Chapter 22 Braedyn
brAEDYN
“Please, nectar of the gods, be kind to me today,” I whispered as I bent, leaning my head against my coffee maker and breathing deeply.
Early-morning sun cascaded through the glass back doors. Hopefully, that would help, too. Because tossing and turning the entire night certainly hadn’t.
As the coffee machine began to hum, I straightened. My back ached from the various uncomfortable positions I’d tried last night, and my palms and knees were still sore from the glass shards. If Nova were here, she’d try to talk me into one of her pretzel stretches and maybe a little meditation.
But she wasn’t here.
I swiped my phone off the counter and opened my one and only social media app. I’d been slacking on posting since the move, but when I hadn’t been able to sleep last night, I’d finally uploaded a new shot.
This one was Yeti running through a field with wildflowers springing up around her and Mount Lupine in the distance. My caption read, Sometimes playtime is just as important as training time.
There were a bunch of comments. Some familiar handles and others not.
PDustan88: Let me know how the HRD training is going. We want to work on that next.
PugsNMugs: Look at that happy baby!
NorCal27: Is this outside Starlight Grove? You should check out Three Creeks Canyon. Less populated but it’s a stunner.
My throat constricted, making it hard to breathe. The one thing I hadn’t gathered the strength to do was revisit the scene of the crime. I knew I needed to, but every time I thought about it, my blood turned cold.
The feeling only intensified when I saw the next two comments.
V.Fab33: I remember what playtime is your favorite.
FabeVic23: Wonder what made for the change of locales. Missing someone?
I gripped my phone tighter as my stomach roiled. Vincent was a prick of epic proportions. And why? Because I hadn’t signed his stupid NDA? Because I’d had the baby? Why did he care? It wasn’t like I’d come after his family’s billions. Other than Nova, I hadn’t told a soul who Owen’s father was.
But even all these years later, Vincent knew how to get under my skin. He knew that having sex for the first time had been a big deal to me. Just like he knew how much Nova meant to me. And his keeping tabs meant he knew she was missing. Now, he got to rub that in.
I slammed my phone on the counter, not even bothering to block the latest handles. He’d just create new ones. Instead, I grabbed my cup of coffee and whistled softly for Yeti. She was off her dog bed and at my side in an instant.
“Want to play?” I asked.
Her big booty plonked to the floor, and she panted happily.
A soft laugh left my throat. One I needed. “All right, little lady. Let’s do this.”
It had been a minute since we’d trained, but I knew Yeti would be back in the saddle quickly. Heading to the laundry room, I grabbed a set of Owen’s pajamas. I put the shirt in one bag and the shorts in another, then headed outside with Yeti on my heels.
“Assis. Couché.” The French command asked for Yeti to sit and then lie down. I pointed her toward the house. “Cover your eyes.” Yeti put her paws over her snout.
I grinned and headed into the backyard. The scents of the creek would help make the game fun.
Dragging the pajama shirt as I went, I walked down about thirty yards and found the perfect hiding spot in the tall grass by the water.
Then I walked back, spreading my scent trail in a nonsensical pattern.
This would be a good exercise with my scent trail, Owen’s old ones from playing, and the new one I’d just laid. I couldn’t help the smile that teased my lips.
“Is that dog covering its eyes?” A voice cut into my reverie.
Yeti’s head snapped up, instantly on alert, but she didn’t move from her spot as Dex crossed between our yards.
God, he looked good. Too good. Especially when I knew I was raggedy, in tattered shorts and a tank with my feet in knockoff Uggs from Target.
Dex was anything but a mess as he walked toward me, dark jeans straining against thick thighs and a T-shirt that read Hacking.
Because punching people is frowned on that was the kind of worn you knew would be incredibly soft.
My fingers twitched at my sides. God, I needed to get a grip. Or laid. Probably the latter since it had been exactly eight years and nine months. But that’s what happened when you were a single parent with serious trust issues when it came to men.
Dex quirked a brow behind those damn tortoiseshell glasses.
“à l'aise,” I said to Yeti, telling her to be at ease.
Dex shook his head. “French at seven in the morning feels unfair.”
“If it helps, I only know about a dozen commands in French. The rest are plain ole English.”
“So boring,” Dex said with a grin. His gaze shifted to Yeti. “What was she doing?”
“We were going to do a training exercise. Want to help?”
He sent a suspicious look my way. “Are my balls at risk?”
A laugh bubbled out of me, and it felt so damn good. “Your balls are safe. You’ll just be a good distraction. A new person.”
“Okay,” Dex agreed, but he still eyed Yeti a little warily.
