Defensive Line (The Unlovabulls #1)

Chapter Sixteen

She’d charge hell with a bucket of ice water.

Brody

I sat parked half under a streetlight with the engine in my truck turned off, watching the rental from two houses away. The free-to-a-good-home ad had resulted in several inquiries. Most people were just good folks who wanted to give a dog a home. Between Lily, Melissa, and Kate, they’d been able to weed them out to focus on the more worrisome contacts. Of course, they’d always give them a gentle nudge in the direction of a local rescue before making their excuses.

Three inquiries had been particularly suspicious. The first two, one was possibly looking for a bait dog. He took one look at Everett’s old Boxer, Maddie, and left. The second gave Melissa and Kate the creeps. They said he scrutinized poor Maddie like he was a serial killer in training. Everett, Hayes, and I decided that we wanted at least one of us on hand in the house after that. Not that the women weren’t fully capable of handling themselves, and anyone else. Just as backup.

That split me and Hayes up for tonight. He was hanging back at the house while the next inquirer visited. I was waiting to follow them in my truck when they left. Hopefully they’d lead us to the mill. If not, we’d at least get a license plate or an address when they left.

Without Maddie, of course.

We never had any intention of giving Maddie to anyone.

Lily whipped open the passenger door, startling me. “I’ve got a feeling about this one, Shaw.” She climbed into the cab and shut the door. “They were elusive on the phone and... I don’t know, and asked a lot of questions about if Maddie had been bred. Which, yeah, Everett bred her twice after her grand championship title. They’ll be able to tell if they check her undercarriage.”

Seriously? Lily was all business, like we hadn’t made out like teenagers then she ignored the note I left her. She hadn’t even texted me since then. I was feeling a little used, and when I didn’t give up the goods, she wrote me off. I didn’t think that was it, of course. One, I didn’t let anybody use me, and two, my gut told me she was embarrassed that she got that drunk and tried to ride me like she was breaking a young horse.

We’d save that for later. One issue at a time. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Coming with you.”

I brushed a hand over my face. “Yeah, you sure that’s a good idea?”

She sent me a what the hell look. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Truth was, I didn’t want her with me if this person managed to figure out they were being followed. If they did lead me to the mill...well, by her own admittance she’d lost her cool and got her ass arrested. “I, uh...we can’t approach these people, Lily. No matter how much you want to. We can’t burst in guns blazing and start popping open cages.”

She crossed her arms, glared straight ahead. “I’m going. They can’t use me in there because there’s a chance I might be recognized. Y’all aren’t cutting me out of this. It’s my plan, my mill to take down. I’m not going to sit in the back bedroom with my thumb up my butt.”

“Your mill to take down? I thought this was a team effort. You need to depend on everyone else to do their part.”

She huffed out a shitty laugh. “Yeah, sure. Because I’ve had so much luck with that.”

“We’re here, Lily. All these people. Helping. See, that’s the thing about having a team. You don’t have to do it all yourself.”

Looking down at her lap, she nodded. “I’m not great...at that. Depending on people, I mean. I’m trying, though.” Her voice was nearly a whisper as she flicked her eyes to mine and the streetlight reflected back at me. It damn near took my breath away. The soft scent of night-blooming jasmine and warm vanilla tickled my nose and was making my jeans too tight. That fragrance of hers haunted my dreams. Would it be stronger in the crease of her thigh? Darker?

Blowing out a quick breath, I tipped her chin up. “I get it, darlin’. I have a hard time trusting people, too. I feel like everyone wants something from me. But, please let me help. Let me do my part. I’m here to back you up, Lil. You can count on me. I’m not trying to cut you out, I’d just feel better if you weren’t with me if something goes wrong, is all.”

Shit. The more I knew this woman, the more I wanted her to let me in—the more I wanted to let her behind my curtain, too. “I would never tell you that you can’t, Lily. You’re a grown woman who can do as she pleases, but I’d feel better if you stayed here.” Not capable of stopping myself, I cupped her jaw, stroked my thumb over her cheekbone.

