How About No
Page 24
Eventually my sobbing lessened, and I loosened my hold on his neck.
When I did, he stood up straighter but didn’t let me go.
I opened my eyes from where I’d had my face buried in his neck and turned my head, blinking at the steel gray eyes of the man that’d slammed his hand down on the hood of my van earlier.
He didn’t look pissed anymore.
In fact, he looked…tortured.
“You okay, honey?” Wade asked, pushing me away slightly so that he could see my face.
I gave him what he wanted and looked up into his eyes, smiling sadly at him. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I’ve had a really bad day.”
The dog’s snarls hadn’t abated, and in fact, had ramped up to terrifying as more people had come closer to his cage.
“What’s this one’s story?” Wade asked, dropping a kiss on my mouth.
I returned the kiss for the few seconds that he gave me to enjoy it, and then turned in his arms to stare at the snarling dog.
The man at our side came closer, his eyes taking in the dog right along with us.
I looked over at him. “I’m sorry for nearly killing you.”
He looked at me and grinned. “I didn’t realize you had a dog in the back of your van making this kind of racket, or I would’ve understood.”
I swallowed hard.
“Baby, this is Hoax. He’s the one we told you about that’s Delta. He’s here for a few weeks on leave in between missions,” Wade explained. “And you almost killed him?”
“I was distracted,” I admitted, gesturing toward the dog. “And I pulled out without clearly checking my mirrors, though, just sayin’, you were driving really fast in a residential neighborhood. You probably should stop doing that.”
Hoax snorted. “Yeah, my cousin sent me a text saying the same damn thing as I was leaving today.”
This Hoax character was nice…now.
Then, when I’d almost killed him with my vehicle, he’d been a hell of a lot scarier.
He looked a lot like Wade—at least in build. But he had pale skin and gray eyes compared to Wade’s lightly sun-bronzed skin and green eyes. Hoax also had a really bushy beard whereas Wade’s was trimmed due to the regulations he had to abide by to be a Bear Bottom Police Officer.
Honestly, the more I looked at Hoax, the more freaked out I got.
He was a seriously scary individual—even if he wasn’t pissed off anymore that I’d nearly killed him.
“Anyway, I’m sorry I was such a shit,” he said apologetically. “I was in a recent motorcycle wreck and it’s put me in a perpetually bad mood.”
He held up the arm that was farthest away from me, and it was then that I saw he had a black cast underneath his leather jacket.
“Wow,” I said. “I’m sorry. That makes me feel even worse.”
Wade let me go to move toward the cage, and suddenly, the dog’s snarling just…stopped.
I gasped.
“I’m sorry to be a bother,” I heard from behind me. “But do you mind moving the van so that it’s not blocking my half of the driveway?”
I stiffened.
“It’s not blocking your driveway,” Hoax grunted. “It’s obstructing half of Wade’s half of the driveway.”
I swallowed hard, unsure what to say to the woman.
In all technicality, she was right. My van was blocking half of the driveway, but only because all the other parking spots were taken by various trucks, cars, and motorcycles. There was literally nowhere else to park except for the driveway itself—which I wasn’t going to do seeing as it wasn’t my home.
“True,” the woman agreed. “But technically we share the driveway, and with you parked in my half of the driveway, I need to be able to utilize his half of the driveway.”
Hoax growled and turned on his heels, stalking toward his bike.
Seconds later, he was rolling it backward onto Wade’s half of the driveway and then leaning it back to rest on the kickstand once again.
“Happy?” he asked when he stalked back over.
It was then that I saw that the dog was staring at Wade—who’d gone up to the cage—with cautious eyes.
Hoax came to stand beside me, and we both stared as the two alpha males stared at each other.
“Do you want to…” the neighbor continued.
“Listen, Mags, we’re a little busy right now. Do you think you can leave us alone?” Wade asked without once taking his eyes off the dog.
This “Mags” chick huffed and turned on her toe to walk away.
Neither man watched her go, but I did.
I also saw that she looked over her shoulder to see if either man had looked—they hadn’t—and her eyes met mine.
She hesitated on the threshold of her duplex and narrowed her eyes.
I didn’t look away, knowing that I couldn’t or I’d risk losing ground—at least in her eyes—and waited her out.
It didn’t take her long before she was rolling those beautiful eyes and stalking inside her place.
The door shut with a loud bang, which still didn’t cause either man to look up.
“Tell me his story,” Wade ordered.
I swallowed.
