“You need to go out again?”
She doesn’t move.
“Come on, Petal. There’ll be hell to pay if you have an accident on my bed. Down. Now.”
She blinks, not moving.
I know you understand me. Cheeky girl.
With a sigh, I drop back on the bed.
“You can’t sleep in the bed, Petal. Down,” I say, rubbing her head before pointing a finger at the door.
She bunts my hand with her nose when I remove my touch.
Her shaggy coat flings outward as she shakes and settles down on the bed.
“Hell, if I end up with fleas in my bed, kiddo... ”
I lay down on my side and slide my hand under my head on the pillow. She nudges my ribs with her cool wet nose, before dropping onto the duvet and curling up against my side. I turn my head to check the time.
13:16
“Too early for this, girl.” A yawn slips.
My stare is stuck on the ceiling as I mull over my newfound responsibility. Petal was not someone I expected to have in my life.
I’m career driven. Focused to the point my social life is the three guys I catch up with once a week and my crew. That’s it.
No plans for a relationship—with a puppy or otherwise.
Then again, we all know what happens to best-laid plans.
But now is not the time to be distracted. Hell will freeze over before I let Schmiddy end up the captain of 53. The house would be shut down in weeks if he ended up in charge.
I roll over, laying an arm over Petal’s small body. She tilts her head back, licking my throat. I wipe the dampness away, letting sleep drag me back under. The rhythmic presses of her body breathing, her coat against my chest, fades.
How quickly I gave in.
Chapter 8
LONDON
The hose digs into my shoulder.
Sweat runs down my brows and into my eyes, blurring my vision, but I don’t have the strength to swipe it away as I stand at the base of the watchtower, hunched over and gasping for air.
“Looks like you’re done, sweetheart,” Schmiddy says. “It’s Owens all over again, hey Hammond?”
I don’t spare him a glance, unlike Hammond, who folds his arms over his chest with a gaze that could only be described as fiery stone.
What’s that all about?
“Again!” Hammond barks, not even doing me the decency of looking at me as his glare pins his co-captain.
It takes everything I have to not throw back,yeah, nah fuck you.
Instead, I clamp my jaw tight and go a-fuckin-gain.
