She winked an eye shut. “Hmm, how bout ‘grr, hrr, thank you, sir.’”
A laugh bubbled out of my throat. “A quickie it is. Lift your butt so I can get your shorts down.” I wanted to tell her I loved her so many times, but every time I got close, I swallowed the words.
She did the same.
Yet, the only reason I cared about keeping our secret was so I could play in Dallas to be near her, and with the civil suit against me looking more and more like it would fold, things were promising again. I’d have to go back to my apartment soon. The last preseason game was this weekend, then camp would break.
She was still breathing heavy from her orgasm when I lifted her off the counter to find her shorts and swatted her butt.
“Was that Regina? How’s Laila?”
She was already gone for the puppy, too. “It’s going to take time for her to heal but she’s doing better. Gina said she had a female that lost her entire litter yesterday. She won’t eat or sleep, but if Laila does well the next couple of days, the Golden Retriever might take her on as her own. I didn’t know dogs would do that.”
Lily buttoned her shorts, poured iced tea from a pitcher. “Sometimes. It’s good news. There are things a mother can teach her that people can’t. She needs that socialization, but we shouldn’t have any problem finding her a forever home.”
Finding her a forever home? I thought she already had one. Right here with us. Then, again, this wasn’t my home.
If Lil wasn’t thinking about Laila in terms of forever, maybe she wasn’t thinking about me that way either.
I shook the thought off. We’d talk about it later. Between classes, the animal welfare agencies she’d contacted the last few days, and me keeping her up at night, she was probably exhausted.
I wasn’t going to read into it.
“I heard back from the sheriff today.” She handed me a glass of tea.
“What did she have to say?”
Lil’s disappointment was written on her face. “They got anonymous photos but can’t get a warrant because the barn was empty. She said it’s probably been scrubbed at this point anyway.”
“What about the pictures of Laila?”
“Who’s to say whoever sent her the photos didn’t bring the puppy with them? The judge isn’t going to grant a warrant on that alone. No dogs, no case. And they can’t direct resources to search for dogs that are no longer there. Especially with the Davis family having ties in that community.”
“Fuck a duck.” I spat the words.
“Pretty much. The deputy told me they’d add it to their case file on the Davis ranch.”
The irritation in my system made my skin feel tight. Walking to the back door, I watched my girl lying in the shade with her buddies. “Did you hear back from the ASPCA?”
Lily’s arms slid around my waist, her head against my back. “Similar to what the deputy said. They understand our predicament, but they can’t direct resources into finding dogs that may or may not be there. And they’re more large scale in their responses.”
“This isn’t large scale?” I was a tad incredulous.
“Not in the grand scheme. ASPCA steps in for big things. Huge mills. Natural disasters. Although, if we do locate the dogs again, we can contact them, and they can put someone in to gather evidence on site. They’ll even coordinate with law enforcement and local shelters. But until we have a bead on the dogs...”
I rested my forehead against the glass, pushed out a breath. “Damnit, I’m sorry, Lil.”
“Shh. This isn’t your fault.”
“If we hadn’t have waited...but with camp.”
“Brody, look at me.”
I turned.
“This isn’t on you.” I could see rather than hear the unspoken it’s my fault on her face. “What we need now is to regroup. Even if we do find them, and the ASPCA gets involved, there are special considerations for the bullies that have never been socialized. But we’ll dig back in, keep our eyes and ears open. When some morsel of evidence turns up, we’ll be there. In the meantime, you need to focus on your shoulder and your job.” She picked at something on my T-shirt that wasn’t there. “We need to get back to routine. Which means...”
I brushed my knuckles along her jaw. “You trying to tell me something, babe?”
“It’s time for you to go back to your place. Not that I want you to, but—”
“But if I care about playing football for the Bulldogs this year this arrangement is risky?”
She nodded.
That’s when CC chose to slap the back door with a paw asking to come in. Lily shifted her weight, and I turned to open the door. The whole gaggle busted in and did their happy doggie dances complete with slobber.
“I’m surprised they didn’t come say hello as soon as you got here,” Lily said.
“They were comfortable out there in the shade.”
Retrieving the water bowls—there were two now—she filled them both before replacing them on the floor.
I pulled a chair out from under the table and sat rolling my shoulder around to loosen it up.
“Brody, the longer you stay here, the higher the likelihood we’ll get caught.”
“Not sure that’s a bad thing at this point.”
“Oh, no.” She poked me in the chest. “No, you don’t. That can’t have anything to do with me. You want to walk away from twenty-four million? That will be on you alone, buddy. I don’t even want to be a whisper of a consideration in that decision.”
Hooking a finger in her shorts, I pulled her toward me, rested my forehead against her stomach. “If the Bulldogs put me on IR, that gets cut in half.”
Pushing a hand into my hair, she gripped it firmly and cranked my head back until I was forced to look at her. “And if you walk away, it’s zero. If that is what’s in your heart, I want you to follow it, but I know that you love this team and this town. I can’t be the reason you walk away from that.”
When I was drafted by Dallas, we were a team I was proud to be a part of. The head coach loved the game and his players—he wasn’t anyone’s marionette. The former general manager cared about us, too. She built a strong bond with both the players and coaches—one where we wanted to win for her. We would sweat, and bleed, and break our bones for her.
But she retired; her replacement let the coach go, then our quarterback.
Shit rolled downhill.
Old man Barnett turned a blind eye to how Dick operated in favor of a higher ROI and more playoff berths.