Page 10 of Only Between Us

Sleep, run, work out, drills, run, sleep. It’s how my days have looked since I decided on this comeback four months ago.

Even before, what did I have? A coaching job I hated. Happyfriends moving on to bigger and better things. A too-big, secluded house just outside of town. My family across the country.

I rub my arm, feeling the suffocating weight of… nothingness.

Peter. I have Pete.

“I have a dog.” I feel like an inadequate idiot the moment I say so.

She’s trespassing into a stadium, skinny-dipping in the middle of the night. Probably the kind of woman who goes skydiving on a random Tuesday morning. And here I am telling her about my dog.

He’s a really good boy, though.

“Show me.” When I stare at her uncomprehendingly, Siena nods at the phone sitting in my lap. “Show off your dog, Brooks Attwood. I want to see.”

“Yeah?”

She nods her encouragement. Probably just humoring me, but it doesn’t feel like it. She’s smiling from her eyes.

I tap my phone to life, and Pete stares back at us from the lock screen, lying belly up in the grass at home. “His name is Peter. He’s a hundred-and-five-pound German shepherd who thinks he’s a lap dog. He was down there earlier.”

She grins at a video of me and Pete wrestling over a mini football. “That was your dog on the field? He’s cute.”

“Funny, most people describe him as terrifying as fuck.”

“Who, this guy? A harmless pup if I’ve ever seen one.” Siena pries the phone out of my hand but pauses with her thumb over the screen. “Which way do I scroll for more Peter? We should build up to the dick pics.”

With a laugh, I lean over and scroll through my phone. It’s all Pete. Napping, panting for treats, destroying stuffed toys. “No dick pics in either direction.”

Siena clicks her tongue. “Shame.”

I sit back, just watching Siena scroll through my camera roll. Strangely, every bit of the weight I’d felt just a minute ago has lifted.

“Brooks, he’s adorable.”

From my pocket, I pull out a round lollipop and twist off the purple wrapping before reaching for another and offering it to Siena. “He’s a good boy. I adopted him from a rescue when I moved back to Oakwood.”

“You carry candy in your pockets?” Siena accepts the lollipop and sticks it in her mouth.

“In case of emergency. I grew up in my mom’s bakery, so the sugar addiction started early. Never know when the craving will strike.”

“Or when you’ll be in the mood to lure a woman in a locked room.”

I finger the stick coming out of my mouth. “Really not doing much to talk you out of the murder thing, am I?”

“I’m as convinced as ever. How many times have you run this play, Brooks Attwood?”

“The stuck-in-a-coaches’-booth-with-a-pretty-girl play? You’re my one and only.”

“Perfect answer.” Siena holds my gaze. I haven’t flirted in… Fuck, when had I last flirted? I swear, it’s that smiling thing her eyes do, bringing it out of me. The old me. The one who laughs and plays, with no guard searching for a motive. “So, are you allowed to tell me how your comeback is going? Full disclosure, Iwillturn on you if you tell me you’re signing with any team but the Rebels, because…” Siena pulls out her phone when it startsdingingin her front pocket. Her face falls. “Oh, shit.”

“What is it?”

“Those pictures. The ones I posted online.” Siena turns her screen around so I can see. She swipes through a carousel of pictures of the field she’d posted to her social media account, until she lands on one of… us.

We’re standing by the window; she’s tucked under my arm with her hand splayed over my chest. My head is turned toward her,looking down in some kind of awe—like she’s the first woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.

Shit, I really need to get out more.