Chapter 49
Levi
“I think we should start with a dog.”
Mateo and I were both sprawled out on the pavement in front of the fire station with towels beneath us and sunscreen spread generously over our bodies as we tanned. At any moment, we’d maybe need to hop up and get dressed in our gear, but I hoped we could soak up the sun a little longer.
“A dog?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’ve always wanted one,” he said.
“What kind?”
“A big dog. The sloppy kind. Not one of those neurotic chipmunks people claim to be dogs.”
I grinned and pushed my sunglasses back up the bridge of my nose, turning my head. “Well. We’ve been together for a few months now. We’re already buying a big house.”
“Right. Why not get a dog?”
“Why not?”
“Don’t look,” Avery demanded.
Mateo snorted as the two of us did our best to not immediately turn around. His hand was firmly in mine and he’d occasionally give me a squeeze as the anticipation built.
Sunlight filled her studio, turning all of her artwork vibrant. In the corner, the painting that Austin and I had crashed into months ago was patched up, but unfinished. Avery had started a new one that she’d been hiding from us—until today.
“Can we look now?” Mateo asked.
“No.”
He shook his head as we listened to her shuffle behind us. The scent of paint was stronger than normal, but I’d gotten used to it. I’d also gotten used to seeing it all over Avery or somehow on my things.
Just earlier this week, Mateo and I had discovered specks of blue and pink on our boxers.
Although, we all knew how that had happened.
“Okay.” Avery blew out a breath. “I think it’s ready. I’ve been working really hard on this.”
My chest squeezed with excitement. Mateo was buzzing next to me.
“Can we look?” he asked.
“Yes. Turn around.”
Mateo’s hand tightened in mine before releasing me, and we both turned around together. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped as a large canvas was revealed. Avery was hiding her face with her hands next to it, her cheeks pink.
“Oh my god,” Mateo whispered.
It was beautiful. It was even better than the one we’d seen before.
It was the three of us, but with our backs turned. We all sat together on a blanket in the desert, the sun setting and turning the landscapes a thousand shades of pink. Cacti bloomed in the foreground, and everything about it was full of a bright hopefulness that filled me with warmth.
“Avery,” I said. “This is amazing. You outdid yourself, baby.”
She peeked at us through her fingers. “Really?”
“I need this in our house,” Mateo said. “As soon as you walk in. With a spotlight. And a plaque.”
“And the plaque says it was painted by the most beautiful woman in the world.”
“Yes. And next to it is a photo of you—”
“Oh my god,” she laughed, finally pulling her hands away from her face and revealing a big grin. “Both of you are ridiculous.”
Ridiculously, completely, hopelessly in love with you.
Stars sprawled out in the sky above us, completely untouched by humanity. This far out from town, it felt like the three of us were the only people in the world. There was no light pollution. Nothing.
“Do you ever get bored of living here?” Avery asked.
Mateo raised his head and looked at me. “That’s a good question. Are you bored of us? You’ve lived here for a year now. It’s so different from how your life used to be. Volunteering at the station and taking photos for a living isn’t very glamorous.”
I snorted and tightened my grip on both of their hands. They had no idea how much happier I was now. It’d taken some work to figure out what I was doing with my life after my hockey career ended, but I’d figured it out.
We’d figured it out.
“I could never get bored of either of you,” I finally said.
Avery rolled onto her side and placed her chin on my chest. I was in between her and Mateo, which happened more often than not. Our Dom liked being the little spoon.
“I didn’t say bored of us, silly. I said of living here.”
“No,” I said. “I miss Minnesota sometimes, but we visit enough that I never truly long for it. Texas is hot. And there’s not much to do out here. It’s a quiet way of living. But you know what? I’ve never been happier.”
Avery’s smile was bright enough that it touched the stars.
Avery squealed as she knelt down on the floor of the animal shelter, holding out her hands as a hoard of puppies rushed toward her.
I wasn’t resistant either, immediately plopping on the ground next to her as the pack of blue heeler mutts surrounded us.
We’d driven almost three hours out to a shelter in Odessa just so we could find the one.
Avery and I had been planning on surprising Mateo for over a year, but the moment had never felt right until now. Well, until June saw a video online about the mama dog that’d been rescued and then had given birth to a big litter of puppies.
I laughed as three of them fought to climb into my lap. One nipped at my beard, another went for the tip of my now well-worn boots, gnawing like it was a bone.
Avery was a goner, her giggles giving me a thousand butterflies. I laughed with her, the two of us cooing and playing with them until they calmed down.
“How are we going to pick just one?” she asked. “It’s not fair.”
“I know.” I looked around us, wondering if we could reasonably adopt eight puppies. The answer was no, we couldn’t.
One of the shelter volunteers grinned at us. “They’ll go fast. It’s always the older dogs that end up staying here for a while, like their mom.”
Something flickered in Avery’s gaze and she frowned. Dammit, I knew that look all too well. “Has the mom been adopted yet?”
“Not yet.”
Avery turned her pleading gaze on me. “What if we adopted her instead?”
“I thought we wanted to go through the puppy process together. It’s a trial for having children . . .”
“I know . . .” She trailed off. “What if we adopted the mama and a puppy so they can be together?”
“Two dogs?”
Avery grinned, her eyes sparkling.
“Don’t you dare say it,” I said, narrowing my eyes on her.
She laughed as she held up the plumpest puppy of the pack. “Why not? I have two boyfriends, don’t I? We could have two dogs.”
I groaned, but didn’t say no. Instead, I looked up at the volunteer. “Can we meet the mom?”
Later that night, Mateo spent an hour crying on the floor as he hugged our new dogs and told us how much he loved us.
“Hey! I know you.”
I looked up from the booth at the cafe in the hotel, surprised as a random guy approached me. Austin raised a brow, seated across from me with our usual peach pancakes piled high in front of us. It’d been our monthly tradition for eight years now.
“Do you?” I asked.
“Yeah. You’re Levi Rayburn,” the stranger said. He let out a hum, nodding as if he’d made the coolest discovery ever. “The hockey star, right? Number ninety for Minneapolis? You were such a great player, man.”
I smiled and held out my hand, giving his a shake. “Thanks. Nice to meet you. What’s your name?”
“Bryan. Mind if I get a picture with you? I got some friends up north who are gonna lose it when they find out I ran into you on my vacation to the middle of nowhere.”
Austin was clearly holding in a laugh. “I can take it for you, if you’d like.”
“Man, that would be great.”
I eyed my pancakes and held in my sigh as I got up, towering over the stranger. He handed his phone to Austin eagerly and he snapped a picture of us.
“Thanks,” Bryan said. “It was so cool to meet you. Was it worth it? Leaving it all behind?”
“Daddy!”
I turned around immediately and knelt down as my daughter ran through the hotel. She threw her little arms around me and I laughed as I picked her up, holding her tight. Avery came around the corner with Mateo, and he was cradling our son. The four of them were everything to me.
I love them so much.
I smiled. “Yeah. It was worth it.”