by Toni Aleo
“Die, Jo.”
“Jeez, overemotional ass,” he muttered. Rolling his eyes, he called out, “I don’t know why you’re mad. I was just joking. Just ask her out already!”
“Fuck off.”
“Dude, I mean it with love.”
Jensen didn’t answer back, so with a shrug, Vaughn hooked Tricksie’s bouncing self up before sliding his jacket on, while she did circles around his legs, barking like a crazy dog. He still didn’t understand Jensen, but then, it wasn’t his business. Jensen would get fed up one day and act. At least, Vaughn hoped he would. You never knew with Jenny, but he really couldn’t worry about that guy, not when Wren was seven shades of being weird. Vaughn wasn’t sure what was going on, but he would make it a point to harass her at the New Year’s party. When Tricksie started to bark more frantically as he put his hat on, he looked down at her. “Two seconds, baby.”
She continued to bark as he grabbed his keys before reaching for the door, which she took off out of. He went to tell her to calm down, but before he could, he heard a woman’s voice, “Oh, my goodness! Hello!”
Peeking his head out the door, he found Brie on the ground. On her back, her arms around Tricksie as she jumped and licked her to death. “Oh, my God! Hello. My name is Brie. You are the cutest little dog I’ve ever seen in my whole life. Yes, you are. What is your name? Tricksie? Oh, my goodness, I just love you, I do. Is that your name because you are a three-legged baby and your daddy thinks he’s awesome at scoring hat tricks? I bet so.”
“For your information, yes.”
Brie just grinned as she continued to kiss and love on Tricksie. Which Tricksie was eating up like mad. “Do you want a treat? Treat? Ah, come on.”
Then she yanked the leash out of Vaughn’s hand before picking Tricksie up and kissing her head. “Hey, that’s my dog.”
“I know,” was all she said before pushing her door open and taking his dog into her apartment.
“Can I have her back?” Peeking his head in her door, he watched as she went to the kitchen, grabbing a treat bag before putting Tricksie on the counter and feeding her.
“Don’t worry, they’re all-natural treats. The guys across the hall in my last building had four French Bulldogs, and I used to give them treats until they went into food comas.”
Tricksie was going crazy, obviously falling for the blond-haired beauty who stood before her. Like the day before when they had moved Rodney in, she was wearing jeans and a shirt that he assumed said something witty. He couldn’t see because she was still cuddling Tricksie as she fed her. “You shouldn’t give treats to other people’s dogs.”
She looked up from Tricksie, her lips still curved in the most beautiful grin he had ever seen on her face. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Is it okay if I continue to feed her?”
Why did he find her so lovely at that moment? Her hair was a mess, tucked into a knit cap, yet she looked like someone he could cuddle with. If he cuddled. Not that he cuddled. Unsure of his feelings, he shrugged. “She needs to pee.”
“Okay, one more,” she said sweetly before feeding Tricksie and then kissing her hard on the head. “You can come in.”
He didn’t like how she was making him feel. It was weird. Like he wanted to go behind her, bury his nose in her hair, and just hold her. She looked so damn gorgeous, snuggling his dog and making her feel like the princess she was. Vaughn’s hands itched to touch Brie, and he didn’t understand that. He never itched for anything. He fucked women and moved on, but watching Brie as she acted a fool with his dog, he wanted to…cuddle.
Why did he keep thinking that?
Grumbling at his stupidity, he entered, shutting the door but staying right by it. “She really does need to pee.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry,” she said, kissing Tricksie again. “I really love dogs. I never got to have one growing up. Rodney is allergic to them.”
He nodded. “Yeah, Jensen said he had to put her up when Rod came over the other day.”
“It sucks, but I love them so much. They’re so much fun, and bless her, she’s gorgeous. What happened to her leg?”
“Hit by a car. I adopted her like that. She came in hurt, and they fixed her up.”
Her eyes lit up. “That’s sweet you adopted her. She looks happy as all get-out.”
