“Of course, anything you need, you’ve got it.”
She blushed. “Thank you.”
Backing away from her, I came around her side stroking down Duchess’s back careful of the sores and bruises.
“Hey girl, you ready to go to the vet.”
She rumbled a growl in my direction.
I huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, I hate docs too.”
Arms underneath her I tried as gently as I could to lift her without jostling her. Kelly still by her side rose with us as I slowly stood up from the floor with Duchess in my arms. Ready to head to the truck, I felt a small tug on my sleeve stopping me. Kelly who had been mostly quiet stood by my side with a small smirk on her face. “Do you think on the way to the vet, you could tell me what Dean meant about getting arrested?”
Laughing I started walking to the door, Kelly following. “Darling, I’ll tell you the story and later I’ll show you pictures.”
Seven
Kelly
1. Who would hurt a dog?
2. Who would break into someone’s house?
3. I was glad the guys came to help me.
“And you really have a scar on your ass from a dog biting your bare ass while skinny dipping?”
I sat in the passenger seat, with Duchess between us, gently cradling her head and stroking it softly.
Duchess looked comfortable for the first time since we left, despite the beating from the assailants. She was snoring...loudly...while I listened to the story about Dean’s one night in jail.
“Well I mean, yeah, I couldn’t let him be the only one to have all the fun. He was just the only one who got caught.”
I eyed him over Duchess. “All for a girl?”
“Girls, plural.”
I think his eye rolls were contagious. “Oh, okay, girls.”
Before he could comment about more bare asses and girls, we arrived at the clinic. A gray sedan already sat there, presumably the vet the guys had called earlier.
Now that the story was over and we were here, reality came rushing back in the form of the building in front of me and that my dog was hurt and someone had to make sure she was okay. Because I couldn’t.
Because right now, I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t stop the person from breaking into my house. I couldn’t stop my dog from getting hurt, and now I had the guys dealing with the police, cleaning my house, and taking my dog to the vet.
I was just a tagalong.
I felt useless.
Damon turned the car off and turned slightly to stare at me. “I’ll grab Duchess if you’ll run ahead and get the door.”
Well at least I could open a door.
My guilt at not being able to help or control the situation went with me as I stepped out of Kasper’s gigantic vehicle and ran to open the door. From the door, I could see Damon hunched over taking his time, slowly edging his way out of the car with Duchess tucked safe within his arms. Even though he was an ass, he was still so gentle with my dog that it almost made me forget about the whole Camille debacle.
Almost.
Man, I sounded crabby, self loathing, and just overall like crap. Whoever did this knew just where to hit me. My dog.
Was it too soon to want another tub of ice cream after getting sick last time?
Damon skirted by me, his back rubbing up against my chest as he turned sideways into the door.
Close on his heels, I followed him deeper into the clinic where the sounds of metal cages clanging together could be heard from one of the rooms.
We followed the sound down the barely lit hallway, stopping at the last one where a man with salt and pepper hair stood adjusting the table and his nurse stood to the side aligning certain medical equipment…that they would be using on my dog. I didn’t know how I felt about that.
Damon cleared his throat, gaining the doctor’s and nurse’s attention.
The doctor’s eyes rose up from the table taking in Duchess’s condition and gently smiling. “This must be Duchess.”
He walked over extending his hand. “I’m Doctor Villa, and I’m glad to meet our new teacher, but saddened over the circumstance.”
He looked at Damon. “Damon, if you could lay Duchess down here on the table and then me and Miss Rose can handle it from here.”
He wanted me to leave her with him?
Damon, who had moved to the table, slowly sat Duchess on the table. It broke my heart to see her, so calm and obedient. Duchess wasn’t obedient, she was reckless and crazy. But now she was so docile I knew she had to be in pain. I looked at the doctor who was standing beside Damon, soothing Duchess. “You want me to leave her and sit outside?”
He grimaced turning slightly to look at me. “My dear, a lot of owners are upset and when they are upset their pets get upset, and we don’t want that.”
He placed his hand gently on my back turning me as he said, “Now we don't want that and Damon will sit with you while I look that sweet dog of yours over.” Before I knew it we were at the door to the room Damon standing beside me. Dr.Villa smiled. “Now, I'll let you know what I find, and what to do.”
He closed the door in my face.
I now stood in front of a door, not remembering how I got here, or how he talked me into walking out of the room.
“C’mon, let’s sit over here.”
Without realizing it I had been staring at the door, contemplating the cunningly brilliant mind of the doctor.
I turned, looking at Damon who had sat in one of the red sterile chairs by the window.
“Sit down, you can’t stand there and stare at the door the whole time.”
Carefully, not taking my eyes off the door, I sat in the chair beside Damon. I wanted this done quickly, so I could get away from Damon, and take my dog back where she belonged. When I first saw her lying there hurt, my first reaction was to call someone I trusted and someone who wanted to be here with me.
All I wanted was them.
Now, sitting here with just Damon, the awkward silence and unresolved issues were rapidly turning the already formed headache into a migraine.
“Nothing happened.”
