Chapter 16 Ben
Istepped out of the front door at the sight of Ella’s truck turning onto my driveway.
The night air nipped at my skin with teeth made of frost. I took a deep breath, feeling like my lungs were about to freeze.
Our local news station warned that temperatures were going to plummet over the next few days as a polar vortex roared down from Canada.
They had a name for it up here: killing cold.
Ella pulled into the golden nimbus of porchlight and put the truck in park. She cut the engine and hopped out, and I took the stairs down to meet her.
She turned to me as I approached. “I am wearing the world’s ugliest underwear.”
What the fuck?
Her breath misted in front of her face when she spoke.
“I thought I would throw that out there now, since you said yesterday that you don’t think that, uh…
” she looked at me, shifted her gaze toward the vicinity of my belt, and then gestured back and forth between us several times, her hand at crotch level, “…that this is a good idea.”
I started to smile but bit my lip when I realized she was dead serious.
I will not laugh. I will not laugh.
Ella opened the back door of her truck. “Anyway, I felt like there was some tension at Jane’s earlier, maybe, and after everything you just talked about, I’m not sure if you’re emotionally vulnerable right now, and I don’t want to take advantage of that or anything.”
I wasn’t emotionally vulnerable, but it was sweet of her to care so much about my mental state that she was trying to sabotage herself with the mention of hideous panties. And yet, somehow, it made me want her even more. How to tell her that her plan was backfiring?
She unbuckled the dogs. They jumped down, gave me sniff in greeting, and then raced out into the night, crashing through the snow.
“Is your underwear supposed to be a deterrent?” I asked, unable to keep the teasing edge from my tone.
She shut the truck door and turned to me. “Yes. Or, they would be, if you saw them.” Her eyes squeezed shut for a second. She looked like she might be wincing. “They’re, like, Great Aunt Muriel level ugly.”
I ambled over and smiled down at her. “I don’t have a Great Aunt Muriel.”
“Then picture the largest, plainest pair of threadbare women’s underwear you possibly can.” She held out her hands to demonstrate their size. Impressive. “Now cover them in paint stains – long story, please don’t ask.”
I wanted to ask. So bad.
“And imagine them on the oldest woman you know.”
I couldn’t do that. My head was too full of her to think of anyone else. “And you’re wearing them because?”
“I found them in the way back of my underwear drawer. They were the last clean pair. It was either them or nothing.”
My mind came to a screaming halt. I suddenly hated these underwear with the fiery wrath of a dying star about to turn supernova. If not for them…
“I really don’t like doing laundry,” she continued, unaware of my internal struggle.
“You should know that about me. Like, if we stay friends for long enough, I will eventually try to lure you over to my house with the promise of tasty treats and then withhold them until I can convince you to wash my clothes for me.”
“Tasty treats?” I asked, my gaze roaming over her. My mind was stuck in the gutter. All I could think of is what could have been if not for these allegedly hideous undies. “Are we talking food, or something else?”
She looked up at me, eyes wide. “Food?”
“You sure about that?” I asked, taking a step closer.
The dogs barreled back into the floodlight and squeezed between us, doing their damnedest to ruin the mood with their whining and panting.
“We better go in,” Ella said, breaking eye contact. “I swear I heard howling at Jane’s when I left.”
I gave up on my attempted flirting and led them toward the porch. “Really?”
“Yeah. One of Dave’s friends is a ranger, and he says the wolves are back.”
I stopped at the door and looked down at her. She was close, really close, like she was trying to hide behind me. Her gaze shifted from right to left, searching the darkness beyond the safety of the porch. “Not a fan of wolves?”
She shook her head. “They’re right up there with bears when it comes to predators I’d least like to meet in person.”
“I saw a grizzly from a car once. Damn thing was nearly as big as the vehicle.”
“We don’t have them here. Ours are smaller. But they’re even better at climbing trees because of their size, and they can run faster than a human could ever hope to.” Her expression turned grim. “Plus, razor claws of doom and machete teeth.”
“Thanks so much for the nightmare ammunition.”
“Just trying to share the misery.”
“Right. We need puppies.”
She nodded. “Only baby floofs can help us now.”
We stepped inside, toweled off the dogs, shed our winter layers, and headed toward the sitting room, where I’d corralled the puppies before she arrived.
