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“Do you want me to get the video camera?” he called.
“Har har, you are not funny.” Heading toward Duke with purpose, she pointed to the ground. “Duke, drop those panties, or it won’t go well for you.”
The dog dropped down onto his front paws with his butt in the air, his thin tail whipping back and forth as she neared. Just as she was inches away from snatching the pink scrap from his jowls, he was off, racing back to the bedroom.
“Oh, come on.” She picked up her backpack from the ground and headed back to Tyler’s room, giving the underwear up as a lost cause.
Tyler sat at the edge of the bed, swinging her thong around his finger while Duke whimpered and whined in front of him, his intent gaze never leaving the object of his desire.
“You and that dog are perfect for each other.” She tried to grab them, but he held them away from her. As she fell across his lap, he held her there, amusement lending an unholy twinkle to his blue eyes.
“I’ll give you back your underwear in exchange for a loving kiss.”
“I told you I wanted to brush my teeth first.”
“Then you won’t mind if I hang onto these.”
“Evil.” Sitting up, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him, tongue and all. When she pulled back, he seemed a little dazed. “There.”
He gave her the thong, and she noted several large holes that weren’t there before.
“You owe me new underwear.”
“Whatever you want,” he said absently.
She started to climb off his lap, but he held her there.
“Was there something else?” she asked.
“Yeah.” This time, when he kissed her, she was the one left a little light-headed. “I love you.”
Dani’s throat closed up, and she didn’t think she would be able to speak past the lump of happiness lodged in her throat. Even though it really wasn’t that long, it felt as though she’d been waiting forever for those words.
“I love you, too.”
He gathered her to him, and she laid her head on his shoulder, taking in the strength of his arms, and basked in the warmth his words sent rushing over her.
“So, what does this mean for our relationship?” he said, his tone light, teasing.
Trying to hold her joyful tears at bay, she laughed wetly. “Are we seriously about to have the talk? You do know your mom asked my intentions, right?”
“She did? What did you say?”
“I don’t know, something about thinking you were great. That I might keep you.”
“Sounds good to me.”
TYLER SAID GOOD-BYE to Dani a few hours later, after a lot of stalling and kissing, and headed out to visit Jeremiah. He picked up Meyers at Alpha Dog, and they drove down to the hospital. They were given visitor stickers at the front desk, and they made their way up to the recovery wing with a card the guys had made and a gift card from all the instructors, organized by Blake. Tyler wasn’t sure what kind of gift card you gave a kid who risked his life for others, but he’d still added a hundred bucks to the pool.
They were directed to his room and knocked on the closed door. Tyler put his hand on the knob just as it swung open, and he came face-to-face with Virginia Walton.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. Her tone wasn’t hostile, more hollow, and he wondered why she wasn’t screaming at him to leave after what he’d done.
“The boys in Jeremiah’s squad made him a get-well card, and all the instructors got him something.”
She hesitated before they heard a croaked voice call out, “Let them in, please.”
Virginia stepped back, and they passed by her. Tyler got his first good look at Jeremiah since he’d been bleeding out in his arms. He was sheet-white with oxygen tubes in his nose and electrodes coming out from under his blanket in every direction. He looked like hell, but he smiled shyly at them.
