Chapter 12
Dean
“Dude, thank God, you brought her,” Landon says the second he opens the door at his parents’ house. He steps aside to let me and Cora in. “Mom was panicking because she forgot to text you about bringing her, but she made a special dog friendly treat.”
“I learned the first time I showed up without her that it was a mistake.” I laugh, bending down to adjust the Christmas harness I picked out for Cora and making sure the snowman charm hanging from her collar is straight.
She sits patiently, her tail wagging quickly back and forth as she waits for my command that she can go.
My girl might only be five months old, but she is brilliant.
We’ve been doing weekly obedience training classes, and she picks everything up on the first or second try.
Sometimes I’m convinced that she has better self-control than me.
The classes have only reiterated what I already knew—she’s the best damn dog ever.
The only time she doesn’t listen to my command on the first go is when we’re around Arianna.
I’ll try to tell her to sit or to come here, and Cora will immediately turn to Ari as if she’s asking for permission to listen to me.
And I’m not even mad at it. It just means that Cora adores Ari just as much as I do.
Once she’s good to go, I unhook her leash and wait a beat, making sure Cora’s focus is on me before giving her the okay.
She bolts, running off in the direction of the kitchen.
The sound of happy squeals and murmurs reach us in the foyer, and I know without seeing that she immediately found Landon’s mom.
“Everyone else already here?” I ask, following Landon into the living room.
“Pretty much,” he answers over his shoulder while beelining to the one remaining seat on the couch. Stepping up behind the couch, I nod greetings to the guys who are here.
Dominik and Lilly are curled up on the love seat together, laughing at something I didn’t hear.
Greyson and Stella are next to Landon, with Harper seated on the floor in front of them, playing a game with another kid and Lilly’s friend Eva.
There are some other familiar faces surrounding them in chairs from the dining room or spread out on the floor here too.
Dom’s friend Garrett and his girlfriend.
Wives, girlfriends, and boyfriends of some of my teammates.
Even Coach James is here, seated beside Dominik.
The Sinclairs love to throw parties, but the Christmas and New Year’s parties always end up being the best ones of the year.
More people show up for these ones, filling up almost every nook and cranny of their home.
Katherine Sinclair goes all out, even more than she does for Thanksgiving.
How that woman finds the time to cook everything for this big party, then turns around and hosts her kids and me on Christmas three days later is always mind-blowing.
Something in my chest tightens as I look around at all the people.
This kind of setting is so completely different from what I grew up with.
Celebrating a holiday was something that only the other kids in school got to do.
I tried to do what I could for my baby brother to make sure he had something small.
Whether that was taking him out to play in the snow, or maybe scraping enough money to rent a movie.
If we were really lucky, Mom would be sober enough to order a pizza.
But those days were far and few between.
It’s an effort to swallow the lump that forms in my throat at the thought of my brother. I force myself to turn away from the living room, moving on to the kitchen in an effort to distract myself. And hopefully see Arianna.
It’s been eleven days since she left the game sick. Nine days since she last joked with me. And seven days since I last heard from her.
She had sent me a text that she was still feeling a bit under the weather and that Lilly offered to watch Cora for me during our four-day stretch of away games. Stella and Lilly had been begging to watch her for me and as long as she’s taken care of, that’s all that matters.
However, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was wrong.
I tried texting her a couple of times, but I didn’t want to come off as annoying when she wasn’t feeling good.
After we lost the second away game, there was no stopping the spiral.
I stayed up all night, overthinking every single thing I’ve said to her over the past few weeks.
Replayed the night that I slept over on repeat, looking for the moment things might have gone wrong.
When Landon commented the next morning about the bags under my eyes, I immediately went to Coach to suggest that he put Evan in.
If she wanted to end whatever this was between us, if she didn’t want me, that was okay.
Maybe not, okay okay. It would fucking suck, and I wouldn’t get over her anytime soon.
I am head over heels for her. There’s absolutely no denying that.
But having Arianna as a friend was not something I was willing to sacrifice just because I’ve seen how she looks when she comes.
