“I heard that!”
“We brought Chinese food, I hope that’s okay.”
I nodded to Caroline, and leaned closer to check out the pup.
“Look who it is, Nixie, you remember Glory,” she murmured as I offered my fingers again for a lick. I’d seen the pup that night they all came over, but Caroline had been hugging her like she needed the comfort, so I hadn’t tried petting her too much. I hadn’t been around dogs in so long that even though the little thing couldn’t be much of a threat, I still opted for giving her the choice of whether I touched her.
“Honestly she’s fine with women. It’s men she hates,” Rocket said, grinning as Harley made a harrumph sound.
“She hates him for sure. And Micro.”
Micro? I think I’d heard that name before, but there were so many people to meet lately. Their names were all so weird, but they all took it in their stride, so I didn’t speak up.
“I love Chinese,” I said, answering the earlier question. I tentatively lowered a finger to the pup’s nose again, letting hersniff me before I risked touching her, and she responded with a flick of her little tongue. I felt something inside me melt at that, and didn’t protest when Caroline handed her to me. She was so small I could easily hug her to my chest, giggling when she stretched up and licked my chin. She was so wriggly that I struggled to keep her contained, and that’s why dogs are amazing, because it’s impossible not to smile or laugh at their antics.
“Oh my god, she’s adorable.”
“That’s my baby,” Rocket said, hastily backing up as V turned to glare at him, “What? I didn’t say it’s her fucking name, woman, but she IS my baby!”
Even though he sounded borderline aggressive, she merely grinned at him, and his own grin widened right back at her.
“Don’t mind them. This is some foreplay thing they do, because they’re messed up.”
Rocket laughed. “It’s like she knows us, baby.”
“Alright you lot, let’s get stuck in,” Harley said as the food started getting passed around, and we settled around the table. The pup got passed around until she was back with her daddy, and then we began to eat.
“No, Rocket. She can’t have any of that!”
We all watched V telling him off, and Caroline leaned closer to me.
“She’s a vet. She’s not just being bossy.”
“Yeah, she is. It’s hot.”
Harley groaned. “They’re barely house trained themselves. How are you settling in, Glory? Nice place he’s got here, especially with that little bonus downstairs.”
I nodded, putting my focus on my chopsticks and every bite of yumminess they delivered to my mouth. My god, I hadn’t had Chinese in so long. Not since… ice water flooded my veins and suddenly I couldn’t stomach another bite. I set the containeraside, with my chopsticks tucked in, and reached for my glass of water instead.
“Glory?” I shook my head at Henley. It still felt weird to call him that, out loud or inside my head, but it was what he wanted. I didn’t realise he’d been blaming himself for my situation, but then, had things been in reverse, I’d have been doing the same. Not that he’d be dumb enough to end up with an abusive partner. No. That was all me.
“Do you want some of this instead?” Caroline offered, holding up a tub of rice, literally plain rice.
“Is that all you’re having?”
She grinned, pointing to the other container in front of her, chicken and something, I honestly couldn’t tell with all the smells filling the air around us, and that’s when my stomach growled, and the temporary silence in the room let it be heard loud and proud.
“Get him out of your head, Glory. You’re beautiful, but you need to eat. Enjoy the things you once loved. You never needed to cut these things out.”
“Will you shush!? This is nobody’s business!”
V cleared her throat then, and Rocket groaned.
“Oh god, woman. That means you too. Probably specifically you.” A second later he jerked in his seat and hissed at her, “fucking psycho!”
I didn’t understand it. He was almost aggressive with her, but it seemed like she liked him that way, fed into it even. How the hell wasn’t she afraid? A guy that big? He could do so much damage to her.
“Okay, men, grab your food and fuck off down to that boring attempt at a red room downstairs. We girls need to talk.”
