“Yeah. I’m Marv. Sadie’s my dog. We often see Cam and Magnum here. The pups like playing together.” He looked fondly at the two dogs.
I nodded, pressing a hand to my stomach.
“Did you find him—oh.” Paisley arrived. “There he is.”
“Yeah.” I exhaled again. “He met a friend.”
Paisley laughed. Then she looked at me. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, still choked up.
She squeezed my arm. “Hey, it’s all right.”
“I just kept thinking how Cam would feel…if he came home and…and…”
“It’s okay. We got him. He’s fine.” She jogged over and grabbed Magnum’s leash. “Come on, buddy.”
“Sorry about that.” The older man clipped Sadie’s leash onto her collar.
“Oh, it’s not your fault. I should have had a better grip on the leash. I just wasn’t expecting that. Whew.” I smiled. “It’s nice that he has a dog friend.”
We dragged Magnum away from his friend and headed home.
“Thank God,” I muttered.
“You were really scared.”
“Yeah.”
“Hmmm.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
We got home, and Magnum hadn’t pooped. Luck was with me! No poop to scoop! Yay.
Paisley and I had picked up Cobb salads for dinner on the way to Cam’s place, so I washed my hands as Paisley unpacked the shopping bag in the kitchen. Then I headed into the bedroom to change into the leggings and sweater I’d packed. “Oh my God!” I stopped dead at seeing the ginormous poop on Cam’s bedroom floor. And wrinkled my nose at the odor. “Oh my God. Magnum!”
“What’s wrong?” Paisley appeared in the doorway.
I gestured, and her gaze dropped to the floor.
“Oh.”
Magnum was nowhere to be seen. When the hell had he done this?
I closed my eyes briefly, taking a deep breath. Ugh. “I guess I have to clean this up.”
“Um, yeah.” Paisley looked like she wanted to laugh.
“Why didn’t he poop on the walk? It would have been easier to pick it up with a poop bag outside. I guess I can do that here…but what do I do with the poop bag?” Throwing it into the trash didn’t seem…sanitary. I mean, garbage isn’t sanitary, but it didn’t seem right.
“Flush it.” Paisley shrugged.
“Good idea.”
“Why do people have dogs?” I grumbled as I searched through Cam’s cupboards to find cleaning supplies. Luckily he had bleach cleaner. I couldn’t find a pair of rubber gloves, sadly, but after washing the floor and drying it with paper towels, I scrubbed my hands thoroughly with soap and hot water under the bathroom faucet.
I glared at Magnum in the kitchen. He gazed innocently back at me. “You’re taking years off my life,” I told him. “I regret giving you that treat. Don’t make me sorry again.”
His eyes sloped down in a sad expression, and his head dropped.
“Aw. He’s sorry,” Paisley said, giving him a rub. “Aren’t you, boy?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. Did he really understand me? He kind of did look sorry. “Okay, time for dinner.”
His ears lifted adorably.
“Our dinner,” I clarified. “Then yours.”
We ate our salads while watching the news on TV. Magnum sat quietly with watchful eyes.
“You’re cute.” I picked up a piece of bacon and dropped it on the floor for him. He scarfed it down. Yeah, this was the way to a dog’s heart—bacon.
After eating, I read Cam’s detailed list of instructions with a smile on my face. “This is so cute,” I said to Paisley. “Like Magnum is his baby or something.”
“Of course he is. Dogs are part of the family.”
I measured out dry food into Magnum’s bowl and refilled his water bowl as he chowed down.
“Okay, this is going fine. Other than the great escape. And the giant poop surprise. I’m not over that.”
Paisley laughed again. “I think you’ve got this. I better get going.”
“Ack. You’re leaving me alone with him?”
“It’s fine.”
“Okay. Sure.”
To my chagrin, Magnum followed Paisley to the door, looking downcast at her departure. Shit. He liked her. He didn’t like me that much. My bottom lip pushed out, so after Paisley had left, I gave him another treat. Just to make sure he knew I was the one feeding him.
