Rocked (The Everyday Heroes World) - Julia Wolf Page 0,20
his perimeter check and came trotting up to rest his massive head on Devon’s knee, making the rock star laugh.
“You’ve got a friend for life, if you just keep scratching his ears.”
Devon raised his head, flashing me another grin, then let his eyes roam back to the sunset. With a sigh, he settled back in his chair, his hand resting on Leroy’s head.
“Idyllic,” he murmured.
“Yeah.” I took one last look at him before training my eyes on the sunset. “It is.”
Seven
Kat
Ellie went sailing out of my truck straight into her dad’s house. I was slower, letting Leroy out to rampage through Veego’s flower beds. I had to laugh when my ornery, no-good-rotten dog lifted his leg to piss all over the rose bushes. It was like he knew how much Veego loved those bushes and did it just to spite him.
Veego’s house was a brick rancher. A bit bigger than mine with an immaculate yard. Any spare minute he had, he was out there, pulling weeds and planting flowers. If Ellie didn’t have pollen allergies, I knew he’d fill the entire yard with flowers. When we were kids, we’d talk about our “one day” houses, and the top of his list was a rose garden.
Life happened, plans changed. Now, he had a rose bush that got peed all over by his ex-girlfriend’s dog on a weekly basis.
“Hey, dog, get outta there!” Veego stood in his doorway, scowling at Leroy.
Leroy continued peeing like a damn racehorse, practically grinning at Veego.
“He knows you don’t like him.” Juggling my keys between my hands, I walked up to the porch, and Veego gave me a quick hug and kiss on the temple. “Hey, you.”
His rough palm stroked the back of my hair before he let me go. “How’s it going?”
“Pretty good. I’m still dreading this weekend.”
He groaned and gripped my shoulders. “Come on, babe. You have to relax. She’s so fucking excited about it, and I’m excited for her.”
“I’m not letting her see how nervous I am, but you calling me babe and telling me to relax is doing the exact opposite.”
Shaking his head, he dropped his hands and backed up a step. “Now I’m not allowed to call you babe?”
My lip lifted into a snarl. “You haven’t been allowed to call me babe since you stepped out on me. Kitty Kat is bad enough, but babe? Ugh, it just reminds me of those days.”
Veego’s head jerked back. “You for real? You haven’t brought that up in a decade.”
“That doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about it.”
I really hadn’t thought about it, not with everything else that had gone down since, but it had been on my mind since telling Devon about it a few nights ago. When it happened, I’d been going through something far heavier than Veego cheating, which, in retrospect, made it worse. But it wasn’t fair for me to be angry about it all these years later. Not when I’d made the choice to forgive him.
“Kat, you know I regret that. I was messed up about what happened to you and—”
I held my hand up. “Now isn’t the time. I doubt it’ll ever be the time. Just don’t call me babe, okay?”
“Kat…” He sighed, his attention turning to Leroy, who was probably getting up to no good behind me, but I wasn’t too concerned. “Your dog’s digging a hole to China in the middle of my yard.”
I patted my hip. “Leroy, get over here.”
What sounded like a herd of elephants tromped my way. His big, bowling ball head butted the back of my thigh, sending me into Veego’s rock-solid chest. Then he flopped on the ground beside me like the innocent little lamb he was.
I punched Veego’s flexed pec. “Work out much?”
He chuckled, gripping my waist to steady me. “It’s been known to happen.” His hands slid up my ribs. “You’re feeling mighty fine yourself.”
Giving him another punch, I extricated myself from his hold. “Don’t be fresh, Victor. I’m too busy for that.”
A laugh sputtered from his closed lips. “If I don’t get to call you babe, you don’t get to call me Victor. And that wasn’t me getting fresh, that was me admiring your shape, which you like to keep hidden.”
“I’m not hiding anything. I simply don’t feel the need to put myself on display. My mangled face garners enough attention, so excuse me if I’d rather not draw even more.”
Veego’s eyes melted into pools of muddy brown pity. “You’re not mangled. You’re nowhere near mangled. Don’t say that.”