“She’s spoiled, that’s for sure.” Brie smiled as she kissed Tricksie once more, bringing her to Vaughn. When he took her from Brie, he should have turned around and left. Instead, he looked up at her and found himself asking, “Did you stay over at Rod’s last night?”
He knew the answer, he had talked to Dawn that morning, but he didn’t want to leave yet. She smiled innocently. “Yes, and he told me I can’t stay tonight. That he’s a man, and he wants to do man things. Thank God for the game tonight, it’ll distract me. But he loves it there. Everything about it. I hadn’t realized there were so many volunteers who came every day.”
“Yeah, I think Dawn has twenty this year. It’s mainly college kids from Vanderbilt. We work with them to give the kids some training with different levels of Down syndrome since we have the whole range.”
“Yeah, it’s amazing.”
“I’m pretty proud of it.”
“They all call you Nate.”
“Yup, no one knows my real name. If they recognize me, I always say I get that a lot and move on. Usually, I wear a hat and glasses when I’m there.”
“Oh, I signed that NDA.”
“Thanks.”
She eyed him. “So I can’t tell anyone.”
“Nope.”
She nodded slowly. “That’s weird.”
He shrugged. “It’s how I like to do things.”
“Well, it’s working because Rodney wants to cancel his surgery so he doesn’t have to leave.”
He chuckled before asking, “What time is the surgery on Friday?”
“Eight in the morning.”
“I’ll be in practice.”
“I know. You don’t have to come, I know you’re busy. I had to take the day off. I think Travis is doing media that day.”
“Oh, okay.”
“I’ll meet everyone in California on Monday.”
“Oh, are you going to the party Saturday?”
“I have to. We all do.”
He nodded as his lips curved. It was the mandatory New Year’s Eve party Elli threw for the team each year. Usually, new people bitched about having to go—until they got there and realized Elli Adler put on one hell of a show, one with endless booze. It was always a lot of fun, and he didn’t mind going. And even though he’d admit it to absolutely no one, he was excited this year.
He wanted to see what Brie would look like.
As she faced him, he saw that her shirt said, “I’m not short. I’m a People McNugget.”
“Funny shirt.”
She grinned. “Thanks, I have a collection.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah.”
Tricksie barked and Brie grinned, cupping the dog’s face before nuzzling her nose. “Yeah, sweet baby girl, we hear you. You need to go potty.”
She looked up at him expectantly, and for some reason, he blurted out. “Do you wanna ride with me and Jenny? We have a car coming.”
Her brows pulled together. “For what?”
“The party Saturday.”
He could tell he came out of left field with that because her eyes widened as she stuttered, “Oh, well… I’ll probably end up leaving early, to go check in on Rod.”
“The car will take you. Save you gas, and you won’t look sad coming in your own car.”
She glared. “How do you know I don’t have a date?”
He hadn’t thought of that, but it didn’t keep him from saying, “Because you don’t.”
She scoffed. “How do you know?”
“Because if you did, you would have said we would leave early to check on Rod. Plus, I’ve never seen a dude come by, nor have I seen you with anyone. A
lso, you don’t have the look.”
“The look? And what the hell, are you stalking me?”
“The look. Like that gooey ‘Oh my God, I’m in love’ look. You don’t have that. Yours is more of an ‘I will kill everyone’ look.”
She laughed. “Maybe I’m in lust. Just fucking around.”
“Nope. I’d know.”
“You’d know, how?”
“’Cause you wouldn’t flirt with me, then.”
Her eyes widened as her mouth dropped open. “I am in no way flirting with you. Nor have I ever.”
“Lies.”
“No lies. You flirt with me!”
“I don’t deny it, but you do flirt with me.”
“I hate you.”
Reaching for the door, he raised an eyebrow. “I was told once, by my therapist, that there is a thin line between love and hate.”
Sputtering, Brie’s face turned bright red as she yelled, “Well, you might want to go back and get your head examined some more. Because I have never flirted with you, and I never will.”
