Page 105 of Clean Slade
King looked at both my teammates and glared at both of them.
“You’ve got gutter minds.”
“What? As if it didn’t cross your mind,” Maddox said.
“Well…” I mumbled, only to get King’s glare aimed at me. “What? I’m only human.”
He shook his head with a laugh and dropped to greet the dog with a big smile.
“Hello, Biscuit! You’re back! Such a good boy.”
Biscuit rolled on his back and wiggled his body—tail included—as King rubbed his belly and sang his praises.
“I think he missed you,” Asher said.
“Who wouldn’t,” I said.
Everyone turned to me, and Ash grinned.
“Anything you’d like to tell us, you two?” he asked.
“No,” I growled.
“Fine!” Ash put his hands in the air and took a step back.
“Oh, it’s such a shame Mac isn’t here. She loves Biscuit,” King said and reached for a treat.
“She’s so good with dogs. I’m surprised you don’t have any. What kind of groomer doesn’t have a dog?” Maddox shoved his boyfriend, but Ash feigned ignorance, although he did have a point.
“I know. It was just…never the right time.”
He looked at me, and I knew what he wasn’t saying.
How could he have a dog when everything could crumble right under his feet?
“Maybe now is the perfect time.”
King smiled despite the heaviness resettling behind his eyes.
“Yeah. Maybe you’re right.”
TWENTY-FIVE
KING
“Is she out?” he asked as soon as I walked into the living room, a bowl of popcorn in his lap and the TV remote in his hand.
He looked as sexy as he ever had, but for some reason, the familiarity with which he occupied my couch, wearing some fucking hot gray sweatpants and a matching tank top that hugged his body in all the right places, alighted my insides.
I didn’t think there was anything I wouldn’t do to him or for him as he lounged there like that, and that was my fantasies being tame. I didn’t even want to let them roam free because I’d probably come just standing there watching him.
“King?” he spoke again, and I remembered I was staring at him like an idiot.
“Um…yes.” I shook my head clear. “She was snoring before she even hit the pillow.”
I settled next to him and took a deep breath that sounded more like a moan.
I knew we were supposed to watch a movie, but every part of me needed him now.
