Chapter Twenty-Nine
I thought the full moon was last night.
Brody
“Okay, thanks for the update, Dr. Avalos. Anything she needs, just send me the bill,” I said as I stepped out of my truck. Lily came through the backyard gate as I hung up the call. Relief washed over me. The bulldog pup was getting stronger. I’d even given her a name—Laila, after Laila Ali. Because she was a fighter through and through.
Lily launched into my arms, kissing the shit out of me. Eventually, the whine of a passing car’s power steering in the alley at the back of Lily’s yard brought my head up. She lived in an old part of Frisco with a big yard, but cars were forever traveling up and down the streets and back alleys. Especially with the park across the street from her house.
“Why don’t we take this inside,” I said.
She nodded, hit the keypad to close the garage door before she led me through the backyard and into the kitchen. We barely cleared the door before I slipped an arm around her waist and slid my lips over the back of her bare neck. “Damn, I can’t imagine ever seeing you and not wanting to do that.” She arched her back, pushing her ass against me.
“Mmmm, ditto.” We were at it like rabbits. Every night except the first. We should have been exhausted, but whenever she was near, my cock sprang to life.
“In fact...” I kept walking her forward, whirled her around and sat her butt on the counter with me between her thighs.
“You’re lucky I have a strong sex drive, Shaw. Otherwise, I’d have to kick your ass out just to get some rest.”
I sucked at the skin below her ear, making her hum. There wasn’t a single inch of her I didn’t know. “Why, Ms. Costello. I’m surprised at you.” I feigned offense, but her hands were under my T-shirt exploring my skin and my hands were pulling at her shorts trying to work them off her legs without taking her off the counter. “What’s it gonna be? Make love to me or fuck me till neither of us can walk?”
She winked an eye shut. “Hmm, how bout ‘grr, hrr, thank you, sir.’”
A laugh bubbled out of my throat. “A quickie it is. Lift your butt so I can get your shorts down.” I wanted to tell her I loved her so many times, but every time I got close, I swallowed the words.
She did the same.
Yet, the only reason I cared about keeping our secret was so I could play in Dallas to be near her, and with the civil suit against me looking more and more like it would fold, things were promising again. I’d have to go back to my apartment soon. The last preseason game was this weekend, then camp would break.
She was still breathing heavy from her orgasm when I lifted her off the counter to find her shorts and swatted her butt.
“Was that Regina? How’s Laila?”
She was already gone for the puppy, too. “It’s going to take time for her to heal but she’s doing better. Gina said she had a female that lost her entire litter yesterday. She won’t eat or sleep, but if Laila does well the next couple of days, the Golden Retriever might take her on as her own. I didn’t know dogs would do that.”
Lily buttoned her shorts, poured iced tea from a pitcher. “Sometimes. It’s good news. There are things a mother can teach her that people can’t. She needs that socialization, but we shouldn’t have any problem finding her a forever home.”
Finding her a forever home? I thought she already had one. Right here with us. Then, again, this wasn’t my home.
If Lil wasn’t thinking about Laila in terms of forever, maybe she wasn’t thinking about me that way either.
I shook the thought off. We’d talk about it later. Between classes, the animal welfare agencies she’d contacted the last few days, and me keeping her up at night, she was probably exhausted.
I wasn’t going to read into it.
“I heard back from the sheriff today.” She handed me a glass of tea.
“What did she have to say?”
Lil’s disappointment was written on her face. “They got anonymous photos but can’t get a warrant because the barn was empty. She said it’s probably been scrubbed at this point anyway.”
“What about the pictures of Laila?”
“Who’s to say whoever sent her the photos didn’t bring the puppy with them? The judge isn’t going to grant a warrant on that alone. No dogs, no case. And they can’t direct resources to search for dogs that are no longer there. Especially with the Davis family having ties in that community.”
“Fuck a duck.” I spat the words.
“Pretty much. The deputy told me they’d add it to their case file on the Davis ranch.”
The irritation in my system made my skin feel tight. Walking to the back door, I watched my girl lying in the shade with her buddies. “Did you hear back from the ASPCA?”
Lily’s arms slid around my waist, her head against my back. “Similar to what the deputy said. They understand our predicament, but they can’t direct resources into finding dogs that may or may not be there. And they’re more large scale in their responses.”
“This isn’t large scale?” I was a tad incredulous.
“Not in the grand scheme. ASPCA steps in for big things. Huge mills. Natural disasters. Although, if we do locate the dogs again, we can contact them, and they can put someone in to gather evidence on site. They’ll even coordinate with law enforcement and local shelters. But until we have a bead on the dogs...”
