Page 13 of Dirty Pucking Play

It was a short walk, only about three strides across the hall to reach the front door to Juliette’s condo. My finger found the button to ring her doorbell and I told Thor to sit as I pressed it and waited. He obeyed, sitting quietly beside me as the seconds felt like they stretched into hours. The lock clicked and the door slowly opened.

Juliette was wearing a cotton tank top and shorts. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head. Her eyes widened as they met mine. “Mac? What are you doing here?”

“I’m just getting ready to take Thor for a run, but I have something that belongs to you.”

She tilted her head to the side ever so slightly and crossed her arms over her chest as her guard slipped into place. She silently stared at me as I held out the package for her. Her eyes narrowed as she took it from my hands and read the packing label.

“It ended up in my mailbox accidentally.”

Juliette tucked the package under her arm as she lifted her narrowed eyes to mine. “You’ve had it for a few days.”

There was no question, it was a statement.

“I don’t check my mail every day, so I didn’t get it when it was delivered.”

She pursed her lips and her expression was hard to read. If I had to guess, she looked reluctant to believe me, but she didn’t press on the issue any further.

“Thank you,” she said softly with a nod. Her eyes dropped down to Thor and it was the first time she actually smiled since she opened the door. “I didn’t mean to ignore you, buddy.” She bent down to scratch behind his ears. “Your owner is a tad annoying, isn’t he?”

A chuckle escaped me. “I love when you talk shit about me to my dog.”

“It’s not talking shit if it’s the truth.”

Cocking my head to the side, my gaze slowly traveled from her right eye to the left before settling on her right eye again. The ring around her iris was almost black and there were flecks of charcoal in the gray depths. Her right was slightly darker than her left. “One day you’re going to feel differently about me.”

Juliette’s eyes widened and her spine straightened but she quickly snorted to cover up her shock. “That’s doubtful,” she scoffed and took a step back with her hand on the door. “Thanks for delivering the package that belonged to me.”

“I could have kept it,” I said with a shrug as the corners of my lips twitched. “But you’re welcome.”

She glared at me as she slowly began to shut the door. “Go put on a damn shirt before someone gets into a car accident staring at you.”

Her voice was barely audible, as if she only meant for herself to hear the words she mumbled, but I heard them. I stared at her door as she closed it and put a barrier between us. My lips broke out into a grin and I shook my head as I ran a hand through my hair.

She was going to drive me fucking insane.

And I was going to love every second of it.

Thor kept up the pace with me as we went for a run around the city. The route that I had mapped out that we ran ended up being a little over five miles. It helped with Thor’s energy and by the time we reached the condo building, he was walking at a much slower pace. I stopped by the front door and bent down to give him a drink of water before we headed back inside.

The cool air from the air conditioning slid across my skin that was slick with sweat. The Florida heat and humidity was no joke. Usually I tried to get out earlier in the day or late in the evening, not in the middle of the morning like today. It was definitely hotter than I liked it to be while we went for a run, but we survived and got through it.

It just meant that practice this afternoon was going to be a lot harder on my tired muscles.

The elevator ride to my floor was quick and Thor walked beside me as we stepped into the hall. It was quiet, but the sound of his panting was loud as hell, echoing around us as we moved to my door. My key slid into the lock and I turned it over before reaching for the handle.

“You defiled my book.”

I slowly turned back around from my door and met Juliette’s gaze from across the hall. Her slender legs moved and she stepped closer to me with her arms crossed defensively over her chest.

“Excuse me?” I asked her with my eyebrows pinched together.

She huffed and the irritation was written across her facial expression. “I didn’t order a used book and there is stuff written throughout it.”

“And you think it was me?”

Juliette uncrossed her arms and planted her hands on her hips with the book in one hand as she stared me down. There was something about the way she was staring at me that demanded my full attention. I couldn’t look away from her—I didn’t want to. The anger was rolling off her in waves, rippling against my own skin.

Fuck, she was hot like this.

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