Page 45 of Pucking Revenge

This kid. I can’t help but laugh. “All right, I’ve got to head to work. Tell Mom I called.”

“Will do.” Without waiting for me to disconnect the call, he picks up his Switch. That little bit of normalcy forces some of the tension still plaguing me to ebb. He’s going to be fine.

Exhausted and late, I hustle to the employee entrance of the office building at Langfield Corp. Before I reach the doors, Beckett, Liv, and Gavin stroll out. Beckett is holding a leash, and Deogi is traipsing after them.

“Perfect timing,” Liv croons. Her cheeks are rosy and her eyes are bright. She’s wearing her hair down today. For the first several months I worked for Langfield Corp, I never saw her without it pulled up into a bun. Now, with the way it falls in soft waves around her face and paired with the black leggings and an oversized burgundy sweater, she’s the epitome of relaxed.

“Where are you headed?” I crouch so I can greet their pet too. “Hi, Dog. How you doing, buddy?”

Beckett lets out a gruff sigh. “It’s not Dog. It’s Deogi. Say it with me. Deee-oh-giii.”

Beside him, Gavin snorts, his eyes twinkling.

Still scratching behind the pup’s ears, I peer up at Beckett. Despite his ridiculousness, he’s wearing his signature serious face. The man isn’t messing with me. No, Beckett Langfield doesn’t joke around.

“Why the duck are you looking at me like that?”

Gavin laughs harder and grasps my upper arm to help me to my feet. “We’re on our way to the shelter. When you weren’t at your desk, I figured you’d already headed over with Brooks.”

Shit. Even after our talk with War last night, I’d forgotten about the event. My brain is officially scrambled. At least I decided on pants today rather than a skirt.

It’s mayhem when the Langfields’ limo pulls up to the event. Once we’ve all exited, Beckett looks at every other animal as if it’s inferior to Deogi, and Liv rolls her eyes the whole way into the building because her husband is so absurd. I adore them.

Before Beckett married Liv, I feared the man. He was constantly grumpy and snapped at his employees regularly.

It’s obvious now that he was a hungry dog, and Liv was a treat dangled just out of his reach day in and day out.

Now that he can touch her and kiss her any time he wants, it’s like he’s getting a steady stream of dopamine.

“I really think it’d be better if you took Deogi back to the house,” Liv says gently, trying to coax her husband to leave. “This is a lot for him.”

Giving her the kind of warm smile that still surprises me coming from him, he presses a kiss to her forehead. Then he grabs a chair from against the wall and drags it over to us. “Just sit here with him and make it look like you’re the happiest woman in the world. Show all the people here what they’re missing out on because they don’t have a dog.”

Liv bites back her smile, and I giggle. The man is completely serious.

“Okay, baby,” she says, placating him. “I can do that.”

Gavin nudges me. “Looks like your boyfriend and his dog have quite the line.”

I follow his line of sight until I spot Brooks and Aiden crouched down in front of a group of kids. His long brown hair is pulled back, and a green sweater stretches across his muscles, making his emerald irises pop. The dark jeans he’s got on are worn perfectly in all the right places and molded to his thick thighs. Damn, I can’t keep my eyes off my fake boyfriend. When he scoops a tan and white boxer into his arms, my chest warms and butterflies take flight in my belly.

“Man, I have no idea how I missed it,” Gavin says beside me, though it sounds like he’s speaking from inside a fishbowl.

“What?” I ask, but I don’t turn to look at him. I’m fixated on the genuine smile on Brooks’s face. And when he laughs with the kids surrounding him and his eyes crinkle, it’s like a shot to the heart.

“We all knew he had a crush on you, but until now, I never noticed that you look at him in the same way.”

That snags my attention. I whip around and gape at Gavin. That’s the second time one of Brooks’s family members has mentioned him having a crush.

“It’s a good thing.” Gavin gives me an encouraging smile, like maybe he senses my confusion. “There’s no one better. Seriously. You’re in good hands.”

He’s right about that. There is no one on earth as kind and caring as Brooks. Allowing that thought to settle me, I nod and turn back to the show the hockey players are putting on by simply existing.

Ava is hugging her clipboard to her chest and glaring down at War, who’s sitting cross-legged on the ground with an oversized mutt in his lap, commanding the attention of half the room. The man is pretty, that’s for damn sure. And every time he peeks over at Ava, his blue eyes dance with mirth. He loves pissing her off.

McGreevey is chatting with fans, along with Parker, whose wife is with him. When the tiny woman with dark hair cut in an asymmetrical style spots Liv, she heads our way. She’s one of Liv’s former brownstone roommates, and the two have been friends since college. After I give her a quick hug, I head toward Brooks and Aiden.

“You guys having fun?” I open my arms and angle in to give Aiden a squeeze hello, but I’m stopped when large hands find my hips and pull me back. “Excuse me!” With a huff, I whip around and glower at my giant of a best friend.

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