There was nothing I wanted more than to kiss her.

However, when headlights whipped around the corner making their way toward us, it all became moot.

She and I watched as a dark pickup truck parked on the curb in a shadow in front of a neighboring house. Our visitors were early.

“That’s got to be them.” We both scrunched down in my cab, watching two men get out.

Both were sizeable. One wore a baseball cap, the other had the hood on his sweatshirt flipped up. It was a bit warm for a sweatshirt this time of year. The truck was hard to see, too. Maybe black or navy blue...

I squinted. “Damn it. They don’t have a plate on the front.”

Both men walked up the drive, the one in the cap ringing the doorbell while the other hung back several steps.

He looked in our direction, then at the back of his partner.

Followed by another turn in our direction as if he were staring right into the cab.

His attention shifted to Kate’s SUV sitting across the street before refocusing on my truck.

“Something’s wrong,” Lily whispered.

“Yeah, the guy hanging back seems spooked.” I didn’t think he saw us sitting in the truck...besides, it was a neighborhood. There were other cars on the street, too.

A beat later, the guy tugged on the jacket of the man in front of him and they were cutting through the front yard back to their truck. By the time Melissa opened the door, the one who had watched my truck was sliding in the driver’s seat.

High beams hit my windshield, and an equally bright passenger side spotlight turned toward the rental house. Lily and I both shielded our eyes. I would find out later, Melissa had too, but it was enough. With quick efficiency the driver whipped a U-turn and I caught a quick flash of orange on the truck’s quarter panel before they took off the way he came. I also thought there was something written across the tailgate, but my field of vision was filled with white dots.

Lily grabbed my arm. “Can you see the plate?”

“Fuck. No, they blinded us on purpose.”

“We should follow.”

I was already ahead of her, turning over the engine as they made their turn around the corner, but by the time I got to the corner, the truck was gone.

We drove all over the growing town for the next two hours looking for any signs of them, but it was the proverbial needle in a haystack. Pickup trucks were a dime a dozen around here. I was fairly sure it was an F-150 and I was ninety percent sure about the orange coloring and lettering on the tailgate. But the main road was lighted and was a hive of activity. Off the main road were lots of new neighborhoods, old ranches, and dark country roads.

We got nothing.

As we drove back to the rental house, Lil stared out of the side window. “What do you think spooked them?”

Glancing in my own rearview, I shook my head. “No idea. I couldn’t see their faces, so I know they couldn’t see us all scrunched down. Maybe it was a feeling.”

She dropped her head against the window. “This didn’t stand a chance. We don’t know these roads like someone who lives here, or say, runs a puppy mill on one of these ranches.”

I nodded. “Maybe, but I think we’re on the right track, Lil. It was a solid plan. Otherwise, why would they run off like that?” A tear glistened against her creamy cheek. I reached across the seat to take her hand in mine.

She studied our joined hands but didn’t let go. “I wasted time doing this. A lot of time—the dogs are the ones that will suffer for it.”

“No, you didn’t. This isn’t your fault, darlin’. It was a good idea. We couldn’t have possibly accounted for every variable.”

Pulling to a stop in front of the rental house, I lifted my arm across the back of the seat. “We’ll have to rely on plan B is all. I promise we’ll find them.”

Without prompting, Lily slid across the seat under my outstretched arm, resting her head against my shoulder. I wrapped her tight. It felt so perfectly...right. Her hand on my chest. Her heartbeat against my side. I brushed a kiss across her hair meant to comfort that I had no right to give. When she turned her face up to mine, those sad eyes squeezed my heart.

I dropped my mouth in the direction of hers, just short of touching, letting her choose.

She chose to meet my lips in the softest, most tender kiss of my life. Our mouths slid against one another in feather light brushes with warmth and affection, feelings—on both sides—that were as clear as the ache that developed in my chest.

This woman.

Taking her chin between my thumb and index finger, I pulled back to see her face was a reflection of everything I was feeling. The same pull and recognition, the same desire and affection.

