Stay: A Shores Novella (The Shores Book 2)

by Allie York

  Dinner went on the same. Oz and Harris were cute as hell, cuddling and whispering. Brody kept touching me and begging me to rip his arm off and beat him with it. Once the check came, he paid all of it and leaned into my ear. “How about we take this to your place for dessert?” We all four rode together which was my first mistake.

  “I work in the morning and have to hit the gym by five.” I politely declined. Normally, Brody would be a great one and done kind of guy, but I just wasn’t in the mood. He looked like he would be selfish, and I didn’t want to deal with finishing myself off after he left me disappointed in bed.

  “It’s only nine.” Brody prodded, sliding from the booth then offering his hand to help me out. I took it despite my better judgement and was pulled close to him. “Can I get a rain check then?”

  “Maybe.” I tried not to sound seductive, but Brody obviously takes it as a come on and puts his arm around my waist.

  “We can exchange numbers in the car.” I was pulled along by Brody all the way to the car and forced into the back seat next to him. I knew as soon as the doors closed that the ride back to Ozma’s would be the longest car trip ever.

  Chapter Eight

  Jax

  I watched Blair over the back of the couch while she went through my fridge. Occasionally she would hold up a container to ask me how old it was, she either put it back or tossed it. The woman only went in there to get a bottle of water, not to clean out my fridge. Last time she cleaned under my bathroom sink after going on a hunt for a toothbrush. I teasingly asked if she wanted me to clean out a drawer for her and she punched me.

  “How’s work?” I called flipping channels.

  “It sucks with Oz only there half the time.” Blair came back and flopped down next to me without the bottle of water she went looking for.

  “You hiring someone new?”

  Blair sighed, “I want to, but Ozma accused me of trying to replace her. Like yesterday, she was so exhausted that she fell asleep at the desk in the office. I get it, but Ivy and Rose have lives too. They need to have days off. I’d kinda like to see her some too. She’s either home asleep or we are arguing at work, I never get to see her as my BFF anymore. I really hate it.”

  “What about date night with Brody?” I knew Blair would probably hit me for even asking, but I loved getting her all worked up.

  “Fuck you,” she snapped at me.

  “Okay!” I laid back and winked at her.

  “Ugh! Can you believe that guy? I mean, he tried to follow me home. He did follow me home!” Blair shrieked. “I’m lucky that frat boys are afraid of big dumb dogs. When Ranger jumped that fence, he nearly lost a Sperry trying to get back to his daddy’s Beemer.” Blair laughed. “Now he’s calling me and texting. What did I do wrong? We could have made beautiful music.” She faked a macho dude voice and rolled her eyes. “I bet he has a pencil dick and all his girlfriends faked it to not damage his ego.”

  I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into me. “Want me to take your mind off the problem?” I ran my hand under her shirt to cup her tits.

  “You are really good at distracting me.” Blair inched closer. “What do you want to distract me with?” She ran her hand over the erection in my sweats.

  “Unfortunately, I don’t have a pencil dick, so you won’t have to focus on faking.” I leaned in to lick her ear.

  “I guess I need to focus on something else then.” Her voice changed into something thick and sexy, making me pull her into me more. “What about this?” Blair pulled the drawstring on my pants, and I groaned. “Let’s see how much of this I can fit in my mouth without gagging.”

  “I think that sounds fucking amazing,” I admitted, running my fingers into the back of her thick hair and grabbing a handful. “I also think I don’t give a shit if you gag.” Something about Blair made the southern gentleman in me take a vacation.

  “Bossy?” She turned toward me and leaned in for a kiss. Instead of her lips meeting mine, she nipped my bottom lip. I nodded. “Good. It turns me on when you get bossy.” Blair kissed down my jaw to my neck. She skipped my chest to lift my shirt and lick a path down my stomach.

  “Then how about you use that pretty mouth for something other than talking and suck my cock.” The back of my head hit the couch and I tightened my hold on her hair when she jerked my pants down and sucked me into her mouth. No matter how many times we hooked up, the woman made me fucking crazy. I used her hair to guide her and let Blair take over my entire being. The woman was determined to fucking kill me.