In the silence, his words echoed in the empty room.
Why oh why was he choosing to do this now, in a vet’s office?
I glanced from the door when I felt his stare on my back. “Damon, why are you doing this here, now?”
His eyebrows shifted down, causing small wrinkles to appear on his forehead. Which did nothing to diminish his attractiveness. “What do you mean, why now? You wouldn’t answer my calls, you wouldn’t text me back, and you wouldn’t answer the door when I stood there for an hour asking you to open the door.”
His raised voice towards the end of his declaration igniting my own already short fuse. “I didn’t answer Damon, because I was scared of what I saw, of what’d you say, of what would happen when I found out the truth.”
He reached out grabbing my hand before he replied, “You stupid woman, if you would’ve just listened, you would’ve known that nothing happened. Camille planned the whole stunt and I've missed you every second that I haven’t seen you.”
Ready to rail on him for calling me a stupid woman, the last part of his speech fell into place, “You missed me?”
He rolled his eyes. “Do you think I would've spent an hour outside your house and got you doughnuts if I didn’t?”
He squeezed my hand. “We all missed you Kelly.”
I looked down at his rough calloused hand engulfing mine. I really missed them, and this. The touch of another person. And not just any person.
Them.
I wanted them.
I met his beautiful green eyes, with my own and asked the one question that needed to be asked to let the past lie
“No more Camille? I mean she means nothing and everything that day, meant nothing?”
In a show of un-Damon like character he took my hand kissing the tips of my fingers. “No Camille, once you came into the picture she never existed and if I could
take back that day, and her coming over and messaging you, I would, but I can't and I hate that more than you know.”
Like I said sometimes he was an ass, and others he melted my heart like butter.
The door to where Duchess and the doctor were creaked open softly grabbing our attention. At once we both stood, meeting the doctor halfway.
“Duchess is going to be fine, she had a gash on her face that we sewed up along with one on her mouth. We did X-rays just to check for anything broken, but luckily nothing was broken.”
Thank God!
Seeing my relief he continued, “One of her front paws did have a torn ligament and we fixed it but you’ll have to watch it for a little bit.”
Relieved that she was going to be okay I sagged against Damon, who was right behind me, his arms encircling my waist.
“So, I can take her home?”
He grimaced. “Since we gave her some sedative, we’d like to keep her overnight and then you can pick her up sometime tomorrow. We’ll call as soon as we’re ready for you. Alright?”
I shook my head. “I really don’t–”
“She’ll see you in the morning Doc.”
Damon held his hand out to the doctor, shaking his hand. “We really appreciate you coming out after hours to check Duchess.”
Now I felt bad for opening my mouth and being difficult.
Reaching my hand out, I shook the doctor’s hand. “Damon’s right, thank you, and just let me know when I can pick her up.”
Dr. Villa nodded his head. “That’s fine, we’ll see you two tomorrow.”
He turned and left returning to the room where Duchess was, leaving me and Damon alone.
Damon, who still has his arm around me, twisted me so I was in front of him. Encircling his arms around my waist, he smiled down at me.
“You’ve had a day, so how about I take you to Daily for some Doughnuts before I drop you off at home and see how much work the guys have done at the house.”
He pulled away, grabbing my hand ready to head for the door, on a mission for doughnuts. When I resisted his tugging he stopped turning to look at me. “What is it, don’t tell me you don’t want doughnuts.”
It was now or never.
I let go of his hand, moving closer as I tugged on his hair to bring his head down to mine. Our lips meeting, I savored the feel of his as he crushed them against mine. The taste of him becoming embedded in my brain, so I would never forget the way I felt at this moment.
Releasing my hold on his hair, I let out a shaky breath. “Will you stay the night?”
Eight
Kasper
He was late.
I glanced down at my watch, counting the minutes to how late Damon was.
Twenty minutes.
After the cops left last night, me and Dean cleaned up the best we could. Though Kelly’s hutch and favorite mugs were beyond rescuing. The only mug that made it out alive was apparently her newest one, that Dean informed us was ours.
It was truly a lovely mug.
I looked across the table at Dean and asked, “Where’s he at? We agreed to meet here last night. Why isn't he here?”
Dean was never good at keeping secrets, and the look of guilt upon his face confirmed that he knew something.
What did he know?
We already had enough shit to mess with, trying to make sure our relationship with Kelly was sound and now the added issue of trying to find out who broke into her house and hurt Duchess. Just thinking about it still pissed me off. Kelly had said last night before we left that Duchess was fine but that wasn’t the point.
Frustration started to build, remembering the look on Kelly’s face when we found her sitting on the floor by Duchess. I felt useless and wanted to do something, anything. I didn’t want to just sit here, and I wouldn’t be just sitting here if someone was here.
Which by the way...where the hell was he!
Dean, during my inner monologue, had shoveled the rest of his syrup topped pancake into his mouth, the excess dripping onto his chin.
Why did Kelly choose us again?
“Why isn’t he here Dean, I can tell you know something, and you shoveling that pancake in your mouth isn't going to stop you from answering, so tell me.”