The same unease, too.

Lily

We were playing a dangerous game with both Brody’s career and my heart. In truth, I was as much at fault as he was. More so. He didn’t try to dry-hump me in his kitchen, after all.

I sat up and he ran a hand over his face. Throwing a wrist over the steering wheel, he stared out the windshield into the night.

I studied his profile. Inky hair curled around his ears from underneath his ball cap. The powerful line of his neck, the dark scruff on his sharp jaw. Longing erupted in my stomach as I remembered pushing the tip of my tongue against the hollow of his throat, my fingers threading into the hair at his nape. What it felt like to have his big arms around me. The single thick vein that ran up the length of his forearm and over the mound of his bicep before disappearing into a gray T-shirt pulled tight over his shoulders.

“We need to talk about what happened.”

“I’m right here listening.” His voice was deep, warm, that little bit of Texas Southern curling around my ears the same way his woodsy scent teased my nose.

I mentally hit the reset button, pinching the bridge of my nose and clearing my throat so my voice did come out husky. “I, uh, I drank too much, as if you didn’t already know that. I shouldn’t have done...what I did.”

The dimple in his cheek made an appearance. “What? You mean make out with me?” His chuckle was easy. “Didn’t mind that part at all. You’re an adorable drunk, by the way.”

Ugh. “I dumped my shit on you and you had to put me to bed and take care of my dogs—”

“Didn’t mind that, either. Didn’t even mind sleeping on your couch.” His tongue peeked out to roll over his lips. “But not calling me? That, I minded. And don’t tell me the dogs ate my note.”

Wait, did I hurt his feelings? Truthfully, I didn’t think he’d even notice I hadn’t called . “I found your note. Thank you for everything.” I put a hand on his bicep. “You’re a really good guy, Shaw. And a good friend.”

A pink tinge climbed his cheeks. “‘Friend,’ she says.”

That was the moment I felt the lid on the chest where I kept my heart blow wide open. I really had hurt his feelings. “I’m sorry. I should never have taken advantage of you. I tried to use you to forget my shitty family for a while and it was out of line. I’m sorry I didn’t call. I’m...having someone take care of me—I’m not used to that. I’ve always taken care of myself. It embarrassed me. That I was so needy, I crawled into your lap like that and then you had to put me to bed. That’s not usually me.”

He slapped the wheel with his palm. “Dammit, Lil. I want to be mad at you, especially after the friends comment... I know you’re not used to being taken care of, darlin’. I can tell you’re not comfortable with it. Shit. Honestly, I’m not all that comfortable with the fact that I care enough to do it, but that’s my shit.” He turned his head to meet my eyes. “But I don’t make out with my friends like that, so don’t you dare try to friend-zone me. We are more and you know it, too.”

Turning in the seat to see him fully, I noticed the clenched jaw and tension in his shoulders. “Brody.” I steeled my resolve and my voice. “I should have never climbed Mount Shaw like that.”

He barked out a laugh. “Mount Shaw? Christ, my emotions get whiplash when I’m around you.”

Smoothing back the hair escaped from my ponytail, I let out an audible exhale. “I’m the one who said I didn’t want that kind of strain on this relationship because I didn’t want it to interfere with the dog search. Then I go and try to grind on you like a pillow-humper. I—”

He put a hand up to stop me. “What’s a pillow-humper?”

“A dog that runs around humping everything. Couch pillows, toys, beds, legs, et cetera. I was all, ‘Oh, big doggo haz nice hiney. I shud do a hump.’” Ohmygod. I can’t believe I said that out loud . “Not important.”

Seriously? Now I was babbling in doggy voices?

He barked out a laugh that didn’t end, and the sound was my favorite music. “Aww shit, Lil.” He wiped an eye with the back of his knuckle. “I’m so glad I asked.”

I shook my noodle to clear my thoughts. As a general rule, I only geeked out like that in my head. This whole conversation had me shook and shit started pouring out of my mouth at record speed.