Now I just needed to see her. Need to see her smile, hear her laugh. I need to see with my own two eyes that she is okay.
The kitchen is packed full of my teammates filling plates with different appetizers from the island and table. Katherine is by the back door with Cora, taking a picture and giving her a treat.
“Dean!” she calls out when she spots me. Cora breaks away, coming to circle my legs before following me back to Katherine, who immediately pulls me in for a hug. “Where do you find these adorable holiday outfits for Cora?”
I bend forward to pat my dog’s head. “There’s a small pet shop around the block from my place that I get her food at. The owner makes all the bandanas and collar charms herself, but the harness was an online find.”
“She’s still playing with toys, right? I know some dogs start losing interest,” she asks and I nod.
“Oh yeah, this girl loves her toys,” I say, shaking my head and smiling down at my girl. The amount of money I spend on things for Cora might be a bit much. But when she continues to play with everything I give her and she looks adorable in everything I find, it feeds the addiction.
If anything, spending my money on dog stuff has at least gotten me to stop buying Pokémon cards. So I’d say that’s a win, considering I’m almost out of space in one of my binders.
Maybe I could stop at the store for a pack before they close for the holiday since it’s been a while…
“Oh good! I got her some goodies to open.” Katherine turns to me, eyes wide and lined with a touch of worry. “You are coming over on Christmas morning with her, right?”
I pull her in for a side hug. “I wouldn’t dream of being anywhere else.”
She hugs me back before shoving me into the constant moving line around the island to get food.
Knowing there’s no use resisting, I go with the flow and load up a plate of different sliders, mini meatballs, a couple dips and pita chips, and Katherine’s famous spinach and artichoke stuffed soft pretzels.
With the food detour now complete, I slip from the kitchen and head to the dining room in hopes to find Ari. A smile stretches across my face when I spot her on the other side of the room with her friend Vivian.
Her back is to me, and I take a second to appreciate the sight of her ass being hugged deliciously by the black leggings she’s wearing as I cross the room.
Vivian is so focused on Ari that neither of them sees me approaching.
I’m still racking my brain on what to say, and I don’t want to scare either of them since they haven’t noticed me yet.
I also don’t want to eavesdrop on their conversation.
As I close the distance and make it within earshot, ready to say whatever one-liner pops into my brain, Vivian gives me the perfect chance to jump in.
“So are you going to tell Dean?” she asks in a not so hushed voice.
“Tell me what?” I slide up beside Ari and snatch the pretzel from my plate.
Just as I’m about to take a bite, Ari whips around with a startled gasp.
Her eyes bulge with panic for a split second before her eyes drop to my plate.
All the color drains from her face. Before I can ask what’s wrong, she slaps a hand over her mouth and bolts.
I don’t even hesitate to drop my plate on the dining room table and beeline after her.
Vivian follows us, trying to tell me that she’ll check on Ari and not to worry, but her voice is barely more than a muffle as I catch up to Arianna. She ducks into the bathroom that’s off the mud room, and I barrel in after her without a second thought.
Arianna’s knees hit the floor in front of the toilet with a loud thud and I barely have time to grab her hair from her shoulders before she pukes.
My heart thuds as I listen to her cough, and I glance over my shoulder, already knowing Vivian will be there.
“She’s still sick? Has she gone to a doctor?” I try to keep the panic from lacing into my voice, but as Arianna heaves again, the feeling all but consumes me.
“She—” Vivian starts but a thud on the door behind her cuts her off.
My neck practically snaps as I peer around Vivian just as Cora weasels her way in through the small crack. She immediately comes to Ari’s and my side. When she starts licking at Arianna’s ankles, I adjust my hold on her hair to free a hand and gently push Cora away.
“Out,” I softly tell my dog, who instead sits and watches Arianna with literal puppy eyes.
Ari sighs, still leaning over the toilet but no longer throwing up. After another moment of silence, she turns her head slightly to look at Vivian, my hand moving with her since I haven’t let go of her hair yet.
“Can you take Cora for a minute?” Arianna whispers.