  I didn’t believe a fucking word she said but pulled my shirt on anyway. Blair pulled her legs up to her chest, blanket draped over her. She was so beautiful like that, innocent almost. Something about the few minutes just after sex made her look that way. In three weeks of hooking up, I always stayed the night, or she did. We always got together so late, it just made sense. We ended up in bed at her house earlier than normal so ten at night was a little early for us.

  “It’s fine. Go.” Blair rolled her eyes and I left my jeans in the floor to crawl back up in the bed. “Jaxon!” She shoved me, laughing. I liked our time together. No one knew, so we didn’t date, she wasn’t my girlfriend, but we had fun. The sex was fun, but the understanding was better. Blair and I had a great time together no matter if my dick was in her or not. We had an agreement and it worked.

  “Can I stay?” Maybe the agreement was bullshit.

  “If you want, but I have to go to bed, I fell asleep on my lunch break last week.” She had a good point. I was exhausted. No matter how many women I entertained, I never got tired of sex, because I hardly saw the same girl twice. Since hooking up with Blair, I was tired, but not of sex. It was because of sex.

  “I’m staying.” I laid back down next to her, pulled the blanket over us, and she turned off the lamp. “Is that okay?”

  “I said yes! Good night, Jax,” Blair grumbled. I kissed the back of her head and stared at the ceiling. It was weird wanting to stay, but I was staying, and I loved it.

  I woke up the next morning to the smell of something putrid mixed with coffee. I checked my phone, clearing the messages from Kallie and Shannon. Six in the fucking morning. Blair wasn’t in bed and some horrible sound was echoing through the house. I dragged my ass out of bed, tugging my pants back on to go take a piss. I jerked the bathroom door open to find Blair holding a cup of coffee and something green in a glass. She looked hot as hell in her tight tank top and tight ass pants. All her dark hair was piled in a knot on top of her head. I wanted my hands in it while she sucked my cock− gain.

  “I’m leaving for the gym, lock up when you leave.” Blair shoved the coffee in my hand and smiled sweetly. I watched her walk away, leaving me in the hallway.

  “Bye,” I yelled after her as the door closed.

  I did what I was told and locked up behind me. In the car, I realized it was the first time Ranger hadn’t come running over to greet me since I started coming over a month ago. I backed the Jeep out of the driveway and went home to put on clean scrubs before work. I pulled into the lot to see Harris peeling out. He ran the red light, laying on his horn, and disappeared over the hill. Rick and Ember were standing outside.

  “What the hell?” I approached them.

  Ember squealed. “Ozma’s in labor!” Ember grabbed my arm, bouncing. As soon as I started getting pissed at Blair for not telling me, my phone vibrated in my scrub pocket. I checked it and smiled. All the happy faces, hearts, and shit made me glad to see her so happy. All she’d talked about for a month was the baby.

  I texted her back and looked up to see Rick smiling at me like an asshole. “What?” I dropped my phone into my pocket and pulled open the glass doors.

  “I knew you were all over some chick. Who is she?” Rick playfully punched my arm.

  I was all over some chick, sort of. “Nah. Just messing around, as usual.” I let Rick in behind me and grabbed the files from the front. Ember was on the phone talking a mile a minute about the baby most l
ikely. I kind of hoped it had Harris’s red hair and Ozma’s dimples. The kid would be cute as hell.

  “You were smiling at your phone.” Rick looked me over like I might be lying.

  “She’s hot.” I winked at him, leaving for the back to get my stuff situated. I flipped through my files and made sure the new guy had the rooms clean. The second file in the stack was Porter. He always had us check out pets at the animal shelter, so I was a little confused about why he would come in to the office. We went out of our way to accommodate him and Lyric. I shrugged it off to look over the first chart, having trouble concentrating. I wanted to text Blair back about the baby but knew she would be busy. I knew the baby would change the dynamic of our little group, and change messed with me. I was tossed around a lot as a kid, so stability and habits meant a lot to me. It made me feel sane for the first time in my life. I tried to keep stable friends, a stable job, and a stable home. The only thing I couldn’t seem to stabilize was my sex life, until a month ago.

