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CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

carter

Arden flies into the condo. Her hair is wild, eyes full of tears. She takes a look around the room, gauging who is here, but she’s far too distraught to care. She’s still dressed in her scrubs, her lunch bag clutched tightly in her palm. With a crazed look on her face, her eyes find mine.

“Are you okay?” Penny asks from the living room.

Arden swallows. “He’s gone.”

Nobody speaks.

I watch her carefully, but I already know what she’s talking about.

We all do. Everyone in this room is on strict instruction to shut the fuck up right now.

This is the kind of surprise she gets when she fails to tell me it was her birthday on the nineteenth of December, right after she lost her dad.

She worked that night. I only know it was her birthday because Penny mentioned it to me when she and Lowesy got back from Canada, feeling bad that she hadn’t been aware either.

She turned twenty-nine and said nothing.

“Who?” I ask, rising to my feet.

Wyatt leans back in his chair, bringing his hand to his mouth to hide his smile. He better keep it together because I’m not letting him ruin this for me. This has been in the works for days, and it has to go off without a hitch.

“Wanton,” she says, her voice breaking. “I went to visit him after work. He’s gone. I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

I raise my brows. “He got adopted?”

She nods, bottom lip shaking. “I know I should be grateful. I should be ecstatic. I—I am. He deserves a home, but I wanted to say goodbye. I didn’t get to… I never even got to pet him.”

Boston stands casually, slowly making his way to my side. He’s on his phone, pressing buttons while he nods sympathetically. He’s very good at this whole nonchalant thing, it’s impressive.

Then there is Declan, who is staring at the ceiling with narrowed eyes like the colour white has suddenly become the most mesmerizing thing in the world to him. Very chalant. Outrageously chalant.

If Arden notices Boston’s approach, she doesn’t let on.

She’s too in her head. Too heartbroken. It’s a helpless type of look.

The face of someone who has already endured heartbreak after heartbreak, and this one just topped it all off.

I take in her hopeless expression and am so fucking happy that this time, I can fix it for her. This one isn’t permanent.

“I just wanted to say goodbye, you know?” she whispers to me, shrugging as her bottom lip quivers.

Boston presses a few more buttons on the screen and then turns his phone to her. “Go on, then. Say goodbye. Or hello. Whatever you prefer.”

Arden’s brow furrows as she glances at the phone. When she catches a glimpse of familiar fur, she jumps forward, cupping the device in her hand like it’s made of plated gold. She squints at the screen, trying to make sure that what she’s seeing is real .

It is.

Sure enough, there he is, in all his grumpy glory. He’s lounging on a couch, stretched out like he pays rent, toes pointed outward on those back paws. The dude is full-on REM sleeping, tongue poking out of his mouth, looking more comfortable than he ever had in his prison cell.

“ Wanton ?” she breathes, and the dog's ears perk up. His head jolts upward, looking around the room.

“He can hear you,” Boston says with a nod. “The cameras have microphones.”

Tears pool in Arden’s eyes. She stares at the screen, pulling it closer to her face. “Hi, boy!”

Wanton looks around, confused. It warms my heart, even though I don’t have the same type of connection with the dog that Arden does. The dude paid his dues and wound up in the best possible home. He looks comfortable as all hell while he naps in Boston’s sun room.

You know how I know he won the lottery with his owner?

Boss had the room decorated and insulated for the dogs that he keeps at the farm. Just for them. They’re allowed in the house, too. He doesn’t care where they roam, but most of the mutts he ends up with prefer solitude or work over people. They kept choosing that room time and time again.

So, he turned it into a penthouse for them.

“Where is he?” she asks, eyes darting up to look between us.

“My place,” Boston says with a little smile. She stares up at him with stars in her eyes, which I would typically fucking hate, but it’s permitted under the circumstances. Her eyes dip back down to the phone. “Forker pleaded a good case for the guy. I adopted him last night.”

“ What?” she breathes. Her eyes snap to mine.

I shrug. “He’s lived on that cement floor for long enough. I knew a guy who could give him the space he needed, and who I trusted would provide him with a good life.”

And who would let you come and visit, so you’d never actually have to say goodbye.

Arden’s jaw is practically on the floor. Her brown eyes slide to Boston again, like she thinks this is some kind of trick. “You adopted him? Really ?”