“Dude, I’d have to be blind to not want to bang you... I mean, for Christ’s sake.” I gestured to all of him at once. “It would be like not flicking the bean to that one picture of you in the Sports Illustrated Body Issue, the one with the football in front of your junk. Christ, between you, and Tyler Seguin—”

His head whipped around with sheer goddamned glee on his face. No other way to describe it. “Me and Tyl—are you shitting m—”

I needed to stop talking, but I couldn’t. So, in true Lily Costello fashion I overcorrected my course. “In the history of bad ideas, you and I wouldn’t quite be as bad as Jelly shoes, but definitely worse than Crocs.”

Turning away from me, his smile faded.

“You are enough trouble, and I...” Might be falling for you . “...am not willing to risk all this.”

A muscle jumped in his jaw. “You think that little of me?”

Whoops . Freudian slip. “In. You’re in enough trouble.”

He nodded, but I could tell he didn’t believe me.

I scrubbed my face with my hand. “I’m sorry for the mixed signals. That’s on me. But if we let sex get into this...you are my friend, Brody, and I think too much of you to sour that.”

Brody’s jaw muscle twitched. “Aren’t you tired of the excuses? I am. We’ve both been making them for so long it’s like second nature and when one doesn’t hold water anymore, we have another at the ready. When, in reality, you’re scared of way more than damaging our friendship, and I’m scared of a hell of a lot more than losing my job. I’m just so tired of all of it. The Bulldogs organization. The excuses to keep people out. How much it stings when you believe the bullshit the media says. I won’t lie to you and tell you I have never been that guy, but I am not that guy anymore. I don’t screw around anymore. I haven’t in a while.”

But how was I supposed to know if that was the truth or not? The owner’s granddaughter wasn’t that long ago, and the pictures from the fantasy suite spoke for themselves. “What about the owner’s granddaughter, Shaw?”

His eyes went wide, before a line appeared between them.

“Yeah, I know about that. What about the pictures from the fantasy suite?”

I hated that I’d brought it up. That I’d bothered to point out the exceptions to his claim simply because it meant that I cared that he did screw around, that he was lying to me about a part of his life that was none of my goddamned business.

He ran a hand through his hair and his face smoothed. “The granddaughter was a mistake. The fantasy suite is utter bullshit, but the truth is, it doesn’t matter what I tell you. You’re going to believe the worst of me because that’s what keeps you from getting hurt. I get it. I’ve been doing it, too. The thing is, that persona? It never really bothered me before. Not until right now. Not until you. Because all I want is for you to see me and all you see is football. This thing.” He gestured between us. “This could be real, enduring. Beyond football and legacy. Beyond rumors and mistrust.” He started to open his door. “But, hey, thanks for the reminder, Lil. I needed that kick in the nuts.”

I grabbed his forearm. “What reminder?”

“That I’m still Brody Shaw, star middle linebacker for the Dallas Bulldogs.”

As he spoke, something on Everett’s SUV caught my eye. “Shit. I know what spooked them.”

He whipped back to me and I pointed through the windshield.

“The sticker. On Everett’s window.” I nodded in the direction of the SUV where Everett had a sticker for the Unruly Dog Training Center.

He leaned forward. “Sonofabitch. I think we had the right guys.”

“Can’t be certain, but yeah, my gut tells me that was them.” And they slipped through our fingers.

“We should go tell everyone else.”

“Brody.”

“Yeah.” He kicked something nonexistent in the road.

“Look at me.”

He did, I could see the shadow of pain lingering there. Brody wanted me to believe him and it hurt him that I didn’t. The thing was, he hadn’t really given me a reason to believe him because all evidence was to the contrary.

Yet, he was right about what we had between us. “I know you want me to take you at your word. That you think I’ve always got my guard up, but I’m not the only one, Brody. If you decide to want to tell me your side of the stories, I’ll listen and try not to judge.”

His expression turned thoughtful as he adjusted the bill of his ball cap and seemed to mull over my offer. With a soft nod, he climbed out of the truck and the two of us went inside to tell the others about the orange and black truck that escaped.