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“Why are you being so negative? Let me have my fun.”
She sets me with a look as she sits on the edge of the bed where I am. Of course, Darcy comes over and cuddles between us. She brushes a stray hair behind my ear and kisses my forehead. “Like I said before, you shine too bright for him. He will swallow you whole and spit you out. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I can’t get hurt if I know that going in.”
“But you don’t,” she says softly, brushing my cheek. “You’re already half in love with him as it is.” I blink a few times, and she nods slowly, pleased with herself for knowing me so well. “Let him go.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Keep it that way,” she urges, her eyes holding mine. “It’s my job to protect you, and I know this can’t be good for you. He will ruin you, and it hurts me to say that because I love the guy. He is so good to Alex and me, but I promise you, I’ve heard Alex talk about him. To him. He’s too jaded, too broken. You’re too good for him.”
“But it could be different with me.”
“He hasn’t been in a relationship in fourteen years, Clara. As much as I love you, you can’t change that. Or fix him. No matter how much you think you can.”
My sister sets me with one last pointed look before she gets up to start packing once again. I watch her for a moment, rubbing Darcy’s head as I mull over her words in my head. I get what she’s saying, but this is the overprotective, about-to-have-a-baby Elliot. My sister, before she was pregnant and medicated, would urge me to hook up with whoever I wanted. But I get what she’s saying. I don’t want to hook up with him…well, I do, but I want more.
I want to be the only person he sees.
And according to my sister, that’s not something Riggs McCoy is capable of.
So, I should let this go.
But why does the thought of doing that make me want to cry?
CHAPTER 9
Riggs
My boys are extra wiggly this morning.
And not in an excited, happy way.
Unfortunately, when my bags are by the door, my boys know I’m leaving.
Gretzky hates the bags so much, he’s pissed on them a time or two. Gordie growls at them, and at the bottom of one are teeth marks from where he gnawed at it. Poor guys. It breaks my heart to know that leaving them makes them anxious. I wish I could take them with me everywhere. They’re so well-behaved that I know they’d do awesome, but it wouldn’t be fair to leave them in a hotel room or drop them off at a kennel they don’t know when I’m at the rink. As much as I think they’d do great in the rink, and the players would enjoy kisses between plays, I know they’d get in the way.
I think that’s why Dan suggested Clara. He knows how much the boys mean to me and that Clara would care for them like they’re hers. I knew that fact from the jump. I also knew I wanted her naked at first glance.
Which has posed a wee bit of discomfort in my pants.
Okay, a lot of discomfort.
I’m fucking steel here.
All night, I tossed and turned as I thought of her. Her glossy pink lips, the challenge in her eyes. Fuck me, she’s passionate. I love that she gets that determined little twitch in her nose when she’s convinced she’s right. I mean, she wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t want her to know that. I love how her eyes brighten when we talk about the four-legged creatures we both love, and what’s best for them.
The seductive way her eyes drooped when she told me goodbye still has my cock harder than a frozen puck.
She’s…got me in a choke hold, and I don’t even think she knows it.
I hear the sound of dogs singing “Jingle Bells,” which not only has my dogs going nuts but has my brows pulling together.
What the hell?
Before I even reach the door, I see a long bright-orange bus with groovy yellow, pink, and purple flowers painted all over it. It also has paintings of dogs, playing and sleeping in all sorts of places. The windows are covered with big flowers that have faces on them, and her business name is written in big bubble letters. It’s so over the top, so loud and bold.
So her.
