AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Once the ringing had stopped, the screams started. The cries for help, the moans of agony. Dean could still hear them, especially in the quiet.
Which was why he avoided it at all costs.
When he’d first been transferred to Sacramento and ordered to attend group therapy, he’d been numb. Matter-of-fact and detached. It wasn’t until about three months after he’d settled in that the nightmares had started, but connecting with Oliver Martinez, Tyler Best, and Blake Kline had helped with that. They had all been ordered to attend group for different reasons, but Dean had found himself hitting Mick’s with them a couple times a week to ease the loneliness of going back to his place.
It was all supposed to be temporary, even his friends. He’d figured six months tops, and he’d be cleared. Aside from the nightmares, he had adjusted to what happened. He was fine.
Instead, he’d been assigned as director of the new military outreach program, Alpha Dog Training Program. They were trying the community program out in the Sacramento area first, but the goal was to eventually have one in every city across the country. It was supposed to be a way to help kids who had gotten into trouble; instead of sending nonviolent offenders to juvie, they were sent to Alpha Dog to serve out their sentences. While there, the kids learned how to care for animals and train them in basic obedience. After their time at Alpha Dog was up, the program would assist them in finding part-time jobs with local animal shelters and veterinary hospitals or ROP programs to continue their education in Animal Health.
Dean was proud of the program, especially since it gave shelter dogs that wouldn’t have been adopted otherwise a new lease on life. As the program’s animal behavior expert, Best visited local shelters and evaluated dogs set to be euthanized, temperament testing them. If they passed, they found a new home at Alpha Dog, and once they went through basics with a kid, they would be put into a specialty program and trained by one of the experienced handlers. Right now the program focused on military, police, search and rescue, and therapy dogs, but they were hoping to expand the roles in the coming years.
As the director, Dean was in charge of the day-to-day operations and intakes, but some days it felt like he was just a glorified paper pusher. He didn’t belong behind a desk; he needed to be back overseas. His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had all been military, had worked their way up the ranks through blood, sweat, and tears, not by dealing with worried parents and angry teenagers.
He needed to prove that he could still do the job. That he wasn’t done. He wasn’t ready to be finished with the field.
Still, it wasn’t as if he didn’t like Alpha Dog. He enjoyed working with the kids who came through and training the dogs. Hell, he wouldn’t have his American pit bull terrier mix, Dilbert, if it wasn’t for Alpha Dog, but that was supposed to have been a temporary placement, too. He was committed to finding Dilbert the perfect home before he left; he just hadn’t found it yet.
The bottom line was he had never planned to stay this long.
Which was why he’d been steering clear of most women. He hadn’t been living completely as a monk, but his hookups had been few and far between. The last thing he wanted was to lead a woman on only to bail as soon as he got his new orders.
Dean’s gaze was drawn to Violet again, her gorgeous red hair flowing down her back as she laughed at something the bartender said. She was hot, with legs up to her chest and those perky tits under that blue tank top—but she wasn’t hookup material.
And that was all he could offer right now.
She came walking back, juggling the four drinks in two hands. When she caught him looking at her, she flashed that wide, friendly smile again. It was like a ray of fucking sunshine, and damn if he didn’t want to bask in it.
Before he even realized it, he was moving toward her. “Let me help you with those.”
“I got them, but you can take yours.” Violet held out the beer to him, and he took it, his fingers brushing against hers with a jolt.
Without asking again, he took another beer off her hands. “I’m trying to make up for being rude, but you gotta work with me.”
Violet seemed to study him for a moment, as if evaluating his sincerity. “I appreciate the effort.”
Her tone was soft and husky, and for just a moment, Dean couldn’t look away from her eyes and was lost in their twinkly, dark depths. He half expected smoke to rise up between them the air was so charged, and a faint voice hollered deep inside him to look away, but he was too distracted by the soft sound of her breathing as her mouth opened a little. An unspoken invitation for him to come closer, to see if she tasted like her lips looked: sweetly tart, like sun-ripened raspberries.
“Yo, are you two gonna kiss or kill each other?”
&n
bsp; Tracy’s ill-timed joke broke the connection, and Dean turned from her, silently cursing himself as he brought the beer to Best. He sensed Violet beside him but couldn’t look at her. What was wrong with him? Was it the fact that he was trying not to be attracted to her that made her more desirable?
“I come bearing libation.” He glanced her way as she spoke, but she was giving Tracy an angry scowl and wasn’t paying him any attention.
“I will accept your libation,” Tracy said.
Dean held Best’s beer out to him. “Here.”
“Thanks, buddy. I love it when you serve me.” Best took his cup and gave Dean a raised eyebrow as he took a drink of his beer, silently asking him what he thought of Violet.
Dean shook his head, and Best frowned, confusion muddying up his pretty face.
“Hey, Violet, thanks for the beer,” Tyler called.
“Just returning the favor,” she said.
“I like that. Most women wouldn’t offer.” Tyler grinned at Tracy, who tossed her hair.
