Page 18 of Beards and Holly

“Oh my god, Gizmo. What a way to scare me.”

After the initial shock, I can’t help but be thrown into a fit of giggles. The fluffy mutt laps his big tongue all over my face as he welcomes himself to my bed. Maybe, keeping the doggy door open was a bad idea.

The doorbell is the only thing that saves me as the brute finally hops off the bed to go down and investigate. I lie in bed for another minute or two, hoping to collect myself before facing Jenson again.

“Merry Christmas, sunshine!”

“Aaahhh!”

It’s not my neighbor coming for his dog. It’s my sister. I jump from bed and hustle downstairs to find a hilarious scene. Daphne is behind Layton, who has Gizmo on his lap on the floor. It’s as if he stepped in to protect her from the giant furball and got taken down. Layton is no small man, so to watch him get mauled with dog slobber is hysterical to me, and I laugh, holding my belly.

“Can’t you do something?” Daphne shouts, not at all amused.

“Gizmo, come here, you silly dog,” I say, regaining myself.

To my surprise, he obeys just in time for his owner to show up in my open doorway.

Jenson looks sexy with messy hair and low-hanging sweat pants. He didn’t even bother with a T-shirt. He must have heard the commotion and sprinted over. The man forgets his dog has a penchant for breaking and entering.

“Gizmo,” he mutters, out of breath, and shakes his head in clear disappointment.

I bite my lip as he comes inside. My eyes drink in his exposed abs and the dusting of dark hair that leads down into the waistband of his gray sweats. I remember the strength he used against me last night, and my muscles remind me how sore I feel and how amazing it was to owned by him. And how much I desperately want it again. Forever if he’ll have me.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Jenson

Holly’s looking at me as if I’m a fucking meal. As much as I want to enjoy her eyes on me, I can’t help the vicious reminder of how she ran last night. I can’t even be mad. I say no strings. How many times have I been the one to get away from a potentially intimate moment?

Every single fucking time but one.

With Holly, I want more, and I need to make that crystal clear. Although, with my best friend and his girlfriend, Holly’s sister, here, this might not be the best time.

“I see his manners haven’t improved,” Layton grumbles, getting to his feet as Gizmo waddles over to Holly.

“He was just checking out the intruders, that’s all,” she says, scratching his head. Lucky mutt.

“Sorry, man, I’ll take him home. Come on, boy,” I say, slapping my leg. Gizmo whines at Holly’s feet.

I get it, man. I really do.

“Come,” I repeat.

Finally, he relents and follows me out the door. I head for home when I hear the door open behind me. I’m hoping it’s Holly chasing after me, but instead, I get a big grizzly bear bestie with a scowl.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Currently, I’m heading home to shower, then I’ll be heading over to my grandma’s why?”

“That’s not what I fucking meant, Jenson. What are you doing with Holly?”

“Excuse me? Holly is a grown woman, who I happen to have a lot of fucking respect for, so you better watch what follows that question.” My hackles rise, and for the first time in my friendship with Layton, I want to knock out the motherfucker.

My answer makes him baulk, and he takes a step back. I clench my jaw, my fists balled and ready to fly.

“I’m just worried because Holly is a sweetheart. I’ve known her just as long as I have Daphne. She’s practically my little sister.”

“And I’m not good enough. Trust me I know, man.”

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