“Viens, Yeti.” The moment I spoke the words, Yeti bounded off the back deck and came toward me.
She wiggled with excitement, her whole body wagging. It made sense. She was still young. Calm would come with time and practice. I gave the hand signal for sit, and that big booty plonked down again despite her eagerness.
Bending, I opened the second bag for her to sniff. Yeti’s nose twitched as she took in the scent, and her muscles quivered. She was ready for the game.
I glanced up to find dark-hazel eyes fixed on me. “Do me a favor and walk around. No rhyme or reason. It’ll confuse the scent trail.”
Dex frowned a touch but nodded, walking toward the water.
I closed the Ziploc bag with the pajama shorts. “Find.”
Yeti didn’t wait. She bounded forward, her nose pointed toward the ground. Her gaze snapped up for a moment as Dex crossed her path, and I thought she might seek him out, attention winning out over the game. But she didn’t.
Her nose dropped back down, sniffing as she followed the track.
“She’s certainly focused,” Dex remarked, watching her as I followed behind.
“You can train dogs to search by trails, scents that are on the ground or in the air particles left behind all around us. We’ve somewhat mastered the first but haven’t started on the second,” I explained.
“Looks pretty damn impressive to me.”
Yeti took a wrong turn, likely distracted by an older Owen scent. But it wasn’t long before she corrected and found the trail I’d left minutes ago. A few seconds later, she let out three sharp barks.
I grinned. “That’s her alert that she’s found our missing victim.”
Crossing to Yeti, I gave her an enthusiastic rubdown and a treat for her efforts. “Va jouer.”
“What’s that command?” Dex asked.
Yeti bounded through the yard in answer.
“Go play,” I said, chuckling as she rolled in the grass.
I picked up the pajama shirt and headed toward Dex.
“Pretty damn impressive.”
The grit coating his voice sent pleasant shivers across my skin, and I couldn’t stop myself from looking up into those shadowy eyes. “We try.”
Dex searched my face, his hand lifting and fingers ghosting beneath my eyes. “You’ve got shadows.”
I swallowed, my throat catching on the action as his fingers stilled on my face. I wanted to soak in the feel of that connection, the warmth and rough realness embedded in the tips of his fingers. “Not my best night,” I whispered.
His expression transformed then—to the familiar scowl that made me want to laugh now. Because I knew what was behind it. Caring. I’d never met someone who got so cranky for the best of reasons.
“Mr. Dex, why do you look like you’re sucking on a lemon?” a new voice cut in.
I startled away from Dex at the sound of my son’s presence, turning to find him standing on the back deck in robot pajamas, his glasses askew.
Yeti raced toward her best friend, elated at his presence as Dex searched for the right words.
“Your mom didn’t get enough sleep,” he finally answered honestly.
Owen’s green gaze turned to me. “Uh-oh, big trouble.” He glanced back at Dex. “You gonna ground her? One night, I stayed up playing my video game, and she grounded me.”
Dex’s lips twitched. “I’m definitely thinking about it.”
I made a sound of protest.
Dex just arched a brow. “I think it’s fair. Can’t have you crashing on us.”
It was my turn to scowl. “Maybe I’m gonna ground you.”
“What’s the cause?”
Being too damn gorgeous too early in the morning was what I wanted to say. “Interference in morning training” was what I reached for instead. Pathetically.
A grin tugged at Dex’s lips. “You asked me to interfere.”
“Only after you butted in.”
“You welcomed that butting.”
“You’re the worst,” I grumbled.
“Only because you’re the worstest.”
“What are you two talking about?” Owen cut in.
Wasn’t that the million-dollar question?
Dex changed the subject. “How about I make you guys breakfast?”
Surprise sparked through me. “You cook?”
He looked a little insulted at my doubt. “I’ll have you know that my great-uncle Waylon is an amazing cook, so I learned from the best. I might not do it often, but I have the skills.”
One corner of my mouth tugged up. “What do you think, O? Should we risk our stomachs and let Dex make us breakfast?”
A huge grin broke out over Owen’s face. “Definitely. If it’s bad, we can just feed it to Yeti.”
Dex’s jaw dropped. “You doubt me?”
Owen giggled. “I gotta taste-test first.”
“Fair enough. Give me two minutes, and I’ll be back. Hellion, you got flour, eggs, and milk?”
“I do.” My smile tugged wider. “I also have the number for poison control.”
Dex made a motion like he’d just been stabbed in the heart. “You two are brutal.”
“The brutalest,” Owen called as Dex headed back for his place.
“Come on, team. In we go,” I ordered Owen and Yeti.