“The dog’s name is Capo. He’s seven years old. He retired from the military when he and his handler were in a Humvee that ran over a landmine. Capo was thrown free of the wreckage while the rest of his crew were caught in the flames or injured in the actual wreck.” I paused. “He lost his rear leg and was placed with an adoptive family once he recovered—at least physically. The adoptive family couldn’t get near him just like the vet couldn’t. The only person able to get close was a wounded veteran who worked in the vet hospital in Germany. They’d hoped that his temper would calm once he no longer required to be caged, but it hasn’t. I was brought in as a last resort before euthanasia.”
Wade growled in anger as Hoax blew out a surprised breath.
“You think it’s PTSD?” Hoax asked Wade and me.
“Could be,” I admitted. “I’ve had MWD—military working dogs—before, but none of them were anywhere near this severe.”
Hoax made a sound in his throat. Wade, on the other hand, went closer to the cage.
The dog’s growl came back, but this time it was a low one instead of the high-pitched intense ones that were coming out of him before.
Honestly, this one was almost way more menacing than the first.
At least to me. Wade didn’t seem to care.
He moved closer yet and pressed his palm flat against the cage, and the dog lunged at him.
I gasped and would’ve fallen straight on my ass if Hoax hadn’t caught me around the waist.
“Easy, darlin’,” he ordered. “It’s all right.”
I didn’t see how…but the dog wasn’t lunging and snarling anymore. He was sitting there staring at Wade’s hand—which was still exactly where it’d been moments before—like he’d like to have it for breakfast.
“He’s been fed,” I felt it prudent to point out. “I fed him a burger and some fries from my lunch on the way home from Oklahoma.”
Hoax snorted.
Wade looked over at me with laughter shining in those eyes that I loved.
“Duly noted,” he rumbled. “Hoax, grab the cage with me?”
Luckily the cage had handles on the outside so there wasn’t a need to grab the wire of the cage itself, reducing the possibility of Capo getting some little hors-d’oeuvres to hold him over until dinnertime.
Each man carried the cage on one side, and it took everything I had to ask Wade if he needed help.
He was limping badly—much worse than he had been three days ago—and that scared the crap out of me after hearing what I had heard from Bayou today.
Biting my lip, I closed the van door and reached into the driver’s side—which still stood wide open—to grab for my purse, keys, and phone.
Once I had them, I hurried and rushed in front of the two men, throwing Wade’s door wide open for them both to slip through.
Wade directed them to the living room, and it was then that I took in Wade’s house for the first time.
When I did, he stood up straighter but didn’t let me go.
I opened my eyes from where I’d had my face buried in his neck and turned my head, blinking at the steel gray eyes of the man that’d slammed his hand down on the hood of my van earlier.
He didn’t look pissed anymore.
In fact, he looked…tortured.
“You okay, honey?” Wade asked, pushing me away slightly so that he could see my face.
I gave him what he wanted and looked up into his eyes, smiling sadly at him. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I’ve had a really bad day.”
The dog’s snarls hadn’t abated, and in fact, had ramped up to terrifying as more people had come closer to his cage.
“What’s this one’s story?” Wade asked, dropping a kiss on my mouth.
I returned the kiss for the few seconds that he gave me to enjoy it, and then turned in his arms to stare at the snarling dog.
The man at our side came closer, his eyes taking in the dog right along with us.
I looked over at him. “I’m sorry for nearly killing you.”
He looked at me and grinned. “I didn’t realize you had a dog in the back of your van making this kind of racket, or I would’ve understood.”
I swallowed hard.
“Baby, this is Hoax. He’s the one we told you about that’s Delta. He’s here for a few weeks on leave in between missions,” Wade explained. “And you almost killed him?”
“I was distracted,” I admitted, gesturing toward the dog. “And I pulled out without clearly checking my mirrors, though, just sayin’, you were driving really fast in a residential neighborhood. You probably should stop doing that.”
Hoax snorted. “Yeah, my cousin sent me a text saying the same damn thing as I was leaving today.”
This Hoax character was nice…now.
Then, when I’d almost killed him with my vehicle, he’d been a hell of a lot scarier.
He looked a lot like Wade—at least in build. But he had pale skin and gray eyes compared to Wade’s lightly sun-bronzed skin and green eyes. Hoax also had a really bushy beard whereas Wade’s was trimmed due to the regulations he had to abide by to be a Bear Bottom Police Officer.
Honestly, the more I looked at Hoax, the more freaked out I got.
He was a seriously scary individual—even if he wasn’t pissed off anymore that I’d nearly killed him.
“Anyway, I’m sorry I was such a shit,” he said apologetically. “I was in a recent motorcycle wreck and it’s put me in a perpetually bad mood.”