He shrugged as he put Tricksie down, looking back at Brie and knowing damn well she was lying through her teeth. “Sure, you won’t.”
As he started to walk away, she came out into the hall. “I won’t! I haven’t.”
“I am Vaughn Johansson, remember?”
“How can anyone forget?”
“And because of that, you will.”
“You cocky son of a bitch. I will not.”
“Sure.”
“Vaughn! Take it back.”
Looking over his shoulder at her, he found her with her hands on her hips and her eyes still wide with annoyance. “Never.”
“I will cut you.”
“Bring it, baby.”
“I’m not your baby.”
Laughing, he turned as he went to the elevator, fully expecting her to follow him. But when he got in and she hadn’t, it sort of disappointed him.
Before the doors shut, though, he heard her say, “Asshole!”
As the elevator went down, he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. When Tricksie barked up at him, he looked down at her, grinning as he nodded. “I know, I like her too.”
And he wasn’t exactly sure what that meant.
For him.
Or her.
Or even Tricksie.
Sitting in the surgery waiting room, Brie was bouncing her leg like crazy as she waited for news on Rodney. He had been in surgery for a little over three hours, and they’d said it would take maybe four, so she was counting down the seconds until she got some news. Running her hands down her face for the umpteenth time, she glanced at the clock and prayed time would go faster. She then asked for Rodney to be safe, to come out fine and ready to take on the world with his new life.
A life she was finally more than okay with.
The past couple days, except for the night before, she had spent all her free time at NateWay with Rodney. Just to look things over, to keep an eye out, and to inform everyone of his tics and his tendencies. Everyone was so sweet and so understanding, taking Brie’s crazy train in stride. Especially Dawn. Brie had never met such a patient woman in her life, but she was honestly a godsend. She would listen to Brie’s concerns, make her feel better about them, and then give her a cookie. She was like a fairy godmother. She had been texting Brie all morning, checking in on Rodney, and she found that just incredibly sweet. Dawn had even sent a picture of a recipe for a chocolate cake she was going to make for Rodney’s coming home party.
On top of that, Rodney’s phone kept going off too. All his friends from NateWay were wishing him well, and while it didn’t surprise her that he had made friends so quickly, she found it awe-inspiring. They had taken him in as their own, and she adored that. It put her heart at ease. His neighbor, Mitch, had even sent a special drawing he had done just for Rodney. It was nice, and she knew it would make him happy once he was out of surgery. As much as it had scared her to put him at NateWay, the transition was going smoothly, and she prayed it stayed that way.
And then…then there was Vaughn.
That cocky ass.
She still couldn’t believe he had said what he said. Flirt with him? Please, cold day in hell! If anything, she was a major bitch to him and picked on him every chance she got in an effort to get back at him for all the shit he put her through. If he mistook that for flirting, he probably also mistook her hitting him for foreplay. Freak. She was not flirting with him, nor trying to engage in foreplay. She didn’t like him. Not one bit.
Right?
Crap. Ignoring that train of thought, she leaned back in her chair and let out a long sigh as she stressed over all the things she had to do tomorrow. She’d spend most of the morning with Rodney, but then she had to go get her hair and makeup done for the Assassins’ New Year’s bash. She wasn’t looking forward to it this year, though. Not with Rodney in the hospital. She felt like she should be there with him, but he’d mostly sleep and he wouldn’t want her with him anyway. She tended to hover, which he pointed out he did not like one bit. She wished she could skip out of the event, but she had to cover the first part of the party, asking questions and being silly with the players. She’d probably leave after that, but still, she had to look good for the camera. Couldn’t let the fans of the Assassins know she was really a big slob.
Swallowing hard, she checked the clock again, then she tried to play on her phone, but her nerves were just too much. She hated this. The waiting around part. When her mom had been there, she’d done such a good job of keeping Brie calm. Probably because she took all the worry, bottled it up, and made everyone laugh instead. She was good for that, the wit and instant smile that made Brie’s heart soar. Now, she had nothing. No one to distract her when Rodney had to go through this kind of stuff. And if this procedure didn’t work, and he needed a new heart, God help her nerves. She wasn’t sure she’d make it.
