“Are you kidding me?” I muttered.
I found a different hoodie on the couch, shook out a protein bar wrapper, put it on, and went outside.
The air helped.
Denver was cold in that dry, sharp way that made my lungs work differently. I walked three blocks without headphones, which was basically medieval torture, but after the first minute I started hearing separate things instead of one giant wall of noise. A car passing. A dog barking behind a fence. My sneakers on the sidewalk. My breath.
My phone buzzed when I was two blocks from home.
Declan: Better?
I should have been embarrassed by how much one word from him steadied me.
Me: Annoyingly, yes.
Declan: Good.
I stopped at the corner, staring at the screen.
Then another text appeared.
Declan: Tiny has been staring at his leash for twenty minutes. Park at seven if you want neutral ground.
My heart did something stupid.
Neutral ground.
Not the arena. Not a hotel. Not his house. Not my apartment. A place where he was not Coach standing behind a desk and I was not a player trying to pretend my body didn’t remember his.
Me: Is this Tiny inviting me or you?
Declan: He lacks thumbs.
Me: So romantic.
Declan: Seven.
I looked down the street, cold air pressing against my face, and felt want move through me without the immediate punch of sex. It was worse in some ways. Bigger. Less manageable.
Me: I’ll be there.
I was twelve minutes early and still felt late.
The park was on the quieter side of the neighborhood, wide paths cutting through patches of winter grass, lights spaced far enough apart to leave privacy without making it sketchy. I parked two streets over because paranoia was apparently part of my cardio now, then walked with my hood up and my hands shoved in my pockets.
Declan was already there.
Of course he was.
He stood near the start of the trail in a dark jacket and jeans, one hand wrapped around Tiny’s leash. Tiny saw me before Declan did. Or maybe Declan saw me and Tiny reacted because they were both ridiculous. Either way, the dog let out a deep, wounded sound like I had personally abandoned him for years and came charging.
Declan braced.
“Tiny,” he warned.
Tiny listened in the sense that he did not knock me fully onto my ass. He only slammed his giant head into my stomach and shoved between my legs, tail whipping hard enough to cause property damage.
“Hey, buddy.” I laughed despite myself, scratching both sides of his neck. “Yeah, I know. Terrible. I left you with this guy.”
