Tommy finally got back to me the following Tuesday about hooking up… only to hem and haw about letting me come to his place.
TOMMY: How about if somebody see you coming out my crib, girl? Ngl, homie. I don’t need that kind of smoke from the Rusky.
“I can’t even,” I said, flopping back on the couch when I got the message. “This guy is seriously the worst!”
It had been Trish’s idea to sell Tommy on the fantasy of me waiting for him naked on the bed. And when that worked, she’d just grinned and said, “See, that’s why every major marketing firm in America has someone with a psychology degree on staff.”
I’d been so excited when I received the address right before the game.
But I didn’t tell Trish where I was going before I left the house—for the same reason I hadn’t sent Val an update on my progress. If I faced any legal repercussions related to what I was about to do, I didn’t want her caught up in the charges that would follow. Neither of them had a rich dad who would roll his eyes but,nonetheless, quickly (if reluctantly) bail them out of jail and then sic one of his lawyers on the case to ensure they never faced any charges.
But going alone turned out to be another mistake.
I’d come with a backpack equipped with everything I might need: a flashlight, antibiotics stuffed in peanut butter treats, a soft muzzle, bite-resistant gloves, just in case she wasn’t on a chain, and a chain cutter, just in case she was.
What I didn’t expect to find was a pit bull lying broken and beaten in a frigid doghouse in Tommy’s snow-covered backyard.
This asshole!He’d not only bred this poor girl for puppies, but after either selling or giving her litter away, he’d put her in a dog fight. One she hadn’t won, judging from the many gashes on her body, scratches, and open bite marks caked with blood.
She was also noisily wheezing. When I tipped the flashlight toward her muzzle, I observed clear passageways, though. That made me suspect that, unlike the puppy we lost, the wheezing was due to something internal, like a broken rib pressing into a lung.
She weakly lifted her head to lick my hand as I checked her nose, revealing woeful brown eyes.
A rage like nothing I’d ever known pushed past the mix of Adderall and Wellbutrin I’d been on since high school and caused my vision to blur with red.
Tommy had just left her here to suffer without even attempting to tend to her wounds. Not in the basement I’d checked before coming outside—but in his freaking backyard. In the middle of winter!
Licking my hand seemed to sap the little energy she had. P.M., as Val and I had been calling her between ourselves, flopped her square muzzle back down on her paws and whimpered in that low, steady way that dogs did when they were in excruciating pain.
I had to get her out of there. Get her the medical attention Tommy had denied her.
But this was the one scenario I hadn’t prepared for.
If she’d been malnourished or sick, I could still have walked her out of here on the harness leash I’d tucked into the easiest-to-reach outside pocket of my backpack. However, carrying what looked to be at least a 50-pound bulldog up and down two sets of steps wasn’t a feat I could accomplish, even with the extra strength the medical urgency of the situation might have provided me.
Okay, righteous loner act done.I pulled out my phone to try Val. But... no answer. From her or Trish.
Most likely because most people didn’t spend their Friday nights executing rescue missions.
My knees were starting to go numb in the snow, and the clock was ticking down until Tommy’s game finished and he headed here for our supposed hook-up session.Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!What am I going to do?
I couldn’t leave her here and risk him returning before I could get help. I just couldn’t.
The scrape of the back porch’s screen door brought my head up.
Oh no, Tommy’s back already! Wait, no...
My chest just about collapsed with relief when I saw Artyom Rustanov standing underneath the dim porch light, not his heartless and unconscionable teammate.
It didn’t matter that Artyom Rustanov had made the last week of my college life miserable.
It didn’t matter that, if not for his interference, I might have made it into Tommy’s house much sooner.
I’d never been so happy to see someone in my life!
“Oh my God, thank goodness you’re here! Can you help me? Please, you have to help me! There’s a dog here, and she’s been…”
My eyes filled with tears. “…just horribly hurt.”