I’d brought my laptop, so I did some work as I watched the game. I wasn’t super productive though, since I kept looking up every time I heard Cam’s name or the announcers’ voices rose in excitement. I nearly dumped my laptop on the floor when the Aces scored the first goal.
“They scored, Magnum! Woohoo! Can you do a high five?”
Cam had shown me this trick, but I wasn’t sure if Magnum would do it for me. I held up my hand. “High five!” Pleasure washed through me when he lifted his paw and tapped it against my palm. “Good boy! Okay I’ll give you another treat for that.”
I’d just feed him treats to keep him happy, and Cam would come back to a dog who’d gained ten pounds overnight.
During the second intermission in the game, Magnum decided he wanted to play and brought over a toy in his mouth. I’d seen Cam play tug-of-war with him. I hesitated though, again worried about those big teeth accidentally clamping down on my hand instead of the toy. I gingerly grasped one end and gave a little pull.
Magnum growled. It startled me, but I knew he did this and it was just playing. I tugged harder, and he planted his paws into the rug, his butt going in the air. He easily yanked the toy out of my hand. He pawed at it, picked it up, and brought it back.
I sighed. “Okay, I’ll try harder.”
His tail wagged wildly as we pulled back and forth, even though he was growling low in his throat, his brown eyes bright. I had to smile as I gamely tried to keep him from winning, even though he was clearly stronger than me; he seemed to enjoy this so much.
Finally we ended our play as the third period started. I gave him another treat, and he slurped up a big drink from his water bowl.
“Okay, Magnum, the game’s starting. Come on over here and watch with me, let’s see if your dad can win this game.”
Magnum ambled over and sat on the floor next to the couch, leaning against my legs. “Aw.” I reached down to pat his head. “That’s so nice. Maybe we can be friends.” He pushed his head into my hand and warmth flooded inside me.
The Aces won. Magnum high-fived me again.
“I guess we need to go out once more before bedtime, huh.” I grabbed my jacket, clipped on the leash, and we went out onto the sidewalk. It was fully dark now, and I didn’t want to go too far. Hopefully Magnum would pee right away.
And he did, stopping at a convenient fire hydrant.
A man walked toward us down the dark sidewalk. Nobody else was around. I hated that I got a little clutch of nerves in my stomach. My heart leaped in my chest when the man neared us and spoke. “Hey, pretty lady.” His voice slurred, as if he was drunk or high. “Want some company?”
My eyes flew wide, and my heart bumped in alarm. “Uh, no. Thanks.”
Crap. Why did I thank him?
“Sure you do.” He wavered toward me.
My heart leaped into my throat. At that moment, Magnum barked. Loudly. Ferociously. Repeatedly, advancing on the man, teeth bared, tail stiff.
“Jesus.” The man turned and ran across the street.
My legs and hands started shaking. I tried to swallow. Tried to breathe. “Good boy, Magnum.” I reached down to pat his head. “Good boy. Let’s go home.”
I pressed a hand to my chest where my heart p
ounded as we hastened back into the condo building. Once inside the locked doors, I felt safer. I let out a long, slow breath and leaned my head against the wall of the elevator as we rode up.
Inside Cam’s condo, I hung up the leash and dropped to a crouch in front of Magnum. “Thank you, buddy.” I scratched his ears. “Thank you. You’re such a good boy.”
He licked my chin. And I let him, wrapping my arms around his solid doggy body in a tentative hug. “Thank you for the kiss, buddy.”
I was supposed to put him in his kennel. But I was still shaken and feeling vulnerable. So I brought his special bedtime treats into Cam’s bedroom and let him have them on Cam’s bed. And I let him stay there, his big warm body pressed against my legs, while I went to sleep.
Maybe this was why people had dogs.
* * *
—
I was dead asleep, but I vaguely felt the bed move as Cam slid into it with me. His big arm came around me and eased me back against him. I’d decided pajamas weren’t necessary to bring along, so I was naked, and I felt he was too, his skin hot, rough here and there with hair.
