Dear Roomie (Rookie Rebels #5) - Kate Meader Page 0,15

was thinking he would hate to be on the end of that, he realized that perhaps he already was. His head was heating up under the force of that death ray glare.

“I need to go.”

“Okay. Send me the bill for your dry cleaning.”

Her lip curled in disgust. “I knew what I was doing. I’ll be fine.” She turned around and rubbed a hand along the puppy’s body. He lifted his head to acknowledge the affection and made a light mewling sound. “Take care, little guy. I hope you find a forever home.”

She opened the door and clambered out.

He followed, wondering what he had done wrong. “Kennedy, your coat.”

She stopped half-way to her car and turned.

“I know you’re wet, but you’d probably be better off putting this back on.”

Silently but still fuming, she walked the few steps toward him and slipped off his hoodie. He held the coat open for her and she pivoted, inserting her arms. With her back to his front, the proximity to her stirred something in his gut. She should have smelled of stinky lake water, but instead her scent was weirdly intoxicating.

Losing it, Durand.

He would have given anything to wrap his body around hers from behind, to do the job of that blanket around the half-drowned dog. Transfer his body heat, or what little of it remained, to her. Instead he held the collar of her coat. It was frayed, the threads unraveling at the edges, a situation he understood.

“Take care of him,” she bit out, almost accusing.

“I will. See you at the coffee shop.”

One more glare, then without a word she got in her car and drove away.

6

Reid made it all the way home before he realized he had no food fit for dogs.

Google could probably tell him what human food dogs could eat. Ideally he would have liked to ask Coffee Shop Girl—Kennedy—to come home with him to guide him through the next steps. But she obviously had her own life to run and dogs to walk. She’d also hightailed it out of there whip quick. He’d said something to offend her, so no surprise there.

He pulled up to the resident parking and lo and behold, a recognizable form stood leaning against a car in the space next to Reid’s usual spot.

Right-wing Masshole, Cal Foreman.

Please, not another apology. Reid couldn’t stand the idea of any man feeling he needed to apologize for something as ludicrous as a couple of punches, especially when he was blameless. Reid had provoked him and deserved to be struck.

He stepped out of the car, wincing at the loud squelching noise as his running shoes hit the tarmac. Foreman stepped forward, looked him over, and asked, “Been swimming?”

“Something like that.” He opened the back door and carefully removed his precious cargo. The dog had been mostly quiet all the way home and Reid prayed he wasn’t in some sort of shock. Perhaps he should have gone to the emergency vet after all.

Please give me a sign.

The puppy squirmed a little. Not dead yet.

Foreman closed the gap. “You need a hand there?”

Did he want to be beholden to this guy, of all people? The dog was the priority here. Now wasn’t the time for grudges.

“Yeah, I do. Could you …?” He passed the blanket-wrapped package to Cal, who cradled it with an assurance that told Reid he’d made the right call. “I—well, we pulled him out of the lake. I need to get him warm and feed him. I don’t think he’s eaten in a while.”

Without waiting for an answer, Reid walked toward the front entrance to his apartment building, knowing good guy Foreman would follow. He was alert to the sounds Foreman was making, barely intelligible words of comfort as if the dog was a child.

He usually took the stairs because it was just three floors, and today he figured it would be quicker anyway. Once inside Reid’s apartment, Foreman placed the dog down gently on the sofa. “I’m guessing you don’t have any dog food.”

“No, but I can go out and get some.” Reid shivered as he spoke. Could he trust Foreman? Now that his teammate was on hand, maybe he’d dogsit while Reid went for a food run.

“Got any deli turkey or corn?” Cal asked. “Those are pretty safe foods for dogs.”

Reid didn’t realize how relieved he was not to have to leave the puppy so soon until Foreman presented a solution. Sounded like he knew what he was talking about. Probably had a big, friendly Lab when