“Oh, flattery will get you everywhere. You could take some lessons, Everett.” She pointed at her husband while squeezing my biceps.
“Which dog is yours?” I asked, and slowly turned to extricate my arm from her grip.
“Oh, the red merle Aussie.”
A laugh burst from a woman coming through the gate with another red merle Aussie. She had a warm brown ponytail sticking out of a baseball cap and a smile to match. Behind her came in a tall, curvy woman with mermaid-colored hair. “Sorry, it’s a running joke in this group,” Baseball Cap said. “Carrie’s dog is Sasha.” She pointed to the dog circling Jasmine trying to get her to play. “I’m Regan. Ping is my red merle.” She pointed after the dog chasing Jet. He was bigger than her, his build heavier.
“The Aussie chasing Mack right now is Kiwi,” Regan continued. “That’s Melissa’s dog.”
The woman with mermaid hair waved.
“The yellow Lab swimming in the pond over there? That’s Gus. He belongs to Dave, who’s currently preoccupied with throwing the ball into the water for him.” Dave was a big guy, but probably in his sixties if he was a day. Yet, I’d bet he’d delivered a sack or two once upon a time.
“And I’m Everett, in case you hadn’t figured it out.” The gentleman in beat-up Wranglers and a John Deere hat stuck his hand out. “Glad to meet you, son. Mine is the German Wasteofur over there chasing Gus into the pond. Orion is his name.” He pointed to a big Shepherd mix.
The group chuckled, but it took me a minute to get the joke. “German Waste O’ Fur.” I laughed.
“How’s the shoulder treating you?” Everett nodded toward it. “Gonna be ready for camp come July?”
“Yes, sir. I believe so.”
“Glad to hear it. You got a nose for the ball, that’s for sure. Gonna be a helluva addition to the Hall of Fame someday.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Oh, Lord, here we go.” Melissa shook her head. “I know down here you all think this man is the second coming of Dick Butkus, but will you get real? Seriously.”
Not able to stop it, I barked out a laugh. She was passionate, I’d give her that. Most people who followed football were. I didn’t blame her for defending her team. Besides, I happened to agree.
“True enough. Nobody will ever be number fifty-one but number fifty-one.”
Everett waved her off, leaned over with a stage whisper. “Melissa’s from Illinois.”
But Melissa didn’t slow down. “Every year with you Bulldogs fans. Win two games in a row and you start talking championship.”
A funny thing happened around then. As I was listening to them argue about my Hall of Fame prospects, it dawned on me they were distracting me on purpose. I’d relaxed like Lily had asked me to and CC wasn’t by my leg anymore.
Lily was engaged in a conversation with Regan and Dave, but she brushed me with her shoulder to get my attention and nodded at my dog. My girl was circling back and forth under Kate’s hand as the woman cooed to her in a soft voice.
My mouth fell open. She’d never willingly let anyone touch her except me and Lil. Not even Rob.
“Her issues aren’t with dogs. They’re only with people. She approached Kate on her own. Which means she’s learning to trust.” Lily’s near whisper had my abs tightening as I wondered what those lips would feel like against my ear. I turned to her. When she saw the heat in my eyes her own widened.
Fuck if I didn’t want to kiss her.
Something told me that mouth with its perfect little bow and slightly larger lower lip would taste like fine wine against my tongue. She must have read my mind because she took a step back and exhaled a heavy breath.
Shit. This woman was dangerous to my self-control.
Then, the most remarkable thing happened. Mack cut a swath straight to CC, all wiggles and smiles and drool.
Standing in front of my girl, he slapped his paws against a patch of bare earth and the smell of clean, cool dirt rose to meet my nose. Ass-end in the air, elbows on the ground, Mack twisted his head this way and that while making grunting noises that had everyone smiling.
My girl’s nub tail went a million miles an hour, but she hesitated.
Lily mumbled under her breath, “C’mon, CC. Play with him.”
Jet circled behind CC, pulled up shoulder-to-shoulder with my girl. Jet broke into a bouncy run and CC launched a split second later. When Mack joined them, most of the other dogs fell into the chase.
My girl was playing! The first time we’d come, she’d followed Jet, tolerated Mack, but was more concerned with her surroundings. Now, it was as if she’d woken up and said, “Look, there are other dogs for me to play with!” Swear to God, I knew what the Grinch from the children’s book felt like when his heart grew.
Out of the blue, the little red Aussie turned on the afterburners, and I figured out why Lily had named her Jet. But then CC did the same.
Holy shit. CC. Was. Fast. Especially for a big dog.
Not as fast as Jet, but her long legs made up some of the difference. When Jet hit the brakes and cut back, so did CC. Mack—who’d taken a line-of-sight to catch up—plowed into CC’s shoulders, bowling her over. My heart jumped into my throat, but my girl shook it off and slapped the ground with her massive paws. The two of them bounced around, pushed and shoved each other as the other dogs came to check out the wrestling, as Mack mouthed the skin on CC’s face and CC swung her butt around, knocking him over.
“Mack’s found himself a wrestlin’ buddy,” Carrie said. I hadn’t realized that the conversations had stopped to watch the play. “That’s a fine dog you got there, sugar. With that kind of speed and athleticism, we’ll see her in novice agility class in no time.”
Regan spoke up. “You can tell she hasn’t been given a chance to be a dog, and people are scarier for her, but her confidence will come in no time.”
And that’s when CC nipped Mack. Hard.
The little fireplug howled, and I tensed, started for the dogs, but Everett grabbed my elbow. “Wait, son. She’s about to find out if she gets too rough, he won’t play with her.”
“Not gonna let a fight break out.”
“Watch, young Skywalker. There are things other dogs can teach her quicker than you can. They won’t fight. The energy between dogs about to fight is different. If you’re paying attention, you can sense the shift when a fight is coming.”
Lily was watching the interaction closely. She gave me a short nod of reassurance. “Everett’s right. Besides, Mack won’t fight with her. He’d run. Jet would fight for him.”