Page 30 of A Furever Home (Gaynor Beach Animal Rescue #8)

“Well, she’ll be better with you than people like that.” Oscar tossed Sadie another small bite. “We can send you her medical record. Just pretend we didn’t until the fourteen days for surrender are up. Will you put her up for adoption?”

“No!” Cheyenne burst out before I could say anything. “I’m keeping her. I mean, Brooklyn and I will. She’s already been abandoned too often. It’s horrible when people treat you like garbage!”

Oscar and I exchanged glances over the vehemence in her tone, and I gave a tiny nod to say, yes, there’s trauma there and we’re aware of it. He nodded back, then said, “Clearly, she’s never going to have to worry about that again.”

“Right.” Cheyenne nodded firmly. “Never.”

Oscar walked us through Sadie’s chart, confirming she was up to date on shots, had a recent exam, needed a dental soon, and then sussed out which food she ate.

They had it in the clinic, so I grabbed four cans.

Oscar gave me Mrs. Robertson’s contact info, for whatever that was worth.

The phone number was the same out-of-service one.

We coaxed Sadie back into the carrier with only one little grumble. When we reached the SUV, I paused to buckle the carrier in securely. Cheyenne stood back, eyeing me. “Those vet people know you.”

“I did rescue for a lot of years and now I run an animal shelter, so yeah.”

“A shelter? For homeless cats and dogs?” Her eyes lit up.

“Yes. When we get the chance, you can come by and I’ll show you around.”

“Cool.” We got in and she started driving back to Brooklyn’s, but she seemed to be thinking about something. Halfway there, she asked, “ Are you and Brooklyn boyfriends?”

“Would it bother you if we were?”

“No. Although—” She smirked. “—you could do better than my brother.”

“No, I couldn’t. Believe me, I’ve been around the block a few times.” Mostly in my youth, but same difference. “Brooklyn’s the best guy I’ve met. Look at how he’s taking care of Sadie, and you. He was so kind when I was injured.”

“I guess. So are you boyfriends?”

I scratched my beard. “I’m not sure. We were heading that way when you arrived.”

“Okay. So if you wanted to stay? You and Eb and Twain and Chili and Xandra? I wouldn’t mind.”

“Stay at Brooklyn’s, you mean?”

“Yeah. There’s room. He even has two bathrooms. We only had one for all our family. And your dogs could make Sadie less scared, and there’d be more people around.”

More people in case her brother or father showed up. I couldn’t imagine how scared she must be down inside.

“And it would make Brooklyn happy.” She flicked a glance my way. “He was sad when you left.”

Part of me was thrilled, in a twisted way, to hear that. “Brooklyn and I should talk. People don’t usually move in together this early in a relationship.”

“But you were living there when I arrived.”

“Because I was hurt.”

“I still think it would be cool. And I could help walk the dogs till your leg gets better.”

“We’ll talk about it. With Brooklyn.”

When we got to Brooklyn’s and brought Sadie inside, happy barks greeted us from the back room. We headed there, and Cheyenne set down Sadie’s carrier. The little dog had her nose smooshed to the front and her tail wagged as she watched a pair of young vizslas chase each other around the room.

“They love everyone,” Brooklyn said. “Release the kraken.”

I opened Sadie’s crate and she romped out to meet the dogs, who paused for a moment to sniff butts, then resumed their play. She followed them, seeming happy just to watch.

Brooklyn came over to us. I’d texted him the info while we were in the car, so he said, “Hey, Arthur. I guess we’re keeping her, huh?”

“Yes!” Cheyenne said. “For sure.”

His lips curved but he didn’t take those gorgeous hazel eyes off mine.

I said, “Hey. Good to see you.”

“Yeah. Thanks for helping out.”

“Any time.” I wanted to hug him or maybe go for a kiss, but instead I managed an awkward smile.

Cheyenne said, “Good talk, guys. I’m going to, um, go for a long walk around the block. Several blocks.”

Brooklyn said, “Not yet. Not till we get you a phone. But I appreciate the offer. Maybe you can take the crazy twins into the backyard?”

“And Sadie?”

“If she follows them. Don’t try to touch her.”

“Okay. But the vet said she’s just scared.”

“Scared dogs bite. The other two are marshmallows. Take some treats with you.”

When Cheyenne had followed Sadie and the vizslas into the yard and closed the sliding door, Brooklyn turned back to me. “You don’t have to work today?”

“I took the day off.”

He frowned. “Is your head bad? You should sit down. I’m sorry?—”

I waved him off. “I’m okay today, just took vacation time. Although I won’t turn down a seat.” I hobbled to the couch, dropped down with a grunt, and patted the cushion beside me. “Join me?”

Brooklyn approached, looking tentative, and perched on the edge of the couch beside me. We stared at each other in silence.

I’d never been brave, but someone had to go first. “I missed you last night.”

“God, yes. I wished you were here.” Brooklyn slumped.

It felt natural to wrap my arm around him so he could lean against me. “Did you see the lawyer? What happened?”

Brooklyn described the lawyer’s advice and recording their parents making awful threats.

I hugged him against me. “It’s amazing you and Cheyenne are the kind people you are, with parents like that.”

“They weren’t mean all the time, just really strict, especially if we disobeyed Dad. Lots of kids had it worse. Mom would bake cookies sometimes, and Dad taught me to ride a bike and a horse.”

