Anne tightened her grip on my hand at the same time as Riley said, “Hush, Lola,” and his friend tightened his grip on the first dog’s leash. Somehow, both dogs went quiet. No more barking.
Was that normal? Could dogs be taught to be calm? I’d never been around them enough to know. The only dogs I’d spent much time with had been wild and out of control.
The other dog, the one whose leash Riley was holding, was even bigger than the first. But it was sitting placidly at Riley’s feet, breathing a bit fast maybe, which might be a sign of excitement at meeting a new person instead of blood lust, I supposed. But it sat there with its ears down and its tongue lolling out of its mouth, perfectly calm by all appearances, even if it was quirking its head from side to side as it checked me out.
Did I look tastier if viewed at an angle? I felt compelled to tell them that there wasn’t much meat on me, so they’d be better off choosing someone else for their snack, but somehow I managed to keep my thoughts to myself.
And good grief, I had to stop thinking they wanted to eat me. I was only making things worse for myself, the more I allowed my imagination to run rampant.
They both sat back on their haunches, staring at me attentively. They were definitely interested, but it didn’t seem like they wanted to make a meal out of me. I certainly had no intention of becoming dog food, either.
“Why don’t you come a little closer and hold out your hand so they can sniff you?” Riley suggested. “That’s kind of how they greet people. They want to know your scent so they can be sure you’re a good person and not a bad one.”
“And they can tell that from the way a person smells?” I cracked. “What if I use the wrong brand of soap?” But then again, I’d used the same soap Riley had been using, so maybe that wouldn’t be an issue. Hopefully not. I was pleased to see that somehow, despite my fear, I’d been able to crack a joke. Go figure.
“Just be glad they want to start with your hand and not your ass,” the other man said. “But they’ll get there, too, before very much longer. They like to sniff everything.”
Who was he again? Anne’s husband. Nate? Nick? Something like that. In all honesty, I was far more concerned about the dogs than I was about keeping the people’s names straight.
Riley elbowed his friend in the ribs, but they both just shook it off, never loosening the grips they had on Max and Lola.
Holding out my hand for these dogs seemed like a suicide mission. Wouldn’t it just make it easier for them to bite my hand free from my arm? Or to grab hold of my limb and race out the front door, dragging me behind them like a ragdoll so they could dig a hole in the yard and bury me in it? But somehow, I put one foot in front of the other and I slowly, cautiously crossed the floor until I was standing only about a foot in front of the two enormous creatures.
I wanted to look up into Riley’s eyes for encouragement, for acknowledgment that I was doing things right, but I didn’t dare take my gaze away from those two animals. My heart pounding so hard I thought my chest might explode and my breathing as shallow as it had ever been, I gradually inched closer, stretching my arm out toward them, palm up.
Lola sniffed me first, her snout working overtime as she worked over my hand and forearm. She wasn’t finished yet when Max leaned in and started his inspection.
I couldn’t stop myself from shaking, but so far, they weren’t doing anything awful. No attempts to bite me, at least, and they hadn’t even done so much as attempt to taste me. Lola’s wet nose nudged the palm of my hand at one point, and I tried not to jump in surprise when she followed it up with a soft lick from her tongue.
That was almost more than I could handle. “Oh, God. She’s about to eat me. She’s sampling me to see if she’d rather have me for her supper or save me for dessert.”
Nate chuckled, but Riley was as calm as ever. “She’s kissing you. That’s not the same as getting you ready to go on a platter for a midnight snack. And besides, she’s just going to figure out that you’re as sweet as I already know you are.”
I didn’t have the energy to blush. All my efforts were otherwise focused on staying alive. “Kissing me?” I couldn’t wrap my head around that, not even when Max joined in, running his big, wet tongue along my arm. I shivered.
“They seem to like you,” Anne said.
“Yeah, they’d like me for a nice, tasty meal,” I retorted.
