Steele (Arizona Vengeance 9)

“What about you, Jim?” Kane asks as I stand from the bench, having pulled my skates off.

My hands go to the hem of my sweater. Before I lift it, I shake my head. “I’m out.”

“Doing something with Lucy after the game?” he inquires.

The sweater comes off, and I toss it in the bottom of my cubby where equipment personnel will pick up all of our gear for cleaning. “Nah. It’s a school night.”

Which wouldn’t ordinarily be a deal-breaker on game night, but Lucy decided she didn’t want to come to the game—not even my enticement of offering her friends tickets changed her mind. Not going to say it didn’t hurt my feelings just a tad, since she used to come to most.

But that was almost a different life before Ella asked me to leave.

On the flip side, although Lucy didn’t want to come to the game tonight, our entire day and evening yesterday went way better than expected. Admittedly, her attitude buoyed after I told her I’d think about a puppy.

“Then come out with us,” Jett urges since I seemingly have nothing to hold me back. It’s exactly what I’ve done after most games we’ve won since the split from Ella.

“I actually have plans,” I reply as I start to work on removing all my padded protectors.

That causes Kane’s head to whip my way. “A date?”

I know why this causes him confusion because he was my stalking ride-or-die a few weeks ago when I tailed Ella and Mr. Ordinary, and he knows I want my wife back.

“Not a date,” I assure him. “But I am going over to Ella’s to talk to her.”

Of course, Ella has no idea I’m coming over, but I like catching her off guard.

“Nice,” Kane says, nodding his head with a knowing look. “You go and ‘talk’ with her.”

He puts up air quotations when he says the word “talk”.

I roll my eyes. “Don’t be a dick. We’re just talking.”

Snorting, Kane turns his attention to his own pads, but he does ask, “How was your night with Lucy?”

“Great,” I drawl, followed by a chuckle. “As long as you don’t count the emotional blackmailing of a thirteen-year-old asking for a puppy.”

Kane barks out a laugh, as do Bain and Jett. Riggs appears not to be listening, stoically quiet as ever.

“She wants a puppy,” I continue. “But I’m not sure she’s ready to care for one. She thinks she is because she’s taken care of Samson a few times, but I’ve explained to her there’s a big difference between an adult trained dog and a puppy.”

“You could get her an older dog from a shelter,” Kane suggests. “And Mollie can help her train a bit.”

“Nah, man,” Bain pipes up. “Puppy is the way to go. Train them from the start, and there’s better bonding.”

Kane grins, teasingly pointing out. “Yeah… butter the kid up with a puppy, and she’ll totally be on your side in your bid to get back Ella.”

Jett and Bain’s attention snap my way, eyes wide with curiosity as this is the first they’ve heard I’m on an actual mission to reclaim my wife. Although I shoot Kane a glare, I don’t care who knows. I intend to get her back, which means she’ll soon be returning to the Vengeance family fold.

“That’s fucked up,” Riggs says in a low rumble that startles us into snapping our eyes his way.

“What’s fucked up?” I ask.

“Using your kid to get your wife back,” he growls, eyes shooting daggers at me and then over to Kane for suggesting such a thing. “You shouldn’t ever use kids.”

“It was just a joke,” Kane says calmly, but I’m not so calm he would even think I’d do that. I mean, yeah… if Lucy wants us back together, that’s great, but I’m sure not going to trick or bribe her into helping me facilitate it.

Still, Riggs has made it clear he doesn’t want to enter our circle of friends, so I don’t appreciate his unsolicited advice. I take a step toward him, scowling down as he’s still on the bench. “You don’t know me, Riggs. Because if you did, you’d know I’d never use Lucy in any manner that could hurt her or benefit me or both. So until you want to try to get to know me or any of your other linemates, keep your fucking mouth shut.”

Kane whistles low in surprise, and Bain mutters, “Damn.”

Riggs merely blinks, face impassive, and it’s clear my words don’t mean a thing to him.

I pivot away from him, then start to unlace my pants. Ignoring Riggs, Kane presses about the puppy. “I have an idea that is a middle ground for you and Lucy on the puppy.”

“What’s that?”

“There are organizations that train service dogs, but until they’re old enough to be trained, they have to be fostered. It’s often done in phases, and some organizations have just a puppy foster program where you have them for a few weeks to help them socialize to people. It could be a great starter way to see if Lucy is really up to the task of taking care of a pet.”