Boston dips his chin, his pink gum popping out of his mouth. “Really. He’ll need some time to adjust, but he seems to love the other dogs so far. He’ll fit in just fine at the farm, Arden. I promise. He’s safe. He’s pretty fucking cute, too.”

Arden drops the phone to the countertop and launches herself at Boston. Not knowing what to do as she forces him into a hug, Boston’s hands gently hover over her back for a second, a panicked look on his face, before he tries his best to hug her back properly.

“Thank you,” Arden cries, squeezing him tighter. I’m sure this is Boston’s personal hell, but he takes it. “Thank you so much.”

“Ah, don’t thank me,” he mumbles, patting her back awkwardly. His eyes slide to mine, and he winks. “Thank Fork. The most misunderstood always seem to have the best hearts, don’t they? You can come by anytime, Arden. Hang out with him, take him for walks, whatever you want to do.”

Puppy therapy. Her favourite.

“Really?” She sniffles, pulling back to wipe her face.

Boston nods. “I’m sure he’d love to see you.”

Arden turns to me then, her face reflecting more adoration than I have ever seen her aim my way before. She walks toward me, slides her hands along my jaw, and pushes herself up on her tip-toes so we’re face-to-face.

“Happy birthday, girlfriend,” I say quietly, sliding my hand to rest at the top of her ass. Her face flashes with surprise. “What, you thought you’d get away with not telling me?”

There’s a lingering moment where her eyes search mine, asking questions I can’t decipher, telling me things that I know are coming from her heart. She says nothing. Instead, she slants her mouth against mine, and she kisses the shit out of me.

I slide both of my arms around her, deepening the kiss, not caring who is around to witness.

She needs a bit of sunshine in her life.

The clouds just broke for her, and hope is shining through.

My lips are pretty fucking sunshine-like, if I do say so myself.

She’s got a thing for the cute ones who are labelled as aggressive, doesn’t she?

She’s managed to find both of the one’s in her life a home.

The truth is, I asked Declan and Penny to take Wanton first. Since Penny is still working on the temperament of their newest addition, she was hesitant, but she looked ready to risk it.

I’d bet it was for both Wanton and Arden’s benefit.

It was Declan who suggested Boston instead.

It was a no-brainer from that point onward.

Wanton likes space and doesn’t love men.

Boston will give him all the space he needs and wants, because he has the resources too.

If Wanton never warms to the male species again, he will still thrive on the farm.

It’s the perfect place for him.

Boston took one look at him, glowering in that cell, spun on his heel, and stormed out of the room.

I thought it was a loss. I hung my head and whispered an apology to Wanton, promising him I’d figure it out.

I’d take him myself if I needed to at this point, even though I don’t particularly want a pet, but when I followed Boston out, the guy was already signing paperwork and asking how soon he could take him home.

I had paid for Wanton’s adoption months ago with the rest of them. I just needed someone to take a chance on him .

The look on Red’s face when she pulls away proves it was all worth it.

“I love you,” Arden whispers. She holds my face in her hands, fresh tears in her eyes. “I am so ridiculously in love with you, Carter. You are officially the best, and the hottest, fake boyfriend I have ever had.”

Everything goes a bit still in my head. Peaceful.

Quiet. That was the first time she had ever said those words to me.

It was the first time they’ve been uttered in this relationship.

We’re surrounded by people, but she still admitted it to me right here and right now, regardless of who could hear the boldest statement in the world.

I feel it right back. Tenfold. Have felt it for a long time, and I think she knows that.

I smile wide, patting her butt gently. “I love you, too, baby girl.”

She winces at the name, maybe even gags a bit.

“Not that one?” I ask, coughing up a laugh.

“Definitely not that one,” she says, but then presses her mouth to mine again. “Thank you. This means everything to me. You don’t understand how much.”

“I do.” I nod, dragging my hand up her back. “Which is why I did it. He’s going to have a good life.”

“So will we,” she tells me, a sweet smile on her lips. Her hands slide over the back of my hair.

“Yeah.” I nod, taking in every inch of her spectacular face, counting the constellations that brush her skin.

I’m convinced nobody has ever loved someone the way I love her.

I’d give up everything for one more second with her.

One more morning. One more date. One more glare aimed my way. Everything. “So will we.”