled Dean. A wide, soft-lipped smile and twinkle in Colt’s eyes all but brought Dean to his knees. As Colt started the truck, the sleet picked up, and it was nearly impossible to see two feet in front of them.

“Only another mile or so, and we will be home,” Colt declared.

The truck slid around the bend in the road, but he handled it amazingly with his strong hands and determination. He brought the truck to a stop in front of a very homey cabin, thankfully with a short walk to the front door. It looked like a fire was already going from the smoke billowing from the chimney.