Page 19

Cian

Blair was acting strangely, and I didn’t know what was wrong.

We’d continued the trend of trading off nights at each other’s houses, the sex was off the charts hot, and I was more convinced than ever that I had to find a way to convince her to be mine, but there were moments when she got quiet. She retreated so far into herself that I couldn’t follow.

Worse, the way she looked at me when she came back made me feel like I was the problem.

Not the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner, not her heavy workload that was getting bigger as Dante gave her more responsibilities, but me.

What the fuck did I do?

I’d considered throwing myself at Mia’s mercy again, but I was an adult who could solve my own adult problems.

By avoiding them and hoping like hell it didn’t blow up in my face.

I strolled through the halls of the shelter until I reached Seelie’s cage and stopped in shock.

My dog was at the door waiting for me.

“Hey, girl.”

Lowering myself slowly to my haunches, I held my hand out for her to sniff, and was rewarded with a lick.

“We’ve been showing her footage of you from your social page. All the little videos and photos you post, but she likes the aftergame interviews the best. She cocks her head and tries to work out how to get your attention while you talk to the camera.” Katie grinned broadly at me. “It was my idea.”

“Great job,” I said, stunned as I offered her my knuckles for a pound.

“She still doesn’t like other people, but she seems to know the days you’re coming. She eats more, and spends time out of her blankets like she’s waiting for you.”

I narrowed my eyes on the teen as I opened the cage and stepped inside.

“You know I can’t take her home with me. It’s not fair to her.”

She rolled her eyes, conveying my idiocy in the way only a teen girl could. “You already own her. You just don’t know it yet. Sort your shit out, old man.”

“Katie—”

“That’s cap.” She walked away, waving carelessly over her shoulder.

“I’d take you home in a heartbeat if I thought I could,” I told Seelie as she waited patiently for me to sit, then curled up against my leg.

“Besides, I have enough girl troubles without adding you in the mix.” I met her beautiful brown eyes. “No offense.”

Her tail thumped a couple of times against the concrete floor. It was cold under my ass. The tin wall bit into my back, and I could touch the other side without pointing my toes.

This was no place for a dog long term either.

And that was what was in store for Seelie. Unless someone else put in the same work I had and won her trust.

The thought soured my gut.

As much as it seemed completely out of reach, I’d had a vision of my future that included Seelie sleeping on the couch and Blair in my bed.

Permanently.

The sense of peace that crept over me as I entertained the fantasy again was a siren song that would lead to misery in the long run because I couldn’t figure out how to keep Seelie, and I had the feeling Blair was somehow slipping through my fingers too.

The obvious answer was to ask her about it, but each time I tried, despite our promises to be honest with each other, she somehow redirected the conversation to other things.

Maybe I was being paranoid.

She hated her family, and the dinner was approaching like a freight train.

I’d wait until the dust settled on that disaster waiting to happen and then find out where things lay.

* * *

Blair was deep in thought as she let herself into my house that afternoon, her face fierce as she seemed to be in a mental battle of some sort.

“How was therapy?” I asked from the sofa where I’d been trying to concentrate on Wayne Gretsky’s autobiography for the previous hour. I wished I could be an audiobook guy, but I couldn’t concentrate well enough when I just listened.

There was a rustle and thump as her bag and keys hit the dining table, and then she was crawling into my lap. She tucked herself under my chin and heaved a sigh as I wound my arms around her.

“You scare the fuck out of me.”

I waited for her to say more, but she still seemed to be processing her thoughts. If she weren’t in my arms, I would have worried this was a breakup chat. The fact we weren’t officially together didn’t seem to matter in my panicky brain.

“Is this why you’ve been pulling away?” I asked.

Her head moved against my chest.

“Can I do anything to help you trust me?”

This time, it moved back and forward.

I tightened my grip and let the silence fill the room. She would talk when she was ready. Outside, the neighbor’s dog barked, causing a chorus of responses from the houses nearby. A motorbike started down the road, the rumbling growing louder, then tapering off as they rode past our front door.

“I want to trust you. And I do. It’s life that I don’t trust. Because if you want me and I lose you, then what’s left?”

“So would you give up before we even start?”

Her shoulders slumped further. “I don’t want to.”

“Good.”

Silence returned, but it felt safer.

“I want to take you out tonight,” I said after a while. She stirred beneath me, lifting her head so I could see her eyes.

“Where?”

“Somewhere nice. Will you go out with me?”

“People will see.”

“Let them. You aren’t a dirty secret. Who gives a fuck what they think?”

She pressed her lips to mine firmly, then climbed out of my lap.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

As much as I hated seeing her doubt herself—and me—over and over, the way she pulled herself together and kept moving was fucking incredible. She wanted to try. For us.

Which was exactly what you needed in a partner when you were used to being an afterthought, like I was.

“Oh, no. I don’t have anything to wear.”

I couldn’t wait until the day when there wasn’t a ‘her house’ and a ‘my house’, but at least this problem was easily solved.

After I’d changed into a suit and sent a heads up text, we drove the couple of streets to Oscar and Mia’s place. While Mia and Blair disappeared into the bedroom, Oscar and I had a beer and shot the shit.

A feminine throat clearing pulled our attention to Mia standing in the doorway several minutes later. Her arms were crossed, and a smug grin tugged at her cheeks.

“She’s ready.”

I shot to my feet as Blair came around the corner and—Oh God, I was hard. She wore a form fitting cream dress that stopped mid-thigh with a neckline that perfectly framed her collarbones. Her usually wild curls had been pulled back into a fancy twist, and behind her glasses, her eyes looked bigger than normal, the toffee color standing out against the purple shadow on her lids. She’d told me she didn’t wear eye makeup because she couldn’t see well enough to put it on. Mia fixed that. The shy smile on her face told me she was happy with the results.

“What do you think?” Mia asked, knocking my shoulder and settling into Oscar’s arms.

“It’s hard to improve on perfection, but you look stunning.”

Blair’s cheeks reddened as she dropped her gaze to the floor. “You know? I actually feel it.”

“Ow!” Oscar rubbed at his chest. A mock scowl pinched his brow as he eyed his wife. “Vicious. Next time you’re excited, how about a kiss?”

“Not until we’re out the door. Wait, just one thing.” I pulled her hair loose, encouraging those riotous curls to settle around her head.

“Perfect. Thank you, Mia. We’ll see you guys later.”

While Blair was in with Mia, I’d reserved a table at Yujo, a high-end Japanese restaurant that had won just about every award there was in fine dining.

“I hope I don’t get soy sauce on this dress,” Blair murmured as we parked out front.

“I promise, I’ll replace it if you do.”

The restaurant seemed to be doing a steady business as we were shown to a table at the back as per my reservation request.

“There are people looking at us,” she murmured through a tight smile as we took our seats.

“They don’t matter. Focus on me.”

By the time our meals arrived, she had forgotten about everyone else in the restaurant.

“No way could Crosby have beaten Messier,” she shouted, outrage written across her face. “Are you crazy?”

I chuckled and held out my hands.

She huffed, flopping back into her seat dramatically. “I don’t think I can be on this date anymore.”

I grinned at her as the waiter brought over new plates. “Not even if I bribe you with mochi?”

“I’ll allow it,” she teased with a roll of her eyes. She bit into the pillowy dessert with a sigh, a private smile tipping up her lips. This had been a great idea.

“I’ve had a lot of fun tonight,” I told her as I reached for a second mochi. These things were amazing.

“Me too.”

Under the dim lights of the restaurant, she glowed with a kind of confidence I prayed would still be there in the morning.

The only thing I knew for sure was that I’d be the guy lucky enough to be there to see it.