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She noticed the intense burning in Dean’s gaze as he smiled down at her.
“Anytime you want to thank me, Violet, you go right ahead.”
Violet groaned and shook her head. “It was just a thank-you. A one off. Don’t let it go to your head.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
Violet stepped over a snoring Dilbert and walked past Dean to the bathroom, intending to escape without any more embarrassing maneuvers.
“Wait a second,” he said behind her.
With a heavy sigh, Violet turned to face him. “You just couldn’t let me escape with my dignity, could you?”
“No, actually, I wanted to ask your permission for something. Casey has asked for self-defense lessons, and I’ve agreed, pending your approval.”
Violet’s heart hurt for her brother. She hated that he didn’t feel safe anymore, but the reality was that the world was filled with dangers. Not everyone faced them, but he had and he’d come through it.
But if this would help him, would lead him back to the kid he’d been before . . .
“Of course it’s fine.”
“I’ll need you to sign a waiver.”
Of course, because they couldn’t do anything without some kind of legal document these days.
“Sure, I’ll sign it.”
“I’ll bring it into the visiting room. Safer that way.” He winked at her.
Violet placed her hands on her hips, playing a cockiness she didn’t feel. “Why, because you think I can’t keep my hands off you?”
“Or maybe I can’t keep my hands off you.”
Chapter Twenty
ONE WEEK LATER, the other boys in the unit made a circle around Dean and Casey while Dean demonstrated how Casey could throw a man twice his weight over his shoulder. When he’d approached the other instructors about incorporating a self-defense lesson into their daily routine, they had all been for it. Dean had e-mailed a permission and liability waiver to all of the parents, and anyone whose parents hadn’t signed off was doing independent study.
Which was how Dean suddenly found himself flipped onto his back, staring up into the clear blue sky. Well, for half a second before Casey’s head blocked his view, his smile a flash of white on his shadowed face.
Dean had decided to show the boys one defense move a day and let them practice it for twenty minutes. He’d expected a lot of excitement over it, but he hadn’t expected Casey to master the move and take him down like a lumberjack on his second try. Self-defense aimed to use the least amount of strength for the maximum damage, but damn, the kid had skills.
Casey held his hand out to him, and Dean took it. Climbing to his feet, he rolled his shoulder and almost rubbed at it like an old man.
“Good job.” Dean slapped his hand on Casey’s back, pleased that the kid just grinned. “All right, listen up,” Dean hollered. “Pick a partner and work on this move, and this move only, for five minutes. Then we’ll go collect our dogs and get back to work.”
Jogging over to the fence, Dean leaned back against it and watched, missing a familiar face. Liam had been discharged this morning and released to his new foster family; they were both veterinarians who lived in Folsom. Dean, along with Liam’s social worker, had put feelers out to a few of the hospitals and shelters they worked with to get him the placement, although Liam hadn’t gotten his hopes up, even after meeting them. But this morning, when he’d learned it was a done deal and they were picking him up, he’d actually cried.
Dean wished that all of these kids would get out of here and find something better waiting for them but knew it wouldn’t work out that way for most of them.
Which brought Dean back to thinking about the three questions Rita had given him. If he wasn’t here, who would fight for kids like Liam? Would whoever replaced him try to get other kids into a shelter or vet’s office or help get them into advanced education? Would they go the extra mile for these kids or just sit behind a desk and wait for the next great advancement to come along?
“What are you thinking about so hard?” Best asked, coming up behind him. As he leaned on the fence next to him, Best waggled his eyebrows “Violet?”
“No, I was thinking about the kids. Things we can do to improve Alpha Dog, you know?”
“Cool, sounds good. Want to discuss it over some beers at Mick’s tonight? Martinez bitched out, but Kline is down.”
Normally, Dean would have appreciated the distraction, but he’d actually been planning to text Violet to see if he could bring over pizza and a movie.
