“We could raise them all here. One could be Clover’s, one could be mine, and one could be yours . . . if you wanted one.”
Faye stays quiet for a moment, but then says, “I call the shepherd.”
I grin, pressing my fingers together like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons. “Colt is mine.” Colt was the harlequin Great Dane that had grown attached to me over the last few days.
“You named him Colt after Lana’s character?” Faye asks, laughing even harder than before, tears forming in her hazel eyes. “Basically you named the dog after Tracker’s alter ego.”
“It suits him,” I say, lifting my shoulders in a shrug. “He’s going to be as big as a horse too, so it goes.”
When Clover picks up the Neo and says, “Mom can we keep this one?” Faye and I share a scheming glance. Yes, our plan was going to work out just fine.
“Should we do an evil laugh too?” Faye asks, copying my Mr. Burns hand moves.
“I feel like it’s appropriate.”
“Mwahahahahahahaha,” Faye laughs, making it sound pretty damn evil.
I copy her, and then she does it again, and then so do I.
Sin walks out and gives us a suspicious look. “What the hell are the two of you up to?”
“What gave us away?” Faye asks, tone full of mock innocence. She then starts giggling. “How great is my evil laugh, babe? I should be in a Disney movie.”
Sin blinks slowly, then turns his eyes to his daughter. “We’re not keeping all those dogs.”
“Of course not, honey,” Faye replies, waving her hand flippantly. Under her breath she mutters, “Just two of them.”
In that moment, I realize that when I grow up, I want to be Faye.
TWENTY-THREE
Vinnie
I HIT the punching bag for the last time and then step back, sweat dripping down my face.
“Do you fight in the ring?” Shay asks, looking at the place the guys usually spar with one another.
“Yeah, we usually do,” I say, moving to the weights. “Once a month we’ll all get together, make sure our fighting skills are on par.”
“Do the women fight?”
“Faye and Anna do. They teach the rest of the women some self-defense moves. Faye is pregnant, so she can’t teach you now, but you should ask Anna. It’s important to know, and it could save your life one day.”
Just in case I wasn’t there to save her.
“I like that idea,” she says before moving to the treadmill. I watch her ass as she starts to walk, her headphones in her ears, then moves into a jog. The yoga pants she’s wearing are sexy as hell, showing off every curve she owns. When I start to get hard, I realize us working out together isn’t going to work. I lift the weights a few times, trying not to look in her direction and fail. Eventually I put them down and sit on one of the benches, watching her.
“Working hard, I can see,” Tracker says, chuckling. “You look like the seediest bastard right now, you should see yourself.”
Not bothering to deny it, I shrug and say, “Best ass I’ve ever seen. I can’t help it. Did you hear about the puppies?”
“No, what about them?” he asks, then adds, “By the way, that was my move, you asshole. You stole it and made it even better by getting three of them, different breeds too. Overachiever.”
My body shakes, I laugh that hard. “Shay loves animals. Her happy place is a fuckin’ pet store, so I wanted to bring her happy place to her. I didn’t mean to steal your thunder, brother.”
“Well it seems to work, doesn’t it?” he says, tying up his hair in that fuckin’ man bun thing the women are always raving on about. “So what were you saying about the pups?”
“Shay talked Faye into keeping the rest of them,” I tell him, smirking. “She’s crafty, I give her that. Faye and Clover are both going to take one each.”
She probably got it from her asshole of a cousin.
“Best move she could’ve made,” Tracker agrees, pulling off his T-shirt. “How’s Sin taking it?”
“He said the dogs weren’t staying.”
“What did Faye do?”
My lip twitches as I say, “She went out and bought three dog kennels, each with the dog’s name on the front. Then she somehow bribed Sin into being okay with it. Who knows what creative shit she came up with to sway him.”
“I don’t even want to know.” Tracker laughs. “Maybe she played the pregnancy card.”
“Maybe,” I agree, my eyes zoning back onto Shay.
“So, is she staying here, then?” Tracker asks, following my line of sight. “The two of you seem fuckin’ inseparable. I know you claimed her, but you haven’t really spoken about making her your old lady.”
“It’s still early,” I reply, standing up. “We’re still getting to know each other.”
“Seems a little more than that,” Tracker comments before walking off to start his workout.
I don’t know why everyone wants me to explain what’s going on with Shay and me, because I don’t even fuckin’ know how to explain it without sounding like a dickhead. I’m just enjoying her right now, while trying to save her ass at the same time, so I do have the option of making her my old lady. If I’m being honest with myself, it’s something I definitely plan on doing. But everyone else doesn’t have to know that. Shay gets off the treadmill, pulling her earphones out and closing the space between us.