  Ember waved a folder in my face to get my attention. “Bailey is here for room one.” I was leaned against the wall, ignoring the world.

  “Yeah.” I waved at Mrs. Chattwin and her little fat dog, Bailey. “I’ll get you guys set up in here.” I smiled, turning on the light. I weighed Bailey, took his temperature, and jotted down the reason for the visit before promising to send the vet in. In the hall Grant and Drew were talking over an x-ray. I went to join them. I still didn’t love the guys, but with my new promotion, I played nice. I didn’t trust people easily, so it would take time.

  “Look at this and tell me how many you see.” Dr. Grant waved at me. I handed him the file for Bailey and looked over the x-ray.

  “Eight.” I studied the x-ray, tipping my head to make sure I looked over all the angles.

  “Seven,” Drew argued. He pointed, counting the tiny puppy skulls. I watched his finger indicate each one then look back at me. “See, seven.”

  “Dude, it’s eight.” I pointed to the spine pressed against the mothers in the black and white image. “Count spines, not skulls.” I was his superior, sort of, but the guy loved to try to show me up. I was kind of an ass to him, but he was so damn nice about it. Always so nice.

  “Man, you are right.” Drew patted my shoulder. “I can learn so much from you.” He gave another back pat and followed his brother in to see Bailey. I shook my head. Once he vanished, I got my phone out to text Blair back, making sure she knew that I was ready for baby news when she had it. I got a kissing face back and put my phone away. Porter was the next client, so I went up to meet him. Drew would not be helping him with whatever dog he brought in. Porter’s shelter dogs were strictly for me and Harris. With Harris gone to have a baby, it was me and Rick. I pushed the heavy wooden door open to see Porter on the pleather sofa filling out forms. Next to him was Ranger. He made eye contact with me and thumped his tail. No wonder he didn’t greet me that morning. I took a step closer and saw the red gashes up his chest.

  “Range!” I stooped in front of him, and he licked all over my face. “What are you doing here?”

  “They dropped him off this morning, at four in the morning.” Porter patted Ranger’s head. “I wanted those cuts looked at before I drive him to Georgia.”

  “The scratches are from jumping the gate. You can’t take him to Georgia. What the hell is in Georgia?” I hugged Ranger like he might vanish before I had the chance to say goodbye. “Blair will kill me if I let you take him to Georgia.”

  Porter caught what I said before I did. “What does Blair have to do with it?” As if summoning her, my phone vibrated in my pocket, but I ignored it. I stared stupidly at Porter, trying to come up with a response.

  “Oh, he lives next door to her.” It was a simple answer. He should have known it too.

  “How do you know?” Porter asked, smiling like an asshole.

  “Because he jumped the gate to play with me when I dropped her off once. I’ve been to the house before. Oz lived there too.” I shrugged and took Ranger’s leash. “You hear Oz is having the baby?” I tipped my head for him to follow me, changing the subject.

  “I did.” Porter closed the door behind us. “Look, the boxer rescue is paying for the vet visit so they can take him. They have a waiting list for white boxers. I’m not being an ass, it’s business, but I have to get dogs out as quick as possible.” Porter looked at me, and I looked at Ranger.

  “I’ll pay for it. I’ll adopt him, whatever. I can’t let you take him to Georgia.” Blair would cry for days over the big dumb dog. Hell, I would be upset.

  “I thought you said Blair would want him.” Porter rolled his eyes.

  “She’s with Ozma, and I’m not calling her right now. I’ll adopt the dog.” There was no way in hell I was letting him leave with the dog. If Blair decided she couldn’t handle Ranger, I’d keep him. In my fucked-up brain, I wanted to give her another reason to come over. I pretended it wasn’t because I had real feelings for her.