Riley rolled his eyes so hard I could feel it without looking up to see it. “Why don’t you try petting them?” he suggested, as if it was the only thing that could possibly make sense. “Lola likes it if you rub her ears, and Max’s favorite thing ever is a good belly rub, but he’ll settle for any kind of petting you’re comfortable giving him.”
“Kind of like RJ. Pet him anywhere, anytime, and he’ll be putty in your hands,” Nate said under his breath, but it was more than loud enough for me to hear him. Riley heard him, too, if the annoyed look that Riley passed him was a clue. Nate just shrugged it off, obviously unconcerned about upsetting his best friend.
I laughed, despite my fear.
“See?” Riley said. “It’s not that bad. You can still laugh, so you can’t be too scared.”
He was wrong about that, but I didn’t feel like arguing. Especially not since I hadn’t touched either dog yet. They’d touched me, but that wasn’t the same thing. The difference between the two was easily a mile wide.
I decided to start with Lola, mainly because she was slightly smaller. Not enough smaller for me to doubt her ability to squash me if she saw fit, but Max probably had thirty or forty pounds on her. As quickly as I dared—which was about the speed of water freezing on the beach during a Mexican summer afternoon—I stretched out my hand toward Lola’s ear. It was surprisingly soft, almost like velvet. I rubbed the fur between my thumb and forefingers until she made a happy sound that left me giggling from a combination of relief and giddiness. Within moments, she was leaning in toward me, almost as if begging for more of my touch.
“You should scratch her on the top of her head with your other hand,” Riley suggested.
So I did, even though it would give her another opportunity to bite me.
Her eyes rolled back in her head in what appeared to be her own private version of doggy nirvana.
I wasn’t ready to admit it, but I could get used to this. That said, I definitely wasn’t ready to try rubbing Max on his belly. That seemed like an invitation for him to eat my hand, and I was kind of attached to my limbs and various appendages at present.
Instead, I thought I’d try out rubbing his ears, too. That way, I could keep things equal between them. No reason for one to be jealous of the other.
If that was even a thing. Did dogs get jealous of each other? No idea.
His ears were even softer than Lola’s, if that was possible, and within a moment of me beginning to rub, he let out a whimpering sort of sound that made me melt.
“Yeah, he’s going to expect you to do that almost nonstop for the next decade or so, now,” Riley said. When I glanced up, his eyes were filled with laughter. “Told you they’d like you. Told you everything would be fine.”
He had told me, and even though Anne had told me the same thing, I hadn’t believed them. Maybe Riley was right about more than just this. Maybe the two of us could find a way to make this marriage work.
Through compromise. And through stepping outside our comfort zones. And through trying things that scared us.
I was still a bit nervous, but I found myself dropping to my knees on the floor and scratching both dogs on their necks at the same time. It might have been a bit soon for making a move like that, though, because Lola proceeded to attempt to climb onto my lap, licking my cheek and spreading her doggy slobber all over me. Despite myself, I fell over laughing, and both dogs piled on until I was giggling and suffocating and gasping for air.
But I wasn’t scared anymore.
Or at least I wasn’t scared of these dogs.
There were still plenty of other things
in this world for me to fear. My whirlwind trip to Cabo had been more than enough to open my eyes to that fact.
I DOUBTED MACKENZIE would be able to walk Max and Lola on her own anytime soon, but that was a task that even I could hardly handle without help, and I was a hell of a lot bigger and stronger than she was. I’d had a dog walker coming to take care of things during the team’s road trips for a couple of years already, anyway, because Amanda had outright refused to try walking them even when I was home to do it with her. My new marriage to Mackenzie wouldn’t require a change as far as having a dog walker was concerned. We could keep the current system set up the way it was, and Mackenzie might even be willing to help when it was time for Max and Lola to go out for a walk or for their doggy swimming lessons—something Amanda had neither been prepared nor keen to do.
The good news was that, even though Mackenzie was still visibly afraid of my pups, she was making an effort to face and conquer her fears. That was all I could ask of her, in the end. But the knowledge that she had these two looking out for her would sure make me feel a hell of a lot better about leaving her alone in Portland once my ankle had healed and I was out on the road with the team.