“Mmm.” I made a small sound and pressed my butt into his groin. His cock was half hard, and it twitched against me, thickening more. “You’re home.”
“I’m home.” He nuzzled my hair. “Why was Magnum in here?”
“Uhhhh. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
“Okay. This is nice, you being here.”
“Yeah.” I sighed drowsily and turned my head to find his mouth. We kissed…slow…long…deep. His tongue stroked mine, and his hand covered one breast, squeezing. My inner muscles tightened. I parted my thighs, and his cock slid between them.
He groaned. “Feels so good. Missed you, baby.”
“Mmm.”
He pinched my nipple, tugged it, flicked it with his thumb. I was getting wet, his cock sliding easier. He moved, turning me, pushing me onto my stomach. The covers disappeared, and from behind he lifted my hips into the air, so I was on my knees. I gasped, feeling his breath on my pussy.
“Yeah.” He licked me. I shuddered hard. “This is what I want. This sweet pussy.”
He licked more, his stubble scraping the skin of my butt, his hands firm on the insides of my thighs. Dear God, his tongue…still half asleep, sensation whipped through me…
“You’re wet, baby.” He swiped his tongue over me again, my body jolting with pleasure as he touched my clit.
I let out a long moan, my cheek pressed into the pillow. “Yes…”
He lapped at me with slow, lush strokes, gripping my ass cheeks. Excitement slid through me like liquid heat, pooling in my core.
He moved away, and I whimpered. He kissed the small of my back, then set a hand there. “Hang on, beautiful.” He shifted to grab a condom. I maintained the position, ass in the air, my body throbbing, as he donned it, and then he rubbed the head of his cock slowly up and down through my slit.
In the darkness, still drowsy, it felt like a dream…a fevered sex dream of ecstasy and pleasure.
“You’re really here, aren’t you?” I mumbled.
He let out a low laugh and pushed inside me. “Feel that? That’s real, baby.”
A moan leaked from my lips. “I feel it. So good. Go deeper. Please.”
He withdrew, then eased in farther, and farther again, filling me, a delicious invasion, pleasure spreading from that sensitive place all through my body. “Like that?”
“Yes…God yes. I feel it everywhere…so deep.”
“Good.” He reached and gathered my hair up into his fist, giving it a tug. Sensation sparked down my spine. His other hand gripped my hip as he began to move, slowly gliding in and out in a sensual rhythm. Deeper. Harder. Oh God, he was filling me, gliding over sensitive nerves. Lost in a foggy haze of pleasure, heat flowed over my skin as he filled me to overflowing.
He gripped my hips as he thrust faster, then leaned over me, planting his fists into the mattress. His crisp pubic hair rubbed against my back entrance; his hard abs pressed against my ass, moving, rocking against me. I pushed up onto my elbows, turning my head, and he rubbed his face against mine, pressed his nose to my cheek. “Damn, baby,” he groaned. “Your pussy is so goddamn tight and hot…you make me crazy.”
I couldn’t even speak.
He pumped briskly, bumping my body, my breasts bobbing. Waves rolled and crashed, and I cried out at the intensity of it. I turned my head, and he leaned lower and found my mouth with his.
Then he pushed back upright, one hand twisting into my hair again, the other grasping my hip as he pounded into me. Sparks surged down my spine, right to my pussy. My mouth fell open; my eyes squeezed shut. I needed more…stimulation. It felt so good, but I need to touch my clit, so I slipped my hand down between my thighs and rubbed over it in tight circles.
“Fuck yeah.” Cam groaned, his hips slapping against my ass.
Everything inside me twisted up, so intense it was nearly painful. I hovered on the edge of orgasm as he drove into me again and again and…I cried out again, ecstasy exploding, my body shuddering.
He stretched out over me, his body big and heavy against my back, shouting as he came, pulsing inside me.
My ears buzzed; my body pulsed. Eventually I heard his harsh breathing, felt his lips on my shoulder.
“Liv.” He brushed another kiss over my skin. “God, Liv.”