  “There’s a contract and stuff.” Porter looked uneasy. “Not that I don’t think you’d take care of him; it’s just we don’t let people adopt dogs for other people.” I sighed and pulled my phone out, shooting a quick text to Blair about the dog.

  “She can’t get here to fill out papers, and we’re friends, dude. I’m not some asshole off the street.” I checked the message I missed, since it was Porter with me and not a real client. I didn’t feel the need to be professional with him in the room. Blair was giving me a baby update of ‘anytime now.’ Another text came through informing me of how lonely my cock would be if I let Porter take Ranger anywhere. I wanted to throw back that I fucked who I wanted but had a feeling that wouldn’t go over well with the woman I liked fucking the most. “She said you can’t take Ranger, but the baby is coming, and she can’t be here.” I may have added the second part.

  “What do you want me to do here, Jax? I can’t let you adopt him if you aren’t keeping him.” Porter looked at Ranger pressed up against my leg and gave up. “Okay. I’ll put both your names on the application. I’ll approve it and what happens to the dog after that is your business. If she’s not here, how will she sign the papers?”

  * * *

  “I’ll tell her she has to come by later and sign. I’ll take care of the bill, just don’t take the dog, Port.” I was walking a dangerous line. Porter and Harris were best friends for years. Porter would tell Harris who would tell Ozma. It was a precarious spot for my friend with benefits and me.

  “Blair is not going to sleep with you. Even if you get her the dog.” Porter threw his hands up. I didn’t need the dog for her to sleep with me, but Porter didn’t need to know that. “Come by the center after work to sign the papers. I’m going to the hospital to meet my niece or nephew.” Porter patted Ranger and left me alone in the room with my new dog.

  “You’re my hero, Port!” I yelled after him as he walked out. He flipped me off and kept going. Ranger looked back at me as if asking what he should do next. I didn’t have an answer for him. I just adopted an eighty-pound dog for a girl I wasn’t even dating. Neither of us had a fenced yard, but suddenly we both had a dog.

  I made Ranger a cage in the back and went on about my day. Instead of eating lunch, I took my dog out back in the lot to run and play. I sent Blair a text about him but didn’t get an answer. I didn’t expect one, she was busy, but I wanted her to know that the dog wasn’t leaving. When I hadn’t heard back by the end of the workday, I took Ranger to the pet store, bought him a crate, and took him home. I set him up, letting him sniff around the apartment before crating him and having a long talk about behaving while I went to the hospital. He laid down with his new bone, and I left him to see why no one had thought to text me about the baby.

  I paid to park, found the maternity ward, and went to the desk. I gave a name, the lady told me to sit, and I waited. And waited. Finally, after almost an hour Blair peeked around the corner at me. She looked fucking exhausted.

  “Hey,” she whispered,
looking around to see if anyone else was waiting. Once she realized we were alone, she leaned down to kiss me. “Did Ranger leave?” Blair sat next to me.

  “No. How’s Ozma?” There was a baby, or almost a baby and Blair was worried about the dog. A smile took over her face. “His name is Conrad.” It took me a second to realize she was talking about the baby. “He has red hair and dark eyes. He’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Blair got all starry-eyed.

  “When can we see him? When can I see him?” I was on my feet, ready to meet baby Oswin, but Blair pulled me down.

  “When Porter and Lyric leave. Two at a time.” I sat back down next to her and tried not to touch her. “Where is Ranger?”

  “My apartment.” I smiled when she did. “We have joint custody, and Porter was not happy about me adopting the dog for you. I don’t know if he thought we’d bail on him or fight over him.” I rolled my eyes and Blair looked up at me adoringly. “What?”

  “You adopted me a dog!” Blair threw her arms around me. “You saved Ranger from going away from me!” I hugged her back. “But you know he’s never been in a house before, right?” Blair suddenly looked worried.

  “He’s in a crate with a huge ass bone. I do know a little about dogs.” I grinned like an idiot when she hugged me again. I closed my eyes and rubbed my nose in her hair. “Did you think I’d let him go to Georgia?”