He held up the arm that was farthest away from me, and it was then that I saw he had a black cast underneath his leather jacket.
“Wow,” I said. “I’m sorry. That makes me feel even worse.”
Wade let me go to move toward the cage, and suddenly, the dog’s snarling just…stopped.
I gasped.
“I’m sorry to be a bother,” I heard from behind me. “But do you mind moving the van so that it’s not blocking my half of the driveway?”
I stiffened.
“It’s not blocking your driveway,” Hoax grunted. “It’s obstructing half of Wade’s half of the driveway.”
I swallowed hard, unsure what to say to the woman.
In all technicality, she was right. My van was blocking half of the driveway, but only because all the other parking spots were taken by various trucks, cars, and motorcycles. There was literally nowhere else to park except for the driveway itself—which I wasn’t going to do seeing as it wasn’t my home.
“True,” the woman agreed. “But technically we share the driveway, and with you parked in my half of the driveway, I need to be able to utilize his half of the driveway.”
Hoax growled and turned on his heels, stalking toward his bike.
Seconds later, he was rolling it backward onto Wade’s half of the driveway and then leaning it back to rest on the kickstand once again.
“Happy?” he asked when he stalked back over.
It was then that I saw that the dog was staring at Wade—who’d gone up to the cage—with cautious eyes.
Hoax came to stand beside me, and we both stared as the two alpha males stared at each other.
“Do you want to…” the neighbor continued.
“Listen, Mags, we’re a little busy right now. Do you think you can leave us alone?” Wade asked without once taking his eyes off the dog.
This “Mags” chick huffed and turned on her toe to walk away.
Neither man watched her go, but I did.
I also saw that she looked over her shoulder to see if either man had looked—they hadn’t—and her eyes met mine.
She hesitated on the threshold of her duplex and narrowed her eyes.
I didn’t look away, knowing that I couldn’t or I’d risk losing ground—at least in her eyes—and waited her out.
It didn’t take her long before she was rolling those beautiful eyes and stalking inside her place.
The door shut with a loud bang, which still didn’t cause either man to look up.
“Tell me his story,” Wade ordered.
I swallowed.
“The dog’s name is Capo. He’s seven years old. He retired from the military when he and his handler were in a Humvee that ran over a landmine. Capo was thrown free of the wreckage while the rest of his crew were caught in the flames or injured in the actual wreck.” I paused. “He lost his rear leg and was placed with an adoptive family once he recovered—at least physically. The adoptive family couldn’t get near him just like the vet couldn’t. The only person able to get close was a wounded veteran who worked in the vet hospital in Germany. They’d hoped that his temper would calm once he no longer required to be caged, but it hasn’t. I was brought in as a last resort before euthanasia.”
Wade growled in anger as Hoax blew out a surprised breath.
“You think it’s PTSD?” Hoax asked Wade and me.
“Could be,” I admitted. “I’ve had MWD—military working dogs—before, but none of them were anywhere near this severe.”
Hoax made a sound in his throat. Wade, on the other hand, went closer to the cage.
The dog’s growl came back, but this time it was a low one instead of the high-pitched intense ones that were coming out of him before.
Honestly, this one was almost way more menacing than the first.
At least to me. Wade didn’t seem to care.
He moved closer yet and pressed his palm flat against the cage, and the dog lunged at him.
I gasped and would’ve fallen straight on my ass if Hoax hadn’t caught me around the waist.
“Easy, darlin’,” he ordered. “It’s all right.”
I didn’t see how…but the dog wasn’t lunging and snarling anymore. He was sitting there staring at Wade’s hand—which was still exactly where it’d been moments before—like he’d like to have it for breakfast.
“He’s been fed,” I felt it prudent to point out. “I fed him a burger and some fries from my lunch on the way home from Oklahoma.”
Hoax snorted.
Wade looked over at me with laughter shining in those eyes that I loved.
“Duly noted,” he rumbled. “Hoax, grab the cage with me?”
Luckily the cage had handles on the outside so there wasn’t a need to grab the wire of the cage itself, reducing the possibility of Capo getting some little hors-d’oeuvres to hold him over until dinnertime.
Each man carried the cage on one side, and it took everything I had to ask Wade if he needed help.
He was limping badly—much worse than he had been three days ago—and that scared the crap out of me after hearing what I had heard from Bayou today.
Biting my lip, I closed the van door and reached into the driver’s side—which still stood wide open—to grab for my purse, keys, and phone.
Once I had them, I hurried and rushed in front of the two men, throwing Wade’s door wide open for them both to slip through.
Wade directed them to the living room, and it was then that I took in Wade’s house for the first time.