He’d never shortened my name like that before. I liked it. I liked him. I…more than liked him. And after this, I felt like maybe he more than liked me.
Chapter 17
Cam
It was Saturday and a day off for me before our Sunday night game, so Olivia and I slept in. We finally dragged our asses out of bed to shower around ten o’clock, conserving water by showering together. Heh.
I pulled on a pair of sweatpants and hooked my thumbs into the waistband to adjust them low on my hips. I caught Olivia eyeing my happy trail. I smirked at her and flexed my abs, making her laugh.
Olivia looked around, gorgeous, all naked smooth skin, hair up in the loopy bun she’d twisted it into before our shower. Then she reached for one of my T-shirts I’d tossed onto the chair. She slid it over her head, and as it dropped down to cover her sweet tits, I froze.
My Stiff T-shirt.
Her head popped through the neckline, and she caught me staring at her. “What?”
“That’s my Stiff shirt.”
She glanced down, checking out the words, IF IT AIN’T STIFF IT AIN’T WORTH A FUCK. “Yeah.” She paused and glanced up, a smile playing on her lips. “Words to live by.”
I still stared at her, not reacting to her joke.
Her smile faded. “Uh…you don’t want me to wear it?”
I stared for a few more seconds, then prowled toward her and stopped. “You look sexy in it.”
“Okay.” She smiled uncertainly.
“That’s the shirt.”
“What?”
“When you agreed to go out with me that night at the River East Social House, I got to keep this shirt.”
She scrunched up her face and looked down at herself, holding out the hem of the shirt. “This? This is what you bet?”
“Yeah.”
“I think I’m insulted.”
My jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me? That T-shirt is one of my most prized possessions.”
She smiled. “Really? Maybe I shouldn’t wear it.”
“No. It looks hot as fuck on you. It looks…perfect. And for allowing me to keep it by agreeing to go out with me you deserve to wear it.” I kissed her. “Let’s go grab breakfast.”
I had to take Magnum out first, so he and I did a quick run before returning to find Olivia in the kitchen already scrambling eggs and frying bacon. “Mmm. Bacon.”
“Magnum likes bacon too.” She shot him an affectionate smile as he padded up to her, tail wagging, tongue hanging out. She reached down to rub his head.
Whoa. That was cool. “You two are friends now?”
“Well. First I wasn’t very happy with him when he tore the leash out of my hand and took off in the park. I thought I’d lost your dog, and I was having a heart attack.”
“Oh no.” I frowned at Magnum.
“He saw Sadie and chased after her.”
I grinned. “Good man. Sadie’s his girlfriend.”
“Well, he scared the shit out of me. Then he pooped in your bedroom.”
“Magnum!”
“Yeah.” She made a face and turned a piece of bacon. “I don’t like cleaning up poop.”
“Nobody does. I thought I smelled bleach cleaner when I walked in.” I shook my head. “Thank you. Sorry. He’s usually good about that.”
“He was probably disturbed because it was me here with him and not you. But, he redeemed himself later.”
She told me what happened when they’d been out for their walk and, while I was happy and grateful Magnum had taken care of her, I was pissed that had happened. “Shit,” I muttered. “You shouldn’t have taken him out alone at night.”
“That’s what I was here for.” She flipped a piece of bacon with tongs.
“I know. But I’m pissed at myself for letting you do it.”
“It’s fine, Cam. It wasn’t your fault some creep happened to be walking down the street.”
I fucking hated the idea of her being out alone at night and some loser accosting her. My neighborhood was pretty safe, but shit could happen anywhere. “Thank God Magnum has a big bark.” I rubbed his head too. “Good boy.”
We ate at the counter, and I lifted my eyebrows when I saw Olivia feed Magnum a piece of bacon, which he gobbled down. She caught my eye and flashed a guilty smile. “Sorry.”
I nodded. I tried not to feed him too much people food, but I couldn’t be angry. I actually liked that she did it. I really liked that she liked Magnum.
As we ate, I told her, “My sister’s coming to visit next week.”
Game On Page 17