Of course, I didn’t think Amanda would come back and try to do anything, like get into the house and take something she thought should be hers, and I had even greater doubt that Colby would try anything of that nature. But then again, I’d never thought my former fiancée would cheat on me with my brother, and I’d never thought my brother had that level of backstabbing in him, either. Just went to show that no matter how well I had thought I’d known them both, I hadn’t really known them at all. So there was no telling what they were capable of if given the right motivation.
But what would that motivation be? I honestly didn’t want to know. And frankly, my energy would be better spent on making sure Mackenzie was comfortable with Max and Lola so that she’d be safe, no matter what happened.
After spending the afternoon with Ghost and Anne, all of us trying to help Mackenzie get over her fear of my dogs, the four of us had gone out to dinner together. That got Mackenzie away from Max and Lola for a bit so she could have something of a respite, and it gave Ghost and Anne a chance to get to know her and vice versa.
Away from the dogs, Mackenzie seemed to breathe a bit more freely, laughing every time Ghost took a jibe at me and lighting up when Anne told her about the behind-the-scenes work she did with the team while producing Eye of the Storm.
“We’re actually planning to do a feature in some of the upcoming webisodes that’ll focus on some of the guys’ wives and girlfriends,” Anne said, reaching across the table for the salt shaker. “Maybe a few of the kids, too, if their parents will allow it. Tuck Campbell is one I’m dying to put on the show. The kid’s a spitfire. Smallest player, by far, on his peewee hockey team, but he’s the best one out there. He tells me he’s going to be just like his uncle Zee.”
Zee was the guys’ nickname for Eric Zellinger, our former captain and teammate who’d been picked up in an expansion draft and now played for the Tulsa Thunderbirds.
“He wants to be like Zee?” I asked, wincing inwardly. “Not like Soupy? Ouch.” Soupy, otherwise known as Brenden Campbell, was the kid’s stepdad, after all, and Zee was just his uncle. Or really his step-uncle, I supposed.
“Zee’s a team captain,” Ghost said, shrugging. “Top-line center. The guy’s a superstar in the league by anyone’s standard. And Soupy’s always injured, anyway.”
“Hey, I’m injured, too. Doesn’t make me any less awesome.” I winked at Mackenzie so she’d know I was joking. Didn’t want her to take me too seriously, because I sure as hell didn’t, and there was no chance Ghost would let me get away with filling her head with lies.
He chuckled, but he didn’t contradict me. “There’s no harm in the kid wanting to be like his uncle.”
“Think he’ll ever be big enough to have a real shot?”
“He’s only twelve. When did you hit your big growth spurt, hmm?” Ghost raised a mocking brow in my direction. “Weren’t you fifteen when you shot up like a weed? He’s got plenty of time. And besides, I’m always telling you.” He paused for dramatic effect and turned to his wife. “Size isn’t everything. Isn’t that right, Anne?”
“Oh, I’m sure she already has her opinions on that matter, but I wouldn’t be so certain they line up with yours. Could just be what she tells you to make you feel better,” I said, and I grinned over at Mackenzie, who ducked her head and refused to meet anyone’s gaze. She was so fucking cute I almost couldn’t stand it.
“Height has nothing to do with size where it matters,” he shot back. “And I’ve had no complaints. You’re okay, right, baby?”
I rolled my eyes. “Maybe she just doesn’t want to hurt your itty-bitty little feelings.”
“Or maybe she just doesn’t want to embarrass your wife any more than you already are.”
I arched a brow at him, and he nodded his head toward Mackenzie, who was about as red as the tomato on her salad and looked like she would prefer to slide under the table.
“Might as well get used to it now, Mackenzie,” Anne said, grinning and (barely) keeping her laughter in check. “There’s nothing off-limits between these two. If we’re not careful, they might start up a competition to see whose fart is the foulest or something.”
“Ghost wins that one,” I said without batting an eye. “There’s no point in holding a competition if we already know the outcome before we even start.”
