Page 93 of For the Win

I introduce them, earning an amused glance from Harrison.He rubs a hand down Vita’s back.Vita moves closer, eyes closing, nuzzling into Harrison.My heart trips again, watching him rub the dog and smile at him.

This is heaven.Harrison and I play with the dogs and drink beer and laugh a lot.I squeeze puppy bodies and boop noses and rub bellies.Harrison seems to enjoy it too, even though he’s apparently never had a dog.At one point I catch him watching me as I plant a kiss right between the eyes of Buster the beagle.My skin tingles everywhere at the heat I see in his eyes, and for a few seconds I actually forget the puppers.

“Thank you,” I say softly.

He quirks an eyebrow.

“For bringing me here.I love it.”

He smiles slowly.“I can see that.I’m glad.”

My heart is already full of puppy love, and it swells even bigger.I want to throw myself at him and kiss him all over and...

I’m getting feelings for this man.Big, soft, tender feelings.Huge, scary feelings.

20

HARRISON

The coaching staffhas told everyone to take care of whatever family shit we need to deal with before the playoffs start so we aren’t distracted by it.

I can’t really take care of my family shit; nothing’s going to change Dad’s situation.That weighs heavy inside me, but I’m going to have to accept it and put it aside for now.

I’m also aware this isn’t a good time to be starting a relationship.It’s the playoffs.We need to win.I’m trying to earn a permanent place on the Condors’ roster.I’m trying to show my dad I can do this and make him proud of me...and he’s dying.

But I can’t stay away from Arya.From the moment I laid eyes on her, something drew me to her.And my family can eat rocks about the fact that she’s blond—it’s not that at all.It’s the softness that glows in her eyes, the joy that shines in her smile, the affection she showered on those puppies, the way she held my hand when things got tough at my parents’ place.The way she’s got big jock hockey players doing yoga.Maybe I’m crazy, but being with her makes me feel...stronger.Better.And I need to be my best right now.

Outside of practices, workouts, and team meetings, and her class schedule, we spend almost every moment together for the next few days.

We go for a bike ride and end up lying in the sand dunes near Venice Pier, staring at the ocean, letting the sun warm us, and talking about everything.She takes me to Leo’s Creamery for ice cream and I find my new favorite—dark-roast coffee and white chocolate.We lie in bed reading, and she’s amused that I’m reading a Kresley Cole book, one of her favorite authors.We discover other authors we both like.We go shopping and buy a deep fryer, then to Whole Foods for ingredients, and spend an evening trying to create deep-fried pizza.We have a few failures.

“It’s basically a Pizza Pop,” I say as we remove one golden-brown treat from the oil.

“A what?”

“A Pizza Pop.Oh right.That’s a Canadian thing.”

“Oh yeah!We had them in Winnipeg when we went there!I love Pizza Pops.”Then her face falls.“Damn.I thought we were creating something original.”

“We totally are.No Pizza Pop will rival our unique creation.Let’s see how it tastes.”

We dig in.

“This is the best one yet,” I proclaim.

“I agree.Great Pizza Pop.”She grins.

We do couples’ yoga.I have no idea what this even is, but Arya convinces me to try it.

We’re on my living room floor and she’s telling me we’re going to do Plank on Plank.

“You can do a plank, right?”she asks me.

I scoff.“Of course I can do a plank.”I get down on the floor into a straight-arm plank.Then she gets on top of me the other way, gripping my ankles, her ankles on my shoulders.I tighten my core even more to support her weight on top of me.

“See?”she says triumphantly.“Not even hard.Let’s try something else.Front Bird.”

“Whut?”When she’s off me, I lower myself to the floor and roll over to stare up at her.

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