Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 107453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
“You sound like you’re coming out on the other side.”
“I think I am.” He slides his hand down my arm, clasps his fingers around my wrist. “I didn’t realize how much I wanted to see you at my games till you started showing up. Seeing you in the stands…”
My heart stutters as he trails off, the words clearly hard for him to say. I get that. He’s a man who’s been burned before. He’s a man who’s closed himself off. But he’s also a man who’s demanded the best from himself his whole life. Whose family expected the best from him too.
And he’s a man who possibly no longer wants the life that’s been ordained for him. “I’ll be there,” I say.
“Yeah?” His voice sounds like it contains all the hope in his heart.
“Yes.”
He squeezes my wrist, his fingers encircling it.
Before my heart performs an entire uneven bars routine, I hear Dev’s footsteps, and he pointedly clears his throat. “Hello? Did you forget about Puck Fitzgibbons?”
The other shirtless man in my home bends and scoops up the dog from the floor beside the bed. I laugh and Ledger snorts, letting go of my wrist.
“You already named him?” Ledger asks Dev.
“Dude. He needs a name,” Dev says defensively, then sets the precious cargo down on the mattress, not even asking me if he’s welcome in the bed.
Because Dev knows me. Of course the dog is welcome.
The mutt seems to know it, too, bounding up the bed then whining tentatively for my attention. I stroke his soft snout till he sighs and then curls into a dog ball by my side. “He might be someone’s dog,” I point out.
“We do need to see if someone is looking for him,” Ledger adds.
Dev rolls his eyes. “Dude is skinny, hungry, and collarless.”
“But he might have gotten out a few days ago,” I say.
Dev turns on his side and pets the dog. “Puck, did you get out, or were you looking for Aubrey?”
Ledger drops his face into the crook of my neck, chuckling. “There’s no way you’re not keeping this dog.”
I sort of knew that the second we found him, but I take issue with one word. “You mean we.”
When Ledger lifts his face, he smiles softly. “Yes. We.”
I let that sink in for a little bit—the ease of the we. The comfort of it. The way we all seem to know that a year became two months. That a first date is only the beginning. That this is us. “You know, the place where I used to live didn’t allow dogs,” I say, musing on the seemingly random as I pet the new bedmate.
“But this place does?” Dev asks with some concern.
“Yes. Definitely. One of the reasons I moved here. But then Aiden was allergic…”
Another pause. Another contented sigh from Ledger. Another pet of the pooch from Dev.
“Looks like it all worked out,” Ledger says.
Maybe it did. Like Trina said, sometimes time is just time. It doesn’t have to flow perfectly. It doesn’t have to line up according to rules. Life is short and real love doesn’t come around often. If you don’t grab it, it might pass you by.
Ledger falls asleep first, like he always does. I turn to Dev, who’s petting the dog. “Damn, you fall fast.” I’ve never seen someone bond so quickly with an animal. “Even faster than me.”
He meets my gaze, his green eyes flickering with heat and vulnerability. “Yes. I fell a long time ago.”
My breath catches. My skin tingles. “You did?”
He nods solemnly. “I did.”
My neck is warm. My insides are melting. “Really?”
He slides a thumb along my jaw. “Yes, really.”
“That’s why you said you’d wait for me?”
He shakes his head. “No. I fell for you before that week. During that week, I knew you were worth waiting for.”
So much for going slow. I’m not sure I can now either. I lean in to give him a quick, firm kiss. When I break it, I say, “How are you feeling about the season? I know you want it to be the best.”
“I do. But that’s not the only thing I want now,” he says.
The dog breathes evenly against my neck as I drift off after my first date with my two men. I’m pretty sure I fell in love with them while we were together on the honeymoon.
And then I fell a little more while we were apart.
57
THE HOT VET
Aubrey
“Let’s see if this guy has a home,” the calm vet says.
I bring my clenched fist to my mouth, offering a prayer to the universe as Doctor Lennox runs the scanner along the dog’s scruff, hunting for signs he has a home.
It’s only been a few seconds, but I can barely take it. “Does he have an owner?” I blurt.
“Yeah, what’s the word, Doc?” Dev stares at the microchip scanner so intently he could burn a hole in it.