Page 14 of A Little Puck Luck

Stop comparing Terry to your ex!

I sat ramrod straight, keeping as quiet as possible while waiting for Terry to tell me what his rules were.

His hand shook my thigh, causing my body to shake and reminding me how much broken ribs sucked. “Annie, why are you like a ghost?”

I let my shoulders slump while trying not to move my torso at all. I felt like a fucking failure for allowing myself to get into an abusive relationship. But it happened, and I stayed in that relationship until it killed my unborn child and nearly killed me.

My words stuck in my throat for just a moment, but the silence was deafening. Terry was waiting for me to speak again.

“I’m afraid of making you angry. Of screwing this up more than I already have,” I murmured.

While those two sentences were hard enough to say, I wanted to say more. I wanted to tell him how I messed up by depriving him of his son, but I truly thought I was doing what was best for Terry and his career.

“Me too. Which is why I’m trying to make sure we’re on the same page about everything.”

I nodded, but I stayed quiet.

Terry shook his head and went ahead with his rules.

“I need you to walk Walter whenever I’m out of town. Morning and night. Ideally, at lunchtime, too. He needs the activity, but he’s not like some dogs that are super hyper. I’ve also tried to use some drool rags to help keep up with his drool.”

“Okay. You can show me where you keep everything. I’m sure it will be fine. But I have to ask, why did you name your dog Walter?”

Terry chuckled. “It’s an old joke between me and Tree Boy. When his pup had puppies, each pup had a colored collar to help tell them apart. I got the one with the white collar, and we all called him Walter White.”

I smiled at that. That was such a Terry thing to do.

“Anything else?”

“I want to spoil Eric, and you can’t stop me.”

I chuckled at that and instantly winced. I needed to remember not to laugh until my ribs healed because it hurt like a bitch.

He was always so caring, and he loved to spoil people. It was so on-brand. I just hoped he didn’t blow all his hockey money on silly things just to make Eric happy.

“I won’t stop you. He’s been wanting a dad who will pay attention to him and let him play hockey.”

Seeing Terry’s grip on the steering wheel intensify, it was undeniable—tension was building in the air despite his affable nature. However, that might have been coming from my being afraid of changing emotions since it almost always led to me getting hurt in some way.

“Hockey is non-negotiable as long as he likes it. I will always leave tickets to my games for you two. I want him at as many games as possible.”

A half smile lifted my lips. It was sweet that he wanted to leave tickets for us. But there was one undeniable problem.

“Your games interfere with my job.”

Terry’s face dropped. He must have really wanted Eric at the games as much as Eric wanted to go to the games.

“Oh,” Terry said.

I shrugged my shoulders, although it was pretty easy to explain.

“I walk dogs, and one of the major time frames for me to get gigs is in the evenings since that’s their dog’s usual routine. But I will do my best. For both of you.”

“Then let’s talk about dating,” he continued.

I rolled my eyes. After Luke, that was the last thing on my mind.

“It’s not going to happen for me.”

---