“I don’t know. I’d say Hammer could beat me.”
Chris Hammond, better known as Hammer to the guys, was one of our teammates, a steady, stay-at-home defenseman and the oldest guy on the team. And yes, Ghost was right. He could easily clear a room in less than two seconds. Took it as a point of pride. We might be professional hockey players who made millions of dollars, but put a bunch of us together in a locker room, and we were all twelve-year-old idiots again.
“But Hammer’s not here, is he?” I shot back. “So if it’s just the two of us…”
“Do you really want to embarrass your new wife like that in public?” Anne asked pointedly. She even arched a brow in such a perfect imitation of Ghost’s mother it made me squirm.
“We’ll save it for later,” Ghost said.
“Preferably sometime when Mackenzie and I aren’t anywhere within a square mile of you,” Anne retorted. She waited until Mackenzie met her gaze with a soft smile. “I’ve got your back, hon. We’ve got to look out for each other with these two clowns around.”
“You have no problem looking out for yourself around the whole team of clowns,” Ghost said.
“Damn right, I don’t. And I’m going to make sure Mackenzie’s all right, too.”
With that, Mackenzie’s smile slowly started to spread. “Looks like I need to work on my one-liners if I’m going to make it around you three.”
“If you’re only getting started now,” Ghost said seriously, “you’re too late. We’ll eat you for dinner.”
I leaned in next to her ear and whispered, “I don’t know about dinner, but I’m down for eating you for dessert.”
I’d only thought she was red before. Holy hell, I loved making this woman blush. It was good for my ego, and frankly, my ego needed a good stroke or two. Kind of like my dick.
RILEY SHUT HIS dogs out of the bedroom for a while after we came home from dinner with Nate and Anne. He kept them out long enough that we could spend some time together being intimate without their interference. But not very much time passed after that before the incessant whining on the other side of the door, not to mention the way they were throwing their huge bodies against it in an attempt to break it down, was too much for either of us to handle. There would be no chance for either of us to get any sleep with racket going on all night, so I gritted my teeth and braced myself for whatever was to come.
Both dogs jumped into the bed as if it was their bed, too, almost as soon as Riley opened the door and let the
m in. My new husband put off a ton of body heat on his own, but when these two enormous, furry beasts were added to the mix, I had to wonder how I would avoid suffocation in the night. Good thing it was generally a lot colder in Oregon than it had been in Mexico, or I might end up roasting.
Riley drew me against him and tucked my head on his shoulder, and both dogs crowded their way onto the bed and surrounded us. Max snuggled up against my back, trapping the blankets between us so I couldn’t move an inch in any direction even if I wanted to, and he even draped one leg across my body until I was completely engulfed and enveloped in combined human and canine body heat.
With a surreptitious peek through my eyelashes, I saw that Lola had curled up on Riley’s other side and was making herself quite comfortable, thank you very much. Something told me she was a daddy’s girl. I grinned to myself at the thought, and then I had to wonder what these two dogs would do if Riley and I were to have a baby. Would Lola be protective of a little one, the way she seemed to be protective of Riley? Or would she be jealous because she thought she should be his baby?
And why was I thinking about having a baby with Riley? I ought to keep my focus on figuring out how to exist within his world without thoroughly disrupting everything.
He was right—he had a job to do, and I couldn’t interfere with that. Somehow, I had to find the gumption within myself to become what he needed me to be—and that meant I had to learn how to take care of his dogs when he couldn’t.
It meant I had to find a way to become as much a part of his family as Max and Lola were, as much as Nate and Anne, as much as the other guys who played on Riley’s team. I wouldn’t fool myself into thinking I could ever become more important to him than they were, but I had to somehow work my way into the mix.
But for now, I needed to find a way to sleep with these dogs pinning me to the mattress without allowing my fear to take over. That had to be my first step toward becoming part of Riley’s family. And so far, it was happening surprisingly easily.
Power Play (Portland Storm Book 16) Page 9