I was glad if he had some good memories. “Do you think it’s risky, them knowing where Cheyenne is? Couldn’t you have used, like, a burner phone?”

“They wouldn’t have answered a burner, and the lawyer said it wouldn’t matter. Part of the petition for guardianship is a required notification to the parents. Wynn was doing the filing today, so they’d have found out anyhow, just one day later.”

“Will that petition change things, if they find out you’re asking to keep her and she’s not willing to come home?”

Brooklyn rubbed his eyes. “I don’t know. The optimist in me says once the courts are involved, they’ll wash their hands of her. But Dad sure hates to be told what to do, and he was furious last night. He might tell Denver to bring her back anyway.”

“I think Cheyenne’s pretty scared, although she’s hiding it well.”

“Me too,” Brooklyn said. “I mean, I think she’s scared too. Not that I am.”

“Uh-huh.” I let a little skepticism into my voice.

After a moment, he said, “Okay. I’m worried too. I don’t think Denver would, like, forcibly kidnap her, but he’s a chip off Dad’s block. He’s likely to yell and threaten.”

“Do you think you should live somewhere else for a while? Shane and Theo aren’t back for a week. You could both come there. Or I have other friends. We can find somewhere.”

“I can’t. I have multiple dogs booked in every day next week.”

“Cancel?”

“It’s my livelihood, and I’m just getting started.

If I cancel on people, I’ll lose their business.

” He pressed his lips in a thin line and leaned his head against my shoulder.

“I’d ask you to come back and stay here, but I don’t want you to think I only want you around to be protection against my brother. ”

“Not only ,” I told him. “But if you want me around for other reasons, and want me to help protect Cheyenne? I’m in.”

“Really?” He rolled his head so he could look up at me. “You’d do that for me?”

I had to kiss him. No other choice. Our lips met for one wonderful moment, his mouth soft against mine, his hand finding my cheek.

I told him, “I’d do just about anything for you. Live in a comfortable house, with extra dog toys and people to walk them, and someone who can cook? Not a hardship.”

“It comes with a teenager who’s pretending to not watch us through the patio door.”

“We can work around her.”

“God, I want to.” Brooklyn arched his neck to kiss me again, then snuggled back against me. “I feel like I’m taking advantage.”

“You’re not, believe me.”

“There might be danger.”

“But probably not, and if there is? You think I want to be somewhere else if you and Cheyenne are in trouble?”

“Oh,” he breathed, as if that was a revelation.

“Tell you what,” I suggested, because having him close was giving my dick all kinds of ideas, and there was a teenager around.

“When those two boarders go home, do you think you could let Cheyenne watch Sadie for half an hour and you drive me back to my place? I need to walk and feed, and then pack my stuff.”

“Sure.” Brooklyn said it so casually I knew he wasn’t imagining what I was.

“Or maybe a whole hour. There will be things in the bedroom I want to pack.”

A slow smile spread over his face. “Oh. Of course. Packing the bedroom.”

“If you’re up for it.”

“That’s a yes, absolutely. Although I need to stop thinking about it or I won’t be able to get off this couch.”

“Same.” I lifted my arm off his shoulders and shifted around so the hardening of my dick would be less obvious. “So what do we do until then?”

“Lunch,” Brooklyn suggested. “And then in the afternoon, you can help me train those vizslas on some obedience commands and pick over the yard. Till they head out at four. Unless their mom’s early. Sometimes she is.”

“Fingers crossed,” I said. “But if not, I’m a patient man. I can wait a few hours.”

“I’m not.” Brooklyn grinned. “But I can fake it till four o’clock.”

I held his head between my palms and leaned in for a deep kiss?—

“Hey, guys. Bruno rolled in something icky. Oops.” Cheyenne put a hand over her eyes but she was laughing. “Sorry.”

“We’re just kissing,” Brooklyn said. “And you don’t look sorry.”

She swiped her hand over her mouth and chin, wiping away the grin. “Should I go try to clean up Bruno?”

“He’ll knock you over. I’ll get him.” Brooklyn pushed to his feet. He turned to me, and this time there was nothing awkward and everything hot about the meeting of our eyes. “I’ll see what I can find for you to do before we head out at four.”

“But he’s coming back.” Cheyenne leaned toward us. “Right? With the dogs.”

Sibling rules said one of us should tease her, but she’d been through a lot lately. I said, “With the dogs and cat, definitely. It’ll just take a bit of time to pack.”

Brooklyn added, “I’ll count on you to hold down the fort with Sadie here. We won’t be gone long.” I tried to catch his attention, and he flushed, avoiding my gaze. “Well, not very long.”

I breathed, “That’s what you think,” as softly as I could near his ear.

He glanced at me then, and his smile was bright. “We’ll head out after Arthur cleans up all the poop out in the yard.”

If Brooklyn was trying to give me second thoughts, he needed something better than that.

“On it,” I told him. “And looking forward to having you help me pick up, with my bad leg and all.” I winked.

“Yes. That will be good. We’ll get it done faster. I mean, after four, most likely, when the terrible twins are gone.” He breathed fast, eyeing my face.

“Holy cow, guys.” Cheyenne flounced past toward her bedroom. “Get a room.”

And while we meant to do so, soon, in all seriousness, for a moment we stood there laughing and hanging onto each other. Until hanging became kissing, breathing optional. Until it took Cheyenne muttering as she brushed past the other way, to make us, reluctantly, let go.

Four o’clock couldn’t come soon enough.