Good Boy (WAGs #1)(82)

Five years ago, I was going to marry a girl named Molly. I loved her. I thought she loved me. And…it didn’t work out. Then I spent five years trying to pretend it hadn’t ruined my entire view on relationships. I played along with a crazy lie because I didn’t want my family to get hurt by Molly the way I’d been hurt. But despite that, I’d thought I’d moved on.

I have moved on, but I didn’t realize until this very moment that there’s been a thundercloud following me around since then. I’ve smiled and I’ve laughed and I’ve fucked, but that cloud was always there.

Not anymore. Because Jess Canning just shot her rays of sunshine into that cloud, and now my sky is so blue that I can’t even remember the gray. She defended me. She made it crystal clear that she’s never, ever going to let anyone hurt me.

Nobody’s ever done that for me before.

I exhale in a big fat rush, and then I just fucking ask what I’ve been wanting to ask her for weeks. “You wanna move in with me?”

She blinks. “I’m sorry. What?”

“Do you want to move in with me? In here. Together.”

The surprise doesn’t leave her expression. But it’s joined with suspicion. “Are you only asking because you feel sorry for me?”

“Fuck no,” I say immediately. I march over and plant myself next to her. “I’m asking because I want you to move in.” When she looks ready to object, I hold up my hand. “I wouldn’t dream of offering you a free ride,” I add in a wry tone. “You can pay rent or utilities or whatever you feel comfortable paying, okay? This isn’t a handout or a pity offer or some trick on my part. I just want you to come live with me.”

She studies my face. “Why?”

“Because I love you.” I roll my eyes. “Fucking duh.”

Her face softens. But then her phone rings, goddamn it. And I don’t blame her for checking it because she’s been waiting for this call since we got home.

“Hold that thought,” my girl says. “But, actually, your timing is a little weird. Because there’s someone else who needs to be your roommate.”

“What?” I try to guess what she means and come up blank. “Like, a threesome?” I joke.

“Riiiight. Only your mind would go there,” she says as the concierge’s buzzer rings. Jess marches over, grabs the handset and says, “Send her up.”

Even I forget that we were sort of having a moment there, because Jessie disappears into the hallway and shuts the door behind her.

“You know you just locked yourself out, right?” I call through the wood.

“Guess I should have asked for my own key first,” she replies.

I hear low voices a minute later. Jess confers with someone, then taps politely on the door. “Blake? Are you ready to be surprised?”

When I pull open the door, Jess is standing there with a nervous smile on her face and a chocolate lab puppy in her arms.

Holy shit.

Shyly, she says, “This guy is all yours if you want. Jamie and I will walk him when you’re on the road. And there’s a doggy daycare just four blocks away if you want him to have more fun…”

I should probably be listening to every word she says, but that’s hard when the puppy opens his mouth in a goofy smile and looks up at me.

“Oh!” I reach for him. “Aren’t you the cutest thing I’ve ever seen?” I hold him up and he wiggles in my hands, his soft puppy fur tickling my wrists. I stroke his floppy ears as I gape at Jess. “Where did you get him? Puppies cost a mint.”

“Well, after I heard what happened to your dog, I called Paula from Broken Paws and told her I wanted to get you a dog. And she had a pregnant one at the shelter.”

“No way. Puppies go quickly, though.”

Jess smiles. “She saved him for you because that woman would do anything for you. And if you decide this idea of mine is just too crazy, she said she could find another home for him with one phone call.”

I let the puppy lick my nose. Cheezus. I’ve had him for under five minutes and already there’s no way I’m letting him go.

“I love him,” I declare. Then I catch myself, because I’m not going to profess my love for a dog—even one as cute as this—before I say it to my girlfriend. “Wait. I love you. So move in with me.”

Her chest expands with a big breath. She rocks back on her heels and smiles at the ceiling. “Okay. It’s a little nutty, but I’ll do it. I want to be with you.”

“It’s not nutty,” I object. “Well…” That line of argument is a lost cause because I’m a little nutty all the time. It’s part of my charm. “Embrace the nutty, J-Babe. Move in. Study for your tests on the couch with the puppy. Sleep naked in my bed.” I take a step closer and touch my lips to hers. “You make Blake Riley Smiley.”

“I know,” she says, kissing me back.

The puppy thumps its stubby tail against my chest and everything is perfect.





32 The KissCam Starts Now, Fans





Jess


For the very last time, I stand in front of the tiny dorm room mirror on the back of our door and check my outfit. “What do you think?” I ask Violet. I’m wearing skinny black jeans and a low-cut cashmere sweater, my boobs hiked up to my chin by my most ambitious bra.