“He’s a mix,” she explains. “They’re impossible to adopt—at least to families. Most people don’t want their children around that type of dog. We’re very selective about potential owners, but he hasn’t had a single interested party in the three months he’s been at a shelter. He was scheduled for euthanasia at his prior rescue.”
I know a thing or two about being unwanted, how it feels to be passed around like people are just taking turns putting up with you. When the bidding starts there’s hesitation. A few spare pitying glances, others return to conversations. He’s not the adorable puppy that makes for sweet social media photos. Adair whispers something and the dog sits immediately. He soaks up the praise as she pats his head.
“Why is Adair up there?” I ask.
“She volunteers at the shelter. You know how she loves animals.”
“Ever since she had to stop riding, this has been her passion,” Cyrus adds.
“She stopped riding?” This is a surprise.
“Competitively,” Poppy tacks on, shooting daggers at her boyfriend.
There’s a story here. A few more glasses of wine and I’ll get one of them to spill it. For now, I can’t stop looking at Zeus. The bidding has already tapered out. He isn’t going to raise more than $400 when it’s all said and done.
“Adair adores him,” Poppy says, “but she’ll never adopt him.”
So, she loves him, but he doesn’t deserve a place in her heart? Before I realize what I’m doing my paddle is in the air.
“$5000,” I call out.
Heads swing my direction. Kai is momentarily gobsmacked. I don’t miss how Adair flinches when she realizes I’m the bidder.
But I didn’t do it for her.
No one challenges my bid, although a few assholes yell jokes about how I’m bidding all wrong. That’s not how I see it.
“Are these animals available for adoption?” I asked Poppy after the bidding moves to the next animal.
“Yes,” she says, her eyebrows knitting together. “But—”
“I’ll double that bid if you can arrange for them to have his paperwork ready tomorrow morning.”
“You don’t have to actually take him home,” she reminds me.
“For ten thousand bucks, I’d rather have a dog than a picture.”
“You old softy,” Luca mutters so only I can hear.
When Adair returns to the table, she accepts praise from everyone as though she fucking sold the dog. In a way, she did, but it’s not because she’s some beautiful soul. She keeps her eyes carefully from mine. She knows why I did it.
“Sterling is adopting Zeus,” Poppy announces.
“I was there.” The chill in her voice instantly diminishes the mood at the table.
“No, he’s actually adopting him.” Poppy claps her hands together as though I’ve made her night.
Adair’s mouth hangs open for a second before she clamps it shut. She doesn’t recover before the auction ends and the evening progresses on to the dancing portion. Yet another course in the endless buffet of tonight’s fuckery.
“You don’t look pleased,” I say to her.
“It seems like you have something to prove,” she says.
“That I love animals?” I offer.
A muscle ticks in her jaw. “I’m sure that’s it.”
“Why don’t you and I dance? I’ll explain why I adopted the dog.” I stand up and extend a hand across the table. All our companions watch us, waiting to see how she’ll respond. She dares a look at Malcolm and I catch him nod his head slightly.
He’s given her marching orders. I’m to be kept happy—and these days, Adair always does what she’s told. She huffs as she stands and then stomps to the dance floor. I catch her before she reaches it, wrapping a hand around her waist and spinning her into my arms. My other hand closes over hers. It’s delicate, her skin cool and soothing to the touch. Adair stares at our clasped hands for a moment as if trying to recall some long-forgotten memory. My thumb brushes over hers instinctively. She doesn’t resist as we move seamlessly into a waltz.
“I didn’t know you could dance,” she comments.
My hand flattens on the small of her back, holding her in place—close enough to smell the magnolia in her perfume, far enough to resist its temptation. It’s the little things about her that press on my memories. “There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me.”
“Like where you’re going to keep a dog?” she asks. “Sounds like you’re busy running off between Nashville and London and who knows where else.”
“Actually,” I say, leading her around an older couple who isn’t keeping pace to the music, “I just bought a place at Twelve and South.”
The color drains from her face, but she doesn’t respond.
“I thought Zeus looked like good company,” I add.
“If you think that you’re going to adopt that dog just to spite me,” she starts.
“I adopted the dog because no one wanted it.” My voice is low and laced with contempt. She flinches but recovers immediately.
“You’re assuming that.” There’s still nothing she hates more than that, it seems.
“Poppy told me. He’s just a bargaining chip. No one wants him. They’re scared of them. They think he’ll hurt them. They saw the cover and decided his story isn’t for them without reading a single word.”
“They don’t know him,” she says quietly.
“And you do?” I ask her.
“Better than you think.” Her fingers shift from my grasp and lace through mine. “As long as you’re going to take care of him.”
“I swear on all the dog biscuits.” I spin her in a circle, dipping her backward slightly. She blinks like she feels a heady rush of blood. That makes two of us. I need to get this back on track, and quickly. “You work at the shelter?”
“I have to have something to do.” She doesn’t sound happy about it.
Someone taps me on the shoulder. We pause to find Kai there. “Mind if I cut in?”
Her knight has come to save her. She looks relieved. I release her into his custody, ignoring how empty my arms feel without her in
