Read The Strength to Fall (McKinnon Brothers Book 1) for Free Online Page B

then, I’m glad my injury has caused someone joy today.” I tried to keep a mean glare but when his face fell I just couldn’t keep it up. “Oh, I was just joking! Please, know that I do understand this was all an accident and you’ve behaved quite chivalrously since the moment you ran into me.” I gained a smile from that and he sat back on the end of the couch opposite from where I was sitting with my legs stretched out and a pillow under my swollen ankle. I shivered a little and I didn’t know if I was cold or if it was my reaction to seeing a small patch of perfect abs when he leaned back. Ozias took it as if I was cold and immediately got up, removed a tray that sat atop lifted a dark leather ottoman he was using as a coffee table and sat it on the ground. He lifted the top of the ottoman and the hinges squeaked as he leaned down and picked up a light brown blanket that appeared to have some sort of wool on one side and suede on the other. He lowered the top, turned around and started to cover me with the blanket.
                  “Here, this is my favorite blanket.” He pulled the blanket up my body stopping right before reaching my breast, and gently folded it down and went to sit back on the other end of the couch.
                  I didn’t know what to say. We’ve only known each other a few hours and I already felt like I’d known him for years. Conversation during dinner was light and easy. We talked about the weather and how humid it is has been this summer. We mainly talked about the food and how good it was. He told me the restaurant was fairly new to the neighborhood but was quickly becoming one of the hottest places to eat in the area due to only using the freshest products. It was like a farm to table Chinese cuisine approach and it was fabulous. We were watching TV while we ate and he asked me if I’d get grossed out if he watched an episode of The Walking Dead and I told him no. He was trying to catch up on season five since he missed most of it last spring, although he didn’t say why. We just ate, laughed, and talked about the plot and our favorite characters until my rude manners interrupted the easy flow of conversation. And now here he was taking care of me again with more attentiveness than any boyfriend I’ve ever had.
                  I rubbed the soft fabric of the blanket between my fingers trying to determine what it was made of. It was soft and had an earthy scent. It was warm and beautiful and I could see why it’d be his favorite.
                  “It’s alpaca wool. It’s soft isn’t it?” I glanced up and nodded in agreement. “Claire gave it to me. She had taken one of her impromptu trips and she came back with gifts, she always came back with gifts. This is the most practical item she ever gave me. I’ll have to show you some of the other things she’s brought back from her travels. There’s no way to describe some of them but strange.” He chuckled at a memory and started to get up to clean up the Chinese take-out boxes. “You’re sure you’re through with this? I could put it in the fridge for tomorrow if you want?” He was gesturing to my two take out boxes sitting on a TV tray beside me.
                  “Um, yea, I might eat it tomorrow. I’m definitely full now though. Better stop before I gross you out again.” The feel of the blanket brought a memory to mind. “Aunt Claire took me to an Alpaca farm once. It’s one of my favorite memories. We camped in a tent that same night and I was cold. She gave me the blanket she had bought from the farm to sleep with that night. I bought a bracelet from the gift shop made from some cheap beads. I thought a blanket was not a good gift, at the time anyway, so she took it home with her. I wished I would have kept it. This one is just like the one she had.” Could it be the same one, I thought? Surely, not. This one seemed too new.
    I smiled as he picked