Hadley turns to face us. “He’s great, but I promise you he isn’t always this calm.” She glares at him playfully. “He’s a menace half the time.”
He buries his face under one of his paws, making all of us laugh.
“I’ve always wanted a dog,” Leah says.
“You should get one,” I tell her.
Sienna steps a little closer to the bed. “We have a couple of pretty wonderful pups at the shelter right now. If you want to come by sometime, I would be happy to introduce you to them.”
She runs the animal shelter here in town, so she knows the ins and outs of all the animals they have.
Leah’s eyes light up. “I’d love that.” Her face falls a little. “It would be nice to have a dog so I’m not alone all the time and…” She trails off, her eyes falling to her lap.
Cash must sense her discomfort because he moves his head from the bed onto her lap. She just smiles down at him, smoothing the fur between his ears.
Avery and Riley step out of the bathroom. We’re all patiently waiting for Leah to continue. None of us wants to pressure her, but we’re here to listen to whatever she has to say.
“Having a little more protection would be nice, too.” She doesn’t need to elaborate. We all know what she’s referring to.
Aspen Springs is a small town. Even if everyone doesn’t know the intimate details of what happened, most know the basics.
Sienna’s face softens. “You know what? I think I know just the dog. He arrived a few days ago from a shelter a few towns over that was over capacity. He is a pit bull mix, so he is protective by nature.” The corners of her mouth tilt up. “But he is the biggest cuddle monster I’ve ever met. He’d lie in my lap all day if I let him.”
Leah nods a few times, her smile growing. “What’s his name?”
“Zeus.”
“Zeus,” Leah echoes. “I think… I would really like to meet him.”
Sienna claps her hands together. “Perfect. Tomorrow?”
Leah nods. They exchange phone numbers and finalize plans to meet up. I hope this works out for her because Zeus might be just what she needs in her life right now, a piece of the fresh start she deserves.
Ten minutes later, we’re all piling into Riley's SUV. Luckily, it has a third row, so we can all fit without doing something illegal. She’s automatically the designated driver with her whole bun-in-the-oven situation.
She doesn’t seem to mind right now, but I don’t know how she is going to feel about it once the rest of us are a few drinks in.
“Hadley, get your cute butt in the car,” Sienna yells out the window.
Hadley is a little too preoccupied with Austin, who is currently kissing the life out of her on the porch. He has her back pressed against one of the pillars.
I don’t think their lips have parted from each other’s for several minutes.Oh… to be that level of in love with someone.
“Hads, I’ll go over there and rip you away from him,” Avery shouts.
Austin pulls back just enough to look down at Hadley with so much love it makes something ache inside of me. He kisses her one last time, then turns her around to face us. She has stars in her eyes when she climbs in beside me.
It isn’t the same thing at all, but seeing Hadley with one of her men makes me think of the guys. The giddy excitement I’ve been trying to keep at bay all night flares back to life.
I can’t guarantee I’ll see the guys tonight, but it is their bar.
The guys? Really?
I guess my mind has taken the liberty of assigning them that title. There could be dozens of different men in that bar tonight, but that title only belongs to three of them. At least in my mind.
I run my hand over my face as we all climb from the car when Riley parks on the side of the road about a block from the bar. It’s Saturday night, and it looks like there are quite a few people here.
The sound of the music playing from the jukebox hits me before we even step inside. The place isn’t packed, but for a small-town bar, there’s a decent crowd.
