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Erika frowned. “Already?”
“Yep.” Blake glanced down at Corky. “Where is she sleeping tonight?”
Damn. He was right.
“Flip a coin?” she suggested, wondering if she could convince him to go best two out of three if she lost the first toss.
Blake shook his head, rising and leaving the room. Erika didn’t bother to call out after him, cuddling with Corky instead.
When Blake returned, she realized he’d turned off all the lights in his living room. Grabbing a blanket from the top shelf of his closet, he switched off the bedroom light, the streetlamps and moon shining through the window allowing her to watch as he returned to the bed.
“Crawl under the covers, Erik,” he said as he resumed the spot he’d just left, shaking out the blanket and throwing it over himself.
She didn’t bother to argue, climbing under the duvet carefully, trying not to disturb Corky, who was happily sacked out between them.
“Good night,” Blake murmured, his hand brushing hers as they both reached out to pet Corky.
“Good night,” she whispered, closing her eyes, that feeling of loneliness, which never seemed to leave her alone, fading for the first time in a very long time.
CHAPTER THREE
Blake was on the way to his apartment, but he stopped midway between his place and Erika’s when he heard her raised voice.
“Corky! What the hell?”
He grinned, quickly changing direction.
They’d just finished their first month of co-parenting a puppy, and the last four weeks had not been without challenges. Despite her early trauma, Corky had rallied quickly, going from a timid, shivering pup to a spoiled diva within a matter of days.
Blake thought they had turned the corner on potty training, so he hoped Erika’s current distress wasn’t because of yet another accident.
Their initial visit to the vet confirmed that Corky had been around six weeks old the night they’d found her. Given the storm she’d been dumped in, the vet said the fact she’d been a bit older and not a newborn had most likely saved her life. As far as breed, the best they could tell was Corky had a bit of Jack Russell Terrier and Chihuahua in her. The rest was a mystery.
She was still small, and as adorable as she’d been the night they’d found her. Blake was one hundred percent in love with the tiny creature, and despite Erika’s harried tone right now, she was just as smitten. They were neck in neck when it came to spoiling Corky, and he wasn’t sure who had more dog toys in their apartments currently.
He’d given Erika shit, claiming she’d gone off the deep end when she’d bought Corky a Halloween costume, but there was no denying the dog looked cute as hell as Winnie the Pooh. And while he’d pretended Erika had gone too far, it was hard to defend that argument, given the fact Corky in her costume was currently the picture on the home screen of his phone.
He did his standard one knock on her door, entering before Erika called out, “It’s open.”
It was her night to keep Corky, but she’d left the door unlocked as usual, aware he would want a quick snuggle after the game.
Blake smiled as Corky sprinted toward him, her tail wagging a million miles an hour as she yapped her happy hellos. He bent over to pick her up, laughing as she plastered his face with her sweet doggie kisses.
Erika looked decidedly less happy to see him.
“Everything okay?”
She held up a destroyed shoe. While they’d made their way through the potty-training stage, the teething stage was kicking off in grand style. Blake was going to have to replace one of the chairs in his living room, as Corky had done a number on two of the legs.
“I forgot to close the closet door,” Erika said with a sigh. “I wasn’t paying attention and it didn’t occur to me until too late that she’d been quiet for too long.”
He gave her a sympathetic grin. “Nothing worse than a silent Corky.”
“Yeah.” Erika turned away from him, and it occurred to him that she hadn’t actually looked at him since he’d walked in. What he’d originally thought was annoyance looked more like sadness as he took in her slumped shoulders.
Blake closed the apartment door, setting Corky down. She immediately scampered over to the couch, hopping up to settle down on her special blanket. Neither he nor Erika made any attempt to keep their baby off the furniture, both letting her sleep in their beds when it was their night to keep her, just as they’d said they would.
Erika grabbed her empty wine glass and walked toward the kitchen. “How was the game?”