I rested my forehead against the glass, pushed out a breath. “Damnit, I’m sorry, Lil.”
“Shh. This isn’t your fault.”
“If we hadn’t have waited...but with camp.”
“Brody, look at me.”
I turned.
“This isn’t on you.” I could see rather than hear the unspoken it’s my fault on her face. “What we need now is to regroup. Even if we do find them, and the ASPCA gets involved, there are special considerations for the bullies that have never been socialized. But we’ll dig back in, keep our eyes and ears open. When some morsel of evidence turns up, we’ll be there. In the meantime, you need to focus on your shoulder and your job.” She picked at something on my T-shirt that wasn’t there. “We need to get back to routine. Which means...”
I brushed my knuckles along her jaw. “You trying to tell me something, babe?”
“It’s time for you to go back to your place. Not that I want you to, but—”
“But if I care about playing football for the Bulldogs this year this arrangement is risky?”
She nodded.
That’s when CC chose to slap the back door with a paw asking to come in. Lily shifted her weight, and I turned to open the door. The whole gaggle busted in and did their happy doggie dances complete with slobber.
“I’m surprised they didn’t come say hello as soon as you got here,” Lily said.
“They were comfortable out there in the shade.”
Retrieving the water bowls—there were two now—she filled them both before replacing them on the floor.
I pulled a chair out from under the table and sat rolling my shoulder around to loosen it up.
“Brody, the longer you stay here, the higher the likelihood we’ll get caught.”
“Not sure that’s a bad thing at this point.”
“Oh, no.” She poked me in the chest. “No, you don’t. That can’t have anything to do with me. You want to walk away from twenty-four million ? That will be on you alone, buddy. I don’t even want to be a whisper of a consideration in that decision.”
Hooking a finger in her shorts, I pulled her toward me, rested my forehead against her stomach. “If the Bulldogs put me on IR, that gets cut in half.”
Pushing a hand into my hair, she gripped it firmly and cranked my head back until I was forced to look at her. “And if you walk away, it’s zero. If that is what’s in your heart, I want you to follow it, but I know that you love this team and this town. I can’t be the reason you walk away from that.”
When I was drafted by Dallas, we were a team I was proud to be a part of. The head coach loved the game and his players—he wasn’t anyone’s marionette. The former general manager cared about us, too. She built a strong bond with both the players and coaches—one where we wanted to win for her. We would sweat, and bleed, and break our bones for her.
But she retired; her replacement let the coach go, then our quarterback.
Shit rolled downhill.
Old man Barnett turned a blind eye to how Dick operated in favor of a higher ROI and more playoff berths.
This wasn’t the team I loved anymore.
Still, Lily was right. I only had two more seasons. That was a lot of scratch to the poor kid with a single mother from Denton. I didn’t want to leave that on the table if I didn’t have to.
“How ’bout I go in the morning. One more night?”
She held up her index finger. “One more night.”
The following morning, I packed up my duffel and my dog. The sun was creeping over the horizon in shades of yellow and orange as I pulled out of the garage when there came Lily. Out the front door wearing nothing but a T-shirt that said Property of Dallas Bulldogs #58 and toting a dog bowl. Goddamn, she was something, all messy hair and creamy flushed skin.
After rolling down the window, I adjusted my ballcap and draped my wrist across the steering wheel. When I dragged my tongue across my lips, I could still taste her there. “Miss me already?”
Stepping up on the running board, she handed the bowl through the window and I’m sure flashed half her ass at the old man next door. “You forgot this,” she said, then nibbled on that plump bottom lip.
“Well, you forgot something, too.” Before she stepped off the running board, I checked both ways and stuck my head through the window, snatching a scorching hot kiss.
“I love you, Liliana.” It slipped right out without hesitation.
Her fingers came up to cover a soft smile as she stepped backward off the running board and giggled. Lily’s gaze turned the most radiant shade of mauve in the morning light as she laughed like a little girl. “I lo—”
“Uh-uh. No, you don’t. You save that till you can tell me properly. Naked. In bed.” I rolled up the window and put the car in drive, watching my rearview as I pulled away.
With a quick scan of the block, she turned her back to the truck and flipped her T-shirt over her butt, then tossed her head back and laughed.
I slammed on the brakes. My tires screeched to a halt. I probably woke half the neighborhood and CC slid off the bench behind mine onto the floor with a thud.
She just mooned me . And disappeared into the house before I’d even gotten the truck into reverse.
That was my girl.