Now I saw why he was so happy. “We’re kind of the perfect match.”
The expression on his face changed slightly like something had just occurred to him. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, I yelled, “Oh God, if you’re going to say we can’t stay together because of my cheesy arm, I’ll brain you with Clyde.” Not that I could lift him, but I’d try.
When Garrett just stared at me, I decided fuck it and turned around and whistled for my boy, who came running up, tail wagging like always. Remembering to lift with the knees, I squatted and wrapped my arms around his waist and tried picking him up, but holy shit, he weighed more than I remembered, so I gave up and pointed behind me.
“Sit, Clyde. Sit on that big shithead.”
And he did, except he had to sit on Garrett’s thigh, seeing as how he was now kneeling on one knee on the ground, watching me with that damn smile still on his face.
“Tamsin Waite, I didn’t plan on doing this today, so I haven’t bought a ring.” He shrugged and mumbled, “Choosing one of those is harder than a house.” Then he looked seriously up at me. “Before I ask you the question, I need to address the elephant that’s been lingering over us since we met—actually, a couple of the elephants. The first being that I can’t find any anuses in the jellyfish scar on my ankle, and after all of the attempts you’ve given it, neither can you. I have zero ass holes in the scar, so we need to lay it to rest. The second is that, after hours of internet research, it’s doubtful that the box jellyfish has fifty, sixty, or heck even ten butt holes.”
Blowing out a breath, I nodded my head sadly. “I came to the same conclusion a while back.”
Squeezing my left hand, he winked. “Totally perfect for me.” Then, cocking his head to the side, he said, “Which leads me to the question I want to ask. Will you marry me? I don’t have a thousand flowery words or a long speech ready for all the reasons why you should and why I’d be so perfect for you—”
“I think you covered that when you likened us to Tony and Lars.”
“Probably, but you deserve more. I promise to give them to you every day for the rest of our lives, though. Words like that shouldn’t just exist once and then happen every now and then. They should be proven with actions and spoken regularly, and I promise to do that.”
I was about to answer him, not needing to think my answer through, when Clyde started growling loudly and moved closer to my side, pulling my focus off him. Looking down at my boy, I lifted my head in the direction that he was fixed on, with his teeth out, snarling in a way I’d never seen from him before.
Garrett had just straightened from his crouch when there was a loud bang, which made him grunt and stumble slightly.
Like he was an Olympian and that was his starting gun, Clyde shot off in the direction he was so set on while I helped Garrett steady himself.
“What was that?” I asked him, trying to look around his chest to see where Clyde was going.
Every time I leaned right, though, Garrett followed and then did it in the other direction when I tried that way.
“It was a gun, baby. I need you to stay as you are.” His voice was tense, and when I looked up, he looked a bit paler than usual.
“Are you okay? Do you think someone’s hunting on the land?”
He didn’t get to answer because just then, the sound of engines came from the dirt road leading to where we were, just as a high pitched shrieking sound came from the wooded area where Clyde had run off to.
“Oh, shit. What if he caught a rabbit? Do you need a permit for that?”
Give a girl a break. I’d woken up this morning, had phenomenal sex, then I’d gone for a walk, found out I had a house skeleton waiting for me, then I’d been proposed to... If I was struggling to make sense of it all, excuse the fuck out of me.
Recognizing the two P.V.P.D. vehicles—not that you wouldn’t, seeing as how they were black and white, had lights on the front, and honking big P.V.P.D. logos strategically placed all over—as they screeched to a halt, my eyebrows shot up when Dave, Raoul, Alex, Logan, Carter, and Alejandro jumped out of them.
“Why did they cram so many of them into two?”
Garrett didn’t answer, but he watched them silently as Raoul and Logan ran over to where we were, and the others ran toward where the screams were coming from.
“Oh fuck, man,” Logan growled, leaning his head in toward the radio on his shoulder. “Ambulance needed at the scene, Naomi. Give them the co-ordinates we texted you on our way and tell them to follow the dirt path to the cleared out area. GSW right shoulder, Garrett Evans is the patient.”
I tuned out what followed it, instead looking Garrett over to see if I could find what he was talking about.
Come on, Tamsin, you’ve watched enough television. What the fuck is a GSW again?
His eyes were fixed on Raoul, though, not giving a shit about what was going on around him.
“Sounds like your boy caught the asshole,” his brother told him with a strained grin. “Why don’t you sit down on the ground, man. It’ll be easier for you.”
He was holding himself so stiffly that I was inclined to agree.
“Not until you have him. He might get to Tamsin.”
My eyes widened at him using my real name out in public. It’d been agreed that no one would ever do it, and in fact, everyone who knew what it was stuck to Zuri anyway.
“Oh, dear God,” one of the guys in the woods yelled. “Clyde, here, puppy, puppy.”
Raoul had looked over his shoulder when the first yell went out, but as the voice that I recognized as Carter’s yelled the last bit, he turned back to us, his lips twitching. “Think he’ll realize the dog won’t budge at that command?”
“Alex, man, do something. He’s chewing him like a bone!”
I heard Alex shout something, but then, more clearly, he yelled, “No, he’s pissed. Gjorka, I’d drop whatever you’ve got on you that he’s picking up, or he’ll just keep going.”
“Oops, that might be my fault,” I whispered. “I was told not to play tug-of-war with him in case it mixed his commands up.”
Garrett huffed out a laugh and groaned. “That’s not it, pretty girl. He can smell a gun or weapon on him, so until Gjorka throws it to the side, he’s going to keep biting him.”
The name sank in. Gjorka was here. Here. He had my dog.
I only got two steps into running in that direction, zero thoughts for my own welfare in my mind as I focused on saving the dog who was protecting me when Raoul caught me. “No, that’s not how it goes. Right now, my brother’s holding on by the skin of his teeth—”
“Teeth don’t have skin, they have enamel,” I snapped. “Now let me go.”
Spinning me around and showing me a clearly anxious Garrett, Raoul growled, “Look at him, Tamsin. He’s your focus right now, and he needs to stay your focus. The ambulance isn’t here yet, but when they come, we’re going to need you to stay right beside him and keep him calm while we deal with the asshole in the woods. Can you do that?”
Something was strange about how Garrett was standing. He hadn’t moved since he’d flinched earlier, and his body was so stiff it was a wonder he could even blink. Pushing against Raoul’s arms, I moved in close to him and gently rubbed my thumb on the bristle on his chin.