The sound of their muffled cries echoed from inside.
Fred and Sam took off toward the door and started frantically sniffing the crack beneath it.
Every few seconds, Fred straightened and looked back at Ella like, “Mom! Puppies, Mom!”
“I know, bud.” She stepped next to him and took him by the collar. “But we have to be gentle because they’re little.”
I did the same to Sam, and when they calmed down, Ella opened the door a crack, just enough so that we could all see each other. Fred and Sam lost it, pulling against their collars and whining like I’d never heard before. They worked each other up until they started howling.
Boots, on the other side of the door, plopped his butt down, tipped his head back, and let out a prolonged, answering squeak.
Fred and Sam stopped to stare at him.
“Is he…is he trying to howl?” Ella asked.
“Uh, yeah, I think he is.”
Come on, little dude. You can do it.
Sam howled again, and Boots threw back his head and squeaked some more in response.
Beside him, Doodle seemed to concentrate, really hard, and then uttered a little whine-growl as if he was testing it out before he lifted his muzzle skyward and let forth a high-pitched, “A-roo-roo-roo-roo-roo.” Boots did his best to mimic him, and soon all four dogs were howling together like their own little wolf pack.
Ella and I managed to live through it, proving that no, you cannot be killed by cuteness.
We let the dogs greet each other in stages from there.
Ella told me this wasn’t Fred and Sam’s first time meeting puppies, and while they’d been good with them before, you never knew how the puppies would behave, whether or not they’d be aggressive and cause a reaction in the older dogs you didn’t expect.
Everything went pretty well, considering their size difference.
The dogs sniffed and danced around the puppies once we let them freely intermingle.
At one point, Fred splayed his front paws and dropped down, butt still in the air, then sprang up and away like he wanted Doodle to play chase with him.
Doodle ran away in sheer terror instead, cowering behind my left foot.
I scooped him up and gave his ears a ruffle. “You’re okay.”
“You’re really good with them, you know,” Ella said. “I’m glad you decided to keep them.”
“Me too. And thank you again. I feel like I owe you so much. For the dogs, and for all the help you’ve put in with the house.”
She gave me a look I’d never seen before. “You can pay me back in tasty treats.” She waggled her brows, just in case I missed the insinuation.
I nearly dropped Doodle. “Ella!”
“What? You started the flirting! Are we not doing the flirting?”
I grinned and set the puppy down. “I thought you didn’t want to take advantage of me.”
“Fine, I’ll stop.”
I closed the distance between us and raised my hands to cup her cheeks. Her hair was loose, and my fingers slid easily into the silken strands, coming to rest at the back of her head. “Don’t stop.”
She let out a shaky breath and leaned into me. Her hands wrapped around my arms, just above my elbows. She slid her right one up until her fingers brushed the edge of my tattoo. Goosebumps rose in their wake as she traced the bottom of the design.
“How far up does this go?” she asked.
“Stay the night, and I’ll show you.”
She sucked in a breath. “I thought you didn’t think this was a good idea.”
“That was before I knew how well you could handle all my shit.”
She shook her head within my grasp. “It’s not shit.”
A well of emotion bubbled up within me. Hope. Longing. Appreciation. Desire. I liked her. I wanted to be with her. She heard a lot tonight, and she didn’t run away. Her light hadn’t been dimmed by my darkness. She still wanted me.
Brian thought I was ready for this. And I was finally ready to agree with him.
“I want this,” I said. “I want you.”
She leaned in. Her hands disappeared from my elbows and came to rest on my shoulders. They bunched in the fabric of my t-shirt as she stood on her toes and pressed her lips gently against mine.
I nearly groaned into her mouth.
One of the puppies started yipping like a maniac. We broke apart to see Doodle running circles around Fred, who spun in place, trying to keep the puppy in sight while Doodle attempted to leap up and grab his tail.
“That won’t end well for you,” Ella said, stepping away to scoop Doodle up.
I stared at her profile, my gaze lingering on her freckles before moving down, tracing the outline of her breasts, the narrowing of her waist, the swell of her hips.
“Stay,” I said.
Her focus remained on the puppy, her fingers scratching under his chin. “Okay,” she answered softly.