When someone suddenly fell into the seat beside her, she looked over to see Vaughn sitting with two cups in his hands. Handing her one, he grinned. “I just got out of practice.”
Her eyes went wide as she took the cup, drinking him in. His hair was still wet from his shower under the beanie he wore. He didn’t have his pea coat on. Instead, he wore an Assassins sweatshirt with some black gym shorts and a pair of purple high-top Chucks. He looked unlike himself, more playful, but oh, so damn sexy. Still a little stunned, she stuttered with her words as she held his gaze. “W-what are you doing here?”
“My main man is having surgery. Plus, I figured you could use some company.”
“Oh.”
“Drink.” He pointed to the cup as he took a long swig of his own. Doing the same, she choked when the Jack Daniel’s—and there was a lot of it mixed with the Coke!—hit her tongue.
Coughing a bit, she gave him a look as she whispered, “You brought alcohol into a hospital?”
He scoffed. “Hell yeah, this shit is stressful. Takes the edge off.”
With a shrug, she took a smaller sip, letting the warmth of the alcohol rush down her throat. “You didn’t have to come.”
“I wanted to.” Looking out into the waiting room, he made a face. “Wow, it’s dead in here.”
“Yeah. I’m going crazy.”
“How long has he been in?”
“Three hours, thirty-seven minutes.”
“Not counting at all, I see.”
“Nope.” She fought her smile as she watched the clock. “How was practice?”
“Good, but that Travis guy sucks.”
“He does.”
“He asked boring teleprompter questions.”
“Ew, how dull,” she said, feigning shock. “Did you work on your wrister?”
She felt him grinning at her. “Yup, and I tapped a few in today too.”
“Not that you need to practice that.”
“Nope, but figured I should.”
“How about that one timer?”
He gasped. “Hey, now. My one timer i
s on point!”
She looked over at him, giving him a skeptical look. “You fanned on two last night.”
“They were bad passes!”
“They were not, maybe a tad bouncing, but you could have connected. You just get so excited and make mistakes.”
He glared. “I do not make mistakes.”
“Maybe not all the time, but you do. Everyone does.”
He shrugged. “Whatever, I’m awesome. I scored last night.”
“You did. Good job. That’s why they pay you, I assume.”
“I came to sit with you, and you’re being mean to me.”
She smiled. “I never asked you to, not that I don’t appreciate it. I really don’t have anyone here.”
“What about Reeves’s woman? Mekena?”
“I mean, we’re friends, but not like best friends, as she has reminded me. I didn’t ask her. Though, if I had, she would have come,” she added with a grim smile. She was realizing that she was pretty alone. How depressing.
“You shouldn’t have to ask.” When she looked up at him, he met her gaze and shrugged. “If you say your brother is having surgery, someone should be here.”
“And you are.”
He looked away, a grin pulling at his lips. “Yeah, so, are you not from here?”
She shook her head as she leaned back, putting her legs up on the chair and resting against them. She held her cup against her knee as she looked over at him. “No, actually, I’m from Orange County, California.”
“Oh. What made you come to Nashville?”
“Well,” she said, moving her finger along her cup, “I graduated from Syracuse and got a really great job with the Kings as their reporter. I worked there for about a year before my mom’s health went to shit. She died within a month.”
“Wow, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, cancer sucks.”
“It does.”
Nodding her head, she let out a breath. “They were really great about giving me time to figure things out since she was Rodney’s caregiver, and they knew that. My boss with the Kings had been the senior reporter over in the Syracuse journalism department, so he knew my situation. I was a mess, so trying to care for my brother was superhard. But I knew I was running out of time and needed to figure things out. There weren’t any openings near me in homes for Rodney, or really, any that I could afford because I was paying all my mom’s medical bills. She didn’t have a life insurance plan, and I’m still paying for everything… Wow, I’m rambling.”