“Hey, that’s my food.” I sit down, grab back the bag, and peep inside, taking out a burrito. I take my breakfast burritos seriously and Cafe Rosalena has the best of-the-menu breakfast burritos in California … if not the world.
“No need to fight. I made sure there’s enough.” He smiles, peeping through his long thick black lashes at me, and damn this man for being so perfectly flawless. “I already ate my share.” Great, cause I’m so hungry my legs feel hollow. Don’t judge, I try to eat healthy, but I have a weakness for junk food.
He holds a cup of coffee in his hands and goes back to mainlining his caffeine. I take a big bite of the wrap, sighing in sheer pleasure, enjoying the moment. The perfectly rolled tortilla – stuffed with fluffy egg, heavenly bacon, cheese, and what more – is a little masterpiece that tickles all the right tastebuds.
I suck down the entire thing, drink the rest of the water and start to feel slightly more human. I toss the wrapper and dig out another, gobble down a big bite, and add some coffee this time. The throbbing headache subsides to a dull irritation.
I pop the last of the burrito in my mouth and scrunch up the wrapper. Chewing thoughtfully, I swallow and then suck down some more coffee.
Darn. This was just what I needed.
And he knew.
I get up and throw the wrappers in the trash.
“I need to go. Class is starting.” Kiara nods, still on her first burrito. She swallows and holds up a finger.
“I’ll be there on my usual seat to cheer you on as soon as I finish this.”
“Hey, guys,” someone shouts coming out of reception. It’s Lucinda. And she looks way too cock-a-hoop for this early on a Saturday. Granted, she didn’t drink nearly as much tequila as me … but still. Not sure why, but I have a sudden urge to punch her on her nose.
“What are you doing here?” Kiara asks eating her last bite.
“Oh, I decided to come to check for myself what the fuss is about.” She wiggles her eyes and her glasses nearly drop off her nose.
“I’ve got dips on the blond with the dog,” Kiara says.
“Blond with the dog is off limits. Got it.” Lucinda smiles agreeingly before turning to me.
“Bad night,” she chortles … as if she wasn’t there. I give her a tortured smile.
“The worst.” She laughs and pats me on my arm as if I’m a child.
“So where’s this pen number 3 with the supposed hotties?” She links an arm through mine and pulls me down the narrow pathway. Okay then, it seems our friendship has reached the next level.
“I see your hot-ass brother’s sexy friend is here. Are you two really dating?” I’m not very comfortable with her question for a few reasons … one, I don’t know her that well; two, I don’t like her referring to Logan’s ass; and three, I don’t like hearing how sexy Damion is from other girls.
“No,” I start, “I actually hate him.” Even though he brought me a delicious breakfast. And painkillers. And coffee.
“Well, you don’t have to like someone to have sex with them – I would just use him for an orgasm. I mean, have you seen the man, he’s like perfection on steroids.”
Okay, I just realized I like it even less to hear another girl talk about Damion, sex, and orgasms in the same sentence.
Luckily we’ve reached our destination. The trainers and some of the girls in our group are already inside. I walk through the gate and straight to the puppy enclosure – a mix of Labradors, Retrievers, and Alsatians. The main aim of this class is to assist the puppies with their obedience training so they can be evaluated to determine where they belong – search-and-rescue; service dogs; or working dogs for the K9 units.
My puppy, a black lab female, called Bree, wiggles her little butt excitedly when I pick her up. She licks my chin with that small, rough little tongue, and as I down in the unmistakable sweet milk, popcorn, and biscuits scent of her puppy breath, I know it’s going to be hard to let her go.
“That scent never gets old.” Great, another clairvoyant. Maybe it’s a hot guy thing. Or maybe it’s part of their BEAST 101 training – how to read a woman’s mind.
The masculine voice is getting really familiar.
Alejandro slings a friendly arm over my shoulder. He looks like a fallen dark angel in a military-type way – tall, stoic, and attitude-ridden. It reminds me of another pompous dominating individual who’s now leaning on the fence.
In a pair of well-worn jeans, that fit snugly over his fine body, a blue button-down shirt, untucked and sleeves rolled up, and unruly hair that tends to always fall over his striking face, peeking from underneath a 49ers baseball cap – he is obviously not enjoying himself. Those apple eyes glare at us a little bit like a tiger would before making a kill. And darn, something deep inside me reacts to all that annoying charisma and male confidence.
I try to ignore that, together with him and his badass stare. Instead, I wiggle free and put Bree down on the grass, ready for the class to start.
Adam recruits Lucinda with her own puppy – a little gray Alsatian.
The nippy girl we’ve met on the first day stops next to Damion and says something to him, her face beaming up to his with an I-am-available-and-up-for-anything smile, and then she writes a number on his hand.
It should not matter. But it does. Dammit.
I concentrate on the class. Bree is highly intelligent and eager to learn, especially if treats are involved. Her soft eyes stay on me waiting for a command … and food, and I try to do exactly what Alejandro says and lose track of time.
I look at the fence, but Damion is gone. Probably getting it off with the nippy girl in some closed quarters.
I storm out, right past Alejandro, straight past Kiara flirting with Adam, and right into someone. Strong hands grab my arms, keeping me up.
“Hey, you’re in a hurry.” Noah’s mossy eyes look teasingly into mine. I glare at him and he lets go of my arms, holding his hands up.
“Geez, I swear I didn’t do it on purpose,” he chuckles in an easygoing manner and I remember he’s not the one I want to murder.
“Will you let me live if I stick you for a milkshake?” Noah asks. “The cafe here makes a mean double fudge chocolate cookie dough one.” My mouth water. It’s no secret that anything that contains double fudge or chocolate is my weakness. And this is like both.
“For sure.”
Kiara walks up with Adam and I introduce Noah to her.
“Girl, I’m going on a date.” She gestures with her eyes to Adam. “Can I drop you off at home?” I don’t want to be alone right now. And knowing Kiara, her date will continue through the night.
“No, I’m gonna have a milkshake with Noah. I’ll call an Uber or a brother.” Nothing is going to keep me from having double fudge chocolate.
“We can drop her off,” Noah says and I smile at him. He’s around 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds of freckles with ginger hair and soft green eyes. I would go out on a limb here and say that he’s nothing like the guys we know.
“Great, see you later bitch.” And with a last wave, she’s off … probably to multiple orgasms. Lucky cow.
“Jesse is waiting for us in the cafe,” he says “I was just coming to get D-boy.”