My sweet, little puppy.
He had been patient with me time and time again, so the least I could do was show him the same. Besides, I knew a thing or two about jumping to conclusions when it came to matters of the heart.
I walked around the bed and laid my hands on his thick shoulders. He was so strong—physically, mentally, and emotionally—so it killed me to see him struggle like this. I threaded my fingers through his hair, tilting his head back until his glassy eyes met mine.
“I know you care about her, babe, but you have to let her live her life. Onherterms, not yours.” He rested his head against my stomach while I scratched his scalp. “And that means letting her make choices you might not agree with, even if you think she’ll regret it later on.”
His palms ghosted over the back of my legs. “But what if she gets hurt?”
“Then it’s a good thing she has a friend like you.”
He lifted his head away from my body. “You’re right.”
“I know.”
A laugh bubbled out of him. “I’ll apologize to her tomorrow. Even though I still don’t like it.”
“That’s my good boy.”
His eyes darkened. I had triggered Jared’s praise kink, another trait shared by most golden retriever boyfriends.
“Say it again, angel.”
I knew a dare when I heard one.
Jared’s hand climbed higher, coasting over the backs of my thighs and beneath the old shirt I had worn to bed. I tugged on his short, blond locks. Not too hard, just enough to let him know that I was game to play, but I wasn’t going to take his challenge lying down.
“Do you want to be my good boy, Jared?”
I squealed when he leapt to his feet and lifted me off mine, turning us so my back collided with the bed. My shirt was thrown up and over my waist before I could catch my breath.
So much for not taking it lying down.
My elfling was in trouble, but I couldn’t be bothered to care. I was too fixated on the woman sitting across from me, hiding behind her Dungeons & Dragons character sheet.
Dani and Coach Ward had made a swift exit long before Jared and I had woken up this morning. I couldn’t blame her for avoiding us, not that it would last long in our borderline incestuous friend circle. She was my boyfriend’s roommate, bestfriend, and co-worker, not to mention the badass orc warrior that had just fended off an attack from rabid demons in our Bitchcraft campaign.
If she could handle a demon, she could handle Jared.
After a long morning at Smutty Buddies, followed by an even longer afternoon setting up for tomorrow evening’s movie in the park, all I wanted to do was go home and crash in my own bed for a change. As much as I loved sleeping with Jared, it often led to other activities, and I really needed to catch up on some sleep before this weekend. Besides, we’d already made plans to have breakfast tomorrow before he caught his flight to Nashville.
“I’m surprised y’all wanted to meet tonight,” June told the group, echoing my thoughts. “Don’t you two leave first thing tomorrow?”
She had almost bounced back to her usual sarcastic self. In fact, tonight was the first time I had seen her wearing something other than cotton sweatpants in days.
“Si,” Jo added. “Nashville, right?”
“That’s right. The bus doesn’t leave until noon,” Clarke answered. “Plus, assuming things go well—”
“And they will,” I finished for her.
“—there might not be much time to meet between now and the end of the playoffs.”
So long as the Roasters won the next two games, they would come home to Oregon to play games five and six and hopefully finish off the series. And I would be there to cheer them on.
“Jared got me tickets for game six.”
“Ooooh,” they all taunted, smacking their lips together in kissing noises like we were kids on the playground.