He leaned forward, wiping his hand across his lips smearing the syrup more, he darted one last hopeful glance at the front door. But his face quickly fell from hopeful to resignation when not seeing anything or anyone come through the front door. He rested his arms on the table, shoving the syrup filled plate away.
I bet he wished Damon walked through that door, just so he could escape my question. He chewed exceptionally slow stalling for time.
You know Damon was an ass, but Dean, well, he was a unique individual. After he swallowed the last bite in his mouth,then guzzled down his milk, he finally made eye contact. Huffing out a breath, he said, “Look, I don’t know why he’s late, not really. He just texted that he would be late.”
This was taking longer than I thought to get a simple answer. “And why would he be late?”
Dean darted his eyes at the door.
“Dean, why would he be late?”
He glanced back me, rubbing his neck. “I don’t know why he’s late.”
At the look I gave him, he got defensive.
“Look, I really don’t, I just have theories. And that’s all they are, theories. No substantial evidence to prove otherwise.”
I rubbed my hands up and down my jeans in an attempt to stop myself from reaching across the table for my best friend.
“And what are these theories, enlighten me Dean. Call me...curious.”
He licked his lips. “Well why does any guy who's stayed the night at a girl’s house stay over late? I mean, especially if you like said girl.
What did a guy do when he stayed over at a girl’s house that made him late… “That son of a Bitch! I’m gonna kill him.”
Dean shushed me. “Kasper stop yelling. I said it was only a theory, they could be playing Charades or Twister for all we know.”
Oh, I bet he was playing Twister, with his right hand on one side of her and his left hand on the other.
That bastard.
I thought we had a plan. We were gonna win her back with gifts and with trust. Not sleep with
her when she’s vulnerable.
Of course Damon couldn’t stick to a well thought out plan. He had to go off the rail.
He had to be Damon.
A headache began to build right between my eyes at Damon’s possible screw up and how I could possibly fix it. I rubbed the space between my eyes to ease the tension creeping up my neck, I needed to think clearly so I wouldn’t hit Damon again, if he ever got here that is. I sat back, my chest expanding with every breath I took as I looked up at the ceiling.
I swear, if he took advantage of her being distressed about Duchess, I didn’t care how much bigger he was. His jaw wasn’t gonna be the only thing hurting on him this time. Of course, with how huge he was, I didn’t want to admit my hand would probably hurt worse.
Looking back at Dean I asked, “Do you really think he would take advantage of her?”
Dean lowered his head down, rubbing the back of his neck he glanced up at the door one more time.
“I mean I don’t think...”
Ding
At the look of relief on Dean’s face I turned around to the door behind me to see what or who had given him that look of relief.
Though I had a pretty good idea.
Damon.
Fun and fancy free he walked in thirty minutes late, I did a quick check of my watch, no forty minutes late.
That smug bastard. He did sleep with her. I was going to murder him.
He had a swagger or a fucking skip in his step as he walked straight towards us. Oblivious to the thoughts about him running through my mind. What was that son of a bitch up to? He had a lot to answer for so he better talk quick. Mind in turmoil and anger hanging on by a thread, I watched as Damon cam
e to the side of the table sliding in beside Dean.
Silence descended upon the table as both me and Dean waited for Damon to explain why he was late. And why he was smiling. Since when did Damon smile? He sat there in his usual position. Legs propped up on the vacant chair, just perfectly fine, smiling at his phone.
Bastard.
Done with whatever text he had spouted off, he finally glanced up noticing the silence. Brow furrowed he looked between Dean and me, neither of us having moved once since he got here. Damon finally seemed to connect the dots. The dick with his brow still creased sat his phone down and smiled. Why was he smiling? Did he do something last night that caused that smile on his face.
I hated that smile and all that it entailed. He crossed his arms slouching further down into the bench.
“What, I’m late, so what?” The grin dropping from his face, he pulled a menu from the stand on the table and opened it up. “Did you already order?” Not bothering to wait for our answer he threw his hand in the air waving at the waitress to get her attention. Even with sex it seemed he was still an ass. Damon, still ignoring us, ordered his regular sunny side up eggs and… bacon doughnuts? When the hell did Damon ever like doughnuts, he hated sweets. In fact, he made fun of people who ate doughnuts for breakfast. Yep, he slept with her, I know it.
As the waitress left with his order he had no other choice but to look at me and Dean, and judging by the look that was on my face, I figured he could guess where my thoughts had headed. Eyes darting to Dean’s, his expression spoke volumes as well and it seemed like he was thinking the same as me.
Last night Damon Timbers had sex.
“What, I can’t try anything new?”
Dean turned slightly in the booth watching his brother, while I waited to see if Damon would elaborate.
The waitress came back with his eggs… and doughnuts. Quickly refilling our coffee cups and leaving us to our strained silence. We continued our stare down of Damon waiting for him to elaborate on his something new that he tried. Damon, not caring about the silence or me and Dean staring him down, picked up one of the doughnuts took a big bite and chewed slowly, savoring it.
Road to Them: The Road Series Book Two Page 6
