Page 195 of The Blame Game

“Look at this speckled one!” she protested, swiping to another picture, then holding her phone out. “How can you resist that face?”

“Ooh, are we looking at puppies?” Shea asked. He bent down to see the screen better, dripping water onto Dom’s skin as he settled a hand on his shoulder. Dom shivered at the warm touch and cool water trickling down his back. “Cute. Do you want to get one?”

“Me?” Dom said, surprised, turning to face him. “No. Why? Do you?”

“I dunno about a bulldog,” Shea said, shrugging. “But I like pets. Dogs, cats, rabbits … doesn’t matter.”

“Do you want a pet?” Dom asked, surprised.

“Yeah, if you’re up for it,” Shea said, reaching out to filch a peapod from Dom’s plate and crunched into it. “Are you more of a dog person or a cat person?”

“I’ve never had either,” he admitted.

“Huh. Well, are we allowed to have pets in our building?”

“I believe so.”

“Let’s talk about it in the off-season then,” Shea said, grabbing a meatball from Dom’s plate.

Laughing, Dom swatted at his thigh. “Go get your own food, you mooch. I need all of the calories I can get right now.”

Shea grinned, walking backward. “Fine. But think about a dog. Or a cat! Or a rabbit!”

“We’ll talk about it,” Dom called back.

When he turned to face Charlie and Birdie, they had identical expressions on their faces.

“What?” he said, feeling self-conscious.

“You two are adorable,” Birdie said with a sigh.

“She’s not wrong,” Charlie said, patting Dom’s shoulder as he stood. “I need to go make sure there’s enough food out but, seriously, Dom. We’re happy for you two.”

“Thanks,” he said quietly. “I appreciate that.”

When it was just Dom and Birdie at the table, he resumed eating while she did something on her phone. It wasn’t until she lowered it to the table that he realized she was talking to Mitchell.

He frowned, leaning forward and squinting at the screen. “Hey, I didn’t mean to snoop, but you and Mitchell are friends, right?”

She nodded, looking puzzled. “Yeah, we went to school together and text quite a bit still. Why?”

Dom hesitated, thinking of what Kate had said about not worrying about it until the off-season. “Nothing. Just wondering.”

Maybe after the playoffs he could suggest to Kate that Birdie could be some help in proving Mitchell was the leak.

After a quick swim and a dip in the hot tub, Dom stretched out on a lounger next to August and they fell into easy conversation about the upcoming series.

“You’ll have to be careful about taking too many penalties against Buffalo,” August said thoughtfully. “Their PK unit is too good.”

Dom brushed his hair off his forehead. It was damp, frizzy from being wet and the humidity in the pool area. “Yeah, they’re converting like crazy this year. Last year was bad enough but they took it up a notch.”

“Top of the league,” August said.

Dom shot him a small grin. “So tell me, how much do you miss refereeing?”

August gave him a small smile. “I miss it all of the time. I think anyone who’s been a part of the game misses it. It’s such a huge part of your life and when it’s gone, it—it stings, you know?”

Dom nodded. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately with my retirement.”

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