Piper nodded. "If you want my help."
"Yes, please. But together," Tess added quickly. "You keep us organized. I keep the vision."
Now that? That Piper could do.
"I'm so glad you're here," shirtless Drake said, joining their impromptu tête-à-tête. "Anna doesn't want to call you but her dress is tight around the waist, and she doesn't want to bug anyone, so she's not telling anybody."
Piper exhaled. Great. "I'll check in with Anna when we're done here."
As she rolled up her metaphorical sleeves and started to audit the schedule and take notes on the current puppy assignments, something shifted. Slowly. Quietly.
What was messy became confidently checked.
"I like this." Zach came up behind her once the puppies were loaded to go back to the shelter. "Working with you. Having you here."
He liked it. And she liked that he liked it. And she absolutely hated that she liked it.
"Okay, rapid-fire opinion time," Noah said as he pushed a rack of cast-offs by. "Are boxers-with-rhinestones tacky or genius?"
"Tacky," she said immediately. "Obviously."
"Genius," Zach said at the same time. "Obviously."
"Good to see we have a consensus." Noah nodded, smirking as he moved along.
Zach leaned in closer.
She turned to face him, inching back just enough to breathe. "Maybe they can be both."
Hold on, were they talking about men's boxers or something else?
"Fittings," Noah called. "Drake is in Flagship Black boxer briefs. Tight end over there is in compression. Rookie, you get Bolt trunks."
"Pairings," Piper echoed, scanning the kennel list. "Drake with the lab mix for steady, loyal. Tight end with the golden for camera candy. Rookie with the scrappy terrier."
"Talking points," Tess added. "Drake is team, family, and city. Tight end is strength and community. Rookie is new beginnings."
"Excellent." Zach's eyes sparkled, but the lazy smirk dissolved into something quieter. Kinder. "Thank you for coming and not immediately leaving."
Piper narrowed her eyes. "I feel slightly ambushed."
He laughed, warm and amused and—ugh—chest-rumbling. "Fair. I guess I owe you."
They ended up shoulder to shoulder in front of the spreadsheet displaying the player stats and which puppy they were assigned.
Nothing about this was polished or met even her vaguest professional standards. But somehow it worked. Thoughtful. Intentional. Slightly unhinged. And still managing to hum with the possibility of magic.
She blinked at the screen, the command center inside her brain certifiably fried. She was disoriented. Not because things were wrong, but because they weren't.
"Hey," Zach said quietly. "You okay?"
Piper's throat tightened, but Zach's steady gaze held her steady, too. After a breath, she said, "This isn't what I expected. You're not what I expected."
That made him turn. "No?"
She shook her head and met his gaze, steady now. "That's the problem."
He didn't respond. Just looked at her with a slow, knowing smile that landed like a warning shot straight to her equilibrium.
