Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90475 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90475 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Well, they’re competitive. Maybe they’ll get on my new pound cake problem as fast as they handled the O drought issue.
13
A VISIT FROM THE DRAGON
Chase
I’ve traveled around the world. Played pro hockey in Budapest, Vienna, Toronto, New York, and Rio de Janeiro.
At twenty-seven, I’ve had a big life in five years in the NHL. But this, right here, is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Trina’s pup is tearing up a seesaw, then racing down the other side, and the little guy is doing it while missing one of his back legs.
“Mind blown,” I say, cheering on Nacho under the glow of outdoor lights in the evening.
Trina too. Because look at her go. She’s guiding him through the agility course at a nearby dog park I scoped out in advance. It’s a busy park, with families pushing strollers and joggers tearing up the path even as dusk settles in. When Trina and Nacho arrived at my place a little while ago, I hustled them right out of there to take the little guy here for a treat.
Bonus? It’s a perfect distraction from my incessant thoughts of her all day. From texts from my cousin, Lisette, too, telling me about every single friend she wants to set me up with at her wedding. It’s like the singles table is her personal buffet of options for me, and I’ve run out of evasive emoticons to reply with. Last time she set me up with someone, it petered out after a few dates, but Lisette kept asking me over and over what went wrong. The answer? I don’t have room for romance in my life.
Most of all, though, the dog park is a distraction from all my thoughts about the possibilities of tonight.
I home in on the man of the hour. So does a jogger from many feet away, craning his neck to watch the small dog soar over a little jump. He lands gracefully, then Trina points at the weave poles a few feet ahead. “Weave, Nacho,” she says, eyes only on him.
That little tripod waggles his butt back and forth in a black and tan blur all the way to the end of the weave poles before he darts through a tunnel at Mach speed.
She runs along the side, chestnut hair flying, platform sneakers slapping the dirt, then waits for him at the end, arms thrust high in the air. “Good boy!”
Barking enthusiastically, he jumps up and down on one freaking back leg, eager for her praise.
Trina scoops him up and slathers him in kisses.
“That is officially the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” I say as I trot over to the pair.
“And my sister said I could never do it,” Trina says proudly, a little defiantly.
“Let me guess. Big sister?”
“Yup,” Trina says, then reaches into a pocket of her jeans and hands Nacho a dog treat. He chows down while a serious-looking dog trainer type pushes open the faraway gate, escorting a pair of Border Collies into the park. “It’s peanut butter. His favorite,” she adds.
“Mine too,” I say.
“Aww. Want a dog biscuit, Chase? You’ll have to jump through a hoop though,” she teases.
Ah, that’s an opening to the big thing on my mind, and I shouldn’t take it, but impulsively, I answer with, “We already cleared the orgasm hoop.”
I’m testing the waters probably sooner than I should, even though the other part of the us isn’t here. Ryker said he had to run some errands.
“With flying colors,” Trina says, then tilts her face, looking at me with curious green eyes, maybe waiting for me to say more.
I want to. God, how I want to. But I’ve got to play it safe, since I don’t know what Ryker wants. This morning, he took off ten minutes after Trina, saying he needed to let the contractors into his home. I haven’t seen him all day, so I don’t have a stinking clue if he’s been thinking nonstop about Trina too.
Just like I have.
Trouble is, I don’t want to have the “I can’t stop thinking about getting you naked again” talk with her without talking to him first. Pact and all. What if he’s not thinking about her the same way? Maybe she’s out of his system, and then where does that leave me? Confused. I’m not normally confused after one-night stands.
This isn’t a one-night stand you dumbass. She’s now living with you.
But what the hell is this?
My only choice for now is to skate around the problem, focusing on the dog in her arms. I scratch him under the chin and he leans forward and swipes his tongue across my face.
I grin like a fool. “That’s it. It’s official. He marked me, and I’m going to have to be his dog babysitter for the rest of time.”
With a laugh, Trina sets her hand on my cheek, wiping off the remnants of dog kiss. I let out a low rumble, meeting her gaze for a few delicious seconds that makes me want to haul her over my shoulder once more.