Chapter 11
Dani
T here was a feeling of exhausted satisfaction I got after a kick-ass workout. Every muscle ached in a way that made me know I’d accomplished something. That I was moving in the right direction. That was the feeling I had as I lay next to Brock in his bed after having just been bent over his couch. Sarg was curled around my feet, my head was on Brock’s shoulder, and my chest felt light. Even with the secrecy of our relationship weighing on me, as I was sure it was weighing on him, I was having a hard time popping my little bliss bubble. My body was warm and comfortable, my vagina was satisfied, and my heart was hopeful for the future.
I couldn’t expect this feeling to last outside of this moment, so I was going to enjoy it. I closed my eyes, surrounded by the smell of his skin. Teenage me had imagined this moment a million times, but I didn’t know if I ever thought it would really happen. Every guy I knew always reminded me how I was too tall or too flat. If the average guy wasn’t interested, what chance did I have with the one I really wanted? Brock had been popular even back in the day. He was tall and broad. He had lots of friends and played on the soccer team. His confession that all the time I was noticing him, he was noticing me back was surprising. The fact that dozens of girls would have happily gone out with him, but he had his eyes on me was more than I could have hoped for.
Sarg rolled over so his belly was up, and I smirked at him. “When did you get him anyway?”
“Last Halloween.” He ran his fingers lazily over my upper arm. “There was a fight in the alley behind that country bar on Fifth Street. After we’d cuffed the guys, Sarg appeared from behind a dumpster. Black cats have it rough on Halloween, but I figured orange cats wouldn’t fare much better, so I brought him back here until the shelter opened the next morning. Never ended up taking him to the shelter.”
“That’s adorable.” I snuggled further into his chest. He rescued a street cat. I will never be able to guard my heart from being all in with this man. How could I? We’d both been secretly pining for the other since before we could drive. With every year that had gone by, he had acquired more characteristics that I admired, culminating in saving a freaking cat. I was sunk. It was too early to put the word love on it. Or maybe it wasn’t. Either way, it was Brock or bust. I’d just have to figure out how to get Josh to understand.
He pulled me tighter. “It isn’t adorable, it is very manly. Weren’t Vikings all about cats? Rescuing Sarg was a very brave Viking thing for me to do.”
I snorted. “I still think it’s adorable. But it also makes me want to ride your dick right now. Does that make up for it?”
He tapped his chin with his finger, pretending to contemplate it for a moment, before grabbing me by the hips and hauling me onto his lap. I had a feeling this was going to become my happy place. I couldn’t have ice cream until after the fight, but I could have him, and that tasted just as sweet.
His phone chimed on the nightstand. He ignored it in favor of bringing his lips to my neck, but I saw my brother’s name flash across the screen. “It’s Josh; you should probably check that.”
“Cockblocking son of a…” He picked up the phone. “Hey, man, what’s up?” I couldn’t hear what Josh was saying but from the way Brock’s face fell, my stomach tightened. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He hung up the phone. “Let’s go.”
I waited until we were in Brock’s truck and on the road before I asked where we were going. He ran a hand through his short hair. “Josh was injecting someone who was overdosing with naloxone, and he ended up kneeling on a used needle.”
My mouth dropped open.
“He’s okay.” He hurried on before I could pepper him with questions. “He has to take antibiotics and do some blood work to make sure he didn’t get anything from it. He just needs a lift home from the hospital.”
“Shit.” I took a deep breath. Loving someone in his line of work meant always worrying about something happening. I glanced at Brock as he shoulder-checked and switched lanes. I knew he was going crazy on desk duty. The only thing that helped me sleep at night was knowing Josh and Brock had each other’s back. So long as my relationship with Brock didn’t ruin that.