Page 35 of Broken As Puck

Matt smirked. I swore the damn man could tell that I found him attractive when he babied homeless animals. Then again, who wouldn’t?

I took a few more photos and ushered him away, moving Brian Taylor into his place.

By the time we wrapped up the shoot, a couple of hours after starting, I had hundreds of photographs to go through. It would be difficult to choose the best ones. The players had all embraced the event so enthusiastically that it gave me hope for the rest of the year. Surely this was a good sign.

As I dismantled my tripod and packed it away, I heard Jesse declare that he needed to adopt a dog.

“You can’t take it on the road with you,” Austin reminded him.

Jesse held up his finger as if to stop Austin right there. “I could if it were purse-sized.”

“No, you can’t,” Coach Dunn interceded. “No animals in the hotel rooms. No animals on the bus. And most definitely no animals on any airplanes.”

“But, Coach,” Jesse whined. “People take emotional support animals on airplanes all the time.”

Coach Dunn pinched the bridge of his nose. “And those people need emotional support. Do you have papers giving you the right to travel with an emotional support animal, Young?”

Jesse narrowed his eyes. “I bet I could get them.”

Coach shook his head. “If you get a dog, it stays at home while the team is traveling.”

Jesse’s shoulders slumped. “Fine, no dog again.” He looked so dejected that I couldn’t help but giggle. He glanced at me and brightened. “I know! Chelsey can get a dog, and I’ll visit it.”

I pressed my lips together so as not to laugh at him again. “Sorry, Jesse, but my apartment doesn’t allow pets.”

“You could get a cat, though,” Matt said to Jesse, carrying over a cardboard box with a few small holes punched through the top of it. From inside, there was a plaintive meow.

Jesse’s eyes widened. “You’re getting one?”

Matt grinned. “Yup.” He gestured to the box. “This is Wasabi.”

“Wasabi?” Jesse tilted his head to the side. “Is that the ginger kitty?”

Matt opened the lid of the box and we all leaned over. Inside, sitting back on his haunches, was the ugly, flat-faced gray cat. My gaze rose to Matt, who looked absolutely thrilled. Honestly, it was kind of adorable.

“But… But…” Jesse trailed off.

Matt reached in and fluffed the top of the cat’s head, then closed the box again. “Apparently, they called him that because he’s an acquired taste and a little too spicy for some people.”

I snickered, and he stared at me, wide eyed. I knew I shouldn’t laugh because that would only encourage him, but it was impossible not to. “Sounds accurate.”

“Hey now, don’t you trash-talk my new housemate.”

“Sorry.” I mimed zipping my lips. “I won’t do it again.”

I was happy for him. Matt had never liked being alone for extended periods of time and, from what I’d heard, he lived by himself. It would be nice for him to have a cat to come home to.

Hold up, girl. Let’s not go getting warm and fuzzy over your ex.

I backed away, knowing that the voice in my head was right. It was a slippery slope. If I started engaging with Matt, it wouldn’t take much for me to lose myself in him all over again. “I’m going to start looking through those photos.”

His face fell, but I turned away before I was tempted to smooth over the situation. I went to my camera, clicked to view the images, and started scrolling through them, making a mental note of my favorites.

When I got as far back as the candid shots from the start of the day, I paused on one of Jesse with the Labrador. Using my fingers, I zoomed in on the background. Matt was sitting cross-legged on the grass, a dog on his lap, looking at me. There was something about his expression that gave me pause. Perhaps I was reading too much into it, but emotion practically radiated from him.

My nerves zinged and anticipation fluttered in my gut. What was going on? Was I imagining the way he looked at me in the photo?

I must be. Considering what happened between us, there was no reason for him to gaze at me as if I meant everything to him. I bit my lip. I wanted to dismiss the photo as a fluke, but it was hard to do that when faced with photographic evidence that he felt…something.