Page 79 of Force Play

Chapter 32

Indie

“Explain to me again why we are meeting at Dom’s to watch the game,” Poppy quizzes me from the other end of the phone, which is on speaker. The girls are supposed to meet me there in thirty minutes and I’m still getting my shit together. By getting my shit together, I mean stress eating the rest of the cookie dough that Dom opened the other day.

“It’s nearly ninety-five degrees out and he has a pool with a TV. Do you need more of a reason to have a frozen drink and watch your man play from a pool with your best friends?”

“Are you sure it’s not an aquarium? Because I smell something fishy.”

It’s not that I don’t want to tell her, I do; keeping her in the dark feels like a betrayal. I just want to get this over with all at once instead of telling everyone individually. “If this interrogation continues much longer, Mia and Lilah are going to be left waiting outside because they beat us there. And they are bringing the margarita mix, so I should probably get going.”

“Dammit, you’re right.” She sighs.

“I know.”

“I still have questions. Don’t think I’ll forget just because margaritas were involved.”

“Again, I know.” This time it’s me sighing into the phone as we hang up. I toss the now empty container of cookie dough, which isn’t as tragic as it sounds because, as promised, Dom found a way to pack my freezer full from his early morning flight yesterday. As of this morning, my stock is more than replenished. Chocolate chip, double chocolate, peanut butter, snickerdoodle and M&M. He also had a heating pad and tylenol delivered. I had no doubt he would come through but it still made me question why I fought this for so long.

Luckily, it’s been a pretty easy period so far and I haven’t needed the last two emergency items, but the gesture was very much appreciated.

Like I predicted, Lilah and Mia are both waiting when I get there and are all over me as soon as I step out of the car.

“You have a key?” Mia asks, stunned.

“Did you think we were going to do a little light B&E today?” I twist the key in the lock letting them into the house. One that feels more like home than my own apartment over the last few weeks.

“No, I just assumed you had a garage code or something. A key is so tangible.”

“And it’s a lot harder to change the locks than just resetting a code. She’s right, it’s a big deal,” Lilah adds.

“Your brother gave Poppy a key so she could water her plants and they barely knew each other.” I drop to my knee, giving Ronnie some love when she trots up to me.

“And now they’re getting married,” Lilah reminds me, before joining me to scratch behind the dog’s ears.

“Can we just give me a break until Poppy gets here? I’ll tell you all anything you want to know then.”

“Anything?” Mia salivates at the potential for gossip.

“Within reason.” Walking toward the living room, I find Ronnie’s collection of toys haphazardly strewn across the floor in front of the dog cam.

Bending to pick one up, I ask, “Did he train you to do this?” Behind me, the contraption whirls mechanically and I whip my head around just in time to see it spit out a treat. “Of course he did.”

“So . . . you want me to make yours a double?” Lilah asks, unpacking the bag she brought.

“Yes . . . No, actually. I don’t want to drown.” And I also want to be sober for my FaceTime with Dom after their game.

Poppy walks in a few minutes later, with Nana Janet following close behind—a tray of brownies in hand—and we all follow Ronnie to the patio, wasting no time sinking into the water, eager for a reprieve from the heat.

“She’s such a cutie,” Nana says, floating up to where Ronnie and I are sharing an oversized float that Dom bought for this very reason. Perking up at the sound of her name she nudges me with her nose demanding ear scratches.

“And she knows it.” I indulge her with a laugh.

“Must get that ego from her owner. It’s awful nice of him to let you come and go as you please. Last I heard, you could barely be around him without sparring.”

“He gave me a key when I hurt my ankle so I could use the pool.”

“And?” Lilah asks, paddling over from where she drifted across the pool.

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