Page 76 of Leashed

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Sage felt a blush creeping across her cheeks as Bo opened one eye and lifted a brow. “You checking to see if I chase cars in my dreams?” he asked, rising up on his elbows.

She swung her legs over the edge of the sofa and bit the inside of her cheek. “Maybe.” When he pushed himself to his feet, she leaned forward. “Do you?”

“Actually, yeah.” He grinned. “I’ll run across the street and grab coffee, you get your list of questions ready.”

He slid the patio doors open and hopped the railing, leaving her to collect herself as the fog of a long night lifted and reality set in.

Today was the day.

She went about her regular routine, remembering to collect the last of her things from the bathroom and cramming them into the only bag not overflowing. By the time she made it to the kitchen, Bo was lounging on a chair, two cups of coffee on the table.

“The symbol on your chest,” she murmured, doing her best not to envision the chiseled chest in question, “is Hades’s official marker on you, isn’t it?”

Nodding, he scratched at the place of the tattoo. “Yeah. My brothers and I are pretty obviously his in hound form, but he wanted to ensure everyone knew who we belonged to while we’re upright.”

The words settled heavy in her mind, the realization he truly was owned beginning to sink in. Shaking off the thought of the wild, unapologetic Bo heeding to a master, she changed the subject. “So do you think more like a dog when you’re like that?”

His brow furrowed for a moment. “I’m more in tune with the environment, I guess,” he said slowly. “I mean, I can pick up a scent and follow it. And I can hear things I can’t hear when I’m like this. So it definitely has an impact on my behavior.” A sheepish look crossed his face. “And yeah, I get a kick out of chasing cars that doesn’t really appeal to me otherwise.”

Her cup was halfway to her lips when her eyes widened. “The dog on the freeway,” she muttered to herself before looking up at him. “That was you, wasn’t it?”

He shifted in his seat, hunching forward as his expression became guarded. “That footage looked worse than it was.”

“But it’s dangerous!” she exclaimed, cringing at the volume of her voice. “There’ve been over a dozen videos of it. You could’ve been killed.” She set her cup down, refusing to back down despite his obvious discomfort with the subject. “Why would you do that?”

“Some people bungee jump, some skydive. I happen to like playing on the road,” he grumbled, refusing to look at her. “I know what I’m doing out there, so it’s not a big deal.”

Sitting back in her chair, she pulled out her phone and searched out the videos, glaring at him intermittently as she re-watched the footage. The dog was definitely calculated in his movements, but the closeups from in the last video, one taken from a pedestrian walking along the sloped berm, was different. She restarted it, turning her phone toward him. “You have a death wish, tempting fate like that.”

“It’s called thrill-seeking,” he countered, pushing the phone back at her. “Drop it, okay?”

Tapping the video closed, she turned her cell facedown. “Fine. But don’t do it again.”

He snorted. “Like you have a say.”

*

Sage dropped thetopic with a stern glare, but Bo couldn’t shake the rush flowing through him since he heard the concern in her voice as she ordered him not to play in traffic again.

But she had no say in what he did.

And they both knew it.

“So what time are you heading out?” he asked when the last sip of coffee was gone.

Her face fell for a moment before she schooled her expression into one of forced excitement. “Right away. I said I’d be there by ten so…” She trailed off and took a sip of her coffee. “I should probably finish loading the car. I need to drop the boxes at a storage unit first.”

“Show me what needs to go in and I’ll help,” he offered, his stomach knotting at the idea of packing her up to move her into another man’s home.

Her shoulders tensed before she turned around and gave him a bright smile. “I’d appreciate that. It’s not much.”

Following her back to the living room, he nudged four of the boxes into the hall and picked up the other two while she collected the small bags and paused to look around the stripped room. As much as he wanted to say something, he bit his tongue and lingered until she squared her shoulders and led him down the hall. “Ready?”

“Are you?” he asked, passing her coat over.

Ignoring his question, she opened the front door and led him to the elevator, holding the doors for him as he ran the rest of the boxes in. While he set the first two down beside her car, she popped her trunk open. “Right. No more room.” Slamming it shut, she opened her door and tossed her small bags in. “So what are you doing today?”

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