Rocked (The Everyday Heroes World) - Julia Wolf Page 0,3
why did you say yes without running it by me first?” When his jaw opened and closed, no answer forthcoming, I jabbed a finger at him. “You knew I’d say no.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, sheepish, but not guilty. “You know what they say, better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Ellie wants to go. I think she’ll be fine, so I said yes. I’m not arguing with you on this. You have to loosen up the reins.”
“Oh.” My chest rose and fell in rapid succession. Veego and I had had some knockdown, drag-out fights in all the years we’d known each other, but I couldn’t say I’d ever been quite this angry at him before. It was a quiet rage. My veins pumped with it. I had to ball my fists to prevent it from shooting out of my fingertips.
The jackass tried smiling at me. Smiling. At. Me.
The kitchen was too small for the two of us if we were both going to make it through this day alive. I patted my thigh. “Come on, Leroy. Let’s go play.”
Veego groaned. “Kat…”
Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by a one-hundred-twenty-pound slobbering mop bounding straight for me with the enthusiasm of a man freed from death row at the last minute.
I quickly yanked open the back door, otherwise Leroy would run right into it. I wasn’t convinced he wouldn’t keep going, plowing through the solid oak, leaving a Leroy-shaped hole in his wake.
Following my dog out into my fenced backyard, I grabbed his favorite ball and heaved it toward the far corner. He bounded after it, silky brown curls flowing behind him. If he’d been born a pretty girl instead of a goofy-looking mutt, he’d be making a fortune modeling for hair care companies.
Veego came outside with me, both of us watching Leroy skid into the fence, snatch up his ball, and trot back in our direction, pride lighting his eyes. When he was a foot away from me, he veered off, taking his ball with him.
“That’s not how you play fetch, Leroy!” I called.
He smiled at me over his shoulder, then kept going, circling the yard without a care in the world.
I’d originally adopted him for my daughter, Ellie, but he’d become just as much mine as he was hers. He was a hot mess, but he never failed to bring a smile to my face. Even now, my anger at Veego had lowered to a simmer.
“That dog needs training,” Veego said.
“He knows how to be good, he just chooses not to.” My dog was a good boy, but yeah, he was also pretty terrible. Not that I’d admit that to Veego—especially not when he was on my shitlist.
“Don’t know who in their right mind would adopt a dog named Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.”
I raised my hand. “Me. That’s who.”
Leroy chose that moment to drop on his back, legs sticking straight up, basking in the sun.
Veego chuckled. “Man’s got the right idea. That’s the way to live life.”
I huffed and rolled my eyes. “Don’t try to be friendly with my dog thinking you’ll get back on my good side. I’m pissed as hell at you. ‘Loosen the reins’? Really?”
He rounded to face me. “Yeah, really. She’s twelve. She knows how to take care of herself. And Molly’s family knows all about—”
I held up my hand. “You weren’t there. You didn’t see her.”
His stance softened, hands landing on my shoulders. “Kat, I know. It’s scary as hell to send her out without us. But it’s camping for two nights. She’ll take all her own food, she has her epi-pen, they won’t even be far from town.”
I shrugged him off me. On our good days, affection came easy between us, but today wasn’t one of those days. He might’ve been right. Our daughter was twelve, she had lived with severe allergies most of her life, and Molly’s parents were responsible. I trusted them. Hell, Ellie spent a good quarter of her life at their house. But camping without me or her dad? Panic clawed at my throat when I thought of all that could happen.
Veego sighed. “Kitty Kat, it’ll be okay. She has to spread her wings a little.”
She did. And this was probably the perfect opportunity for her to prove how responsible she could be. But those were rational thoughts, and my fear of losing my daughter was anything but.
“You should have asked,” I said through tight lips.