Page 22 of Security and Submission
Short, sweet, and to the point. So why did he feel the urge to try to find something else to say to her?
Maybe he was feeling the need for a rebound. Which would make sense after finding out his girlfriend was cheating on him. Noelle had had it rough, and he’d wanted to help her out, but it turned out she’d played him. He wasn’t even sure she’d actually had it rough or if she’d just had a sob story designed to draw in some sucker.
Him being the sucker in question.
They hadn’t had anything deep, but he’d liked her. She’d been interesting. Funny. Sometimes a little dramatic, but he’d never minded that. He liked it when a woman felt free to be fully herself around him. It had been nice having someone to talk to at the end of the day, someone to push him to leave the house. Zeus knew he could be a bit of a homebody, but he’d liked taking her out.
Well, other than the time he’d tried to take her to things with his team, he now had to wonder if she’d been deliberately trying to sabotage his relationship with them. Looking back, knowing she’d been cheating on him with Devlin, he couldn’t help but wonder if she’d set him up from the beginning or if Devlin had approached her after they’d gotten together.
While he wouldn’t describe her as an ‘easy’ personality, he didn’t know how many of her actions had been directed by Devlin and how many had been just hers.
Zeus hadn’t really expected the relationship to go anywhere, but he also hadn’t anticipated discovering that she was cheating on him and definitely not that she was cheating on him with his former boss. When he’d confronted her and dumped her, she had gone from pathetic distress to furious anger once she’d realized he wouldn’t be manipulated.
Would Noelle have gone to do a wellness check for a friend? Scratch that, an acquaintance. Noelle didn’t have friends. And Yas had done it for a client’s friend, so not even her own friend or even her own client. A total stranger. And she wasn’t getting paid for it.
Noelle might have gone to Sarah’s house if she thought she might lose a client over it. He couldn’t see her returning to help clean up or with the dishes, though. And what would she have done about being confronted by the dog they thought was dead?
Probably kenneled Hope somewhere and sent the bill to Sarah. Which wasn’t an awful thing to do, and he couldn’t really blame anyone who would have taken that step, but with Hope’s condition, it could have proven deadly. Zeus could not picture her taking Hope with her and putting herself out that much, even for someone who was paying her.
Besides, he sincerely doubted Noelle would have come to check on Sarah in the first place, much less returned to do her dishes. That wasn’t why she was a bad person, but when he looked at Yas’ actions, it was clear she was a good person. Someone who went above and beyond, even for an acquaintance.
Well, he had her number now.
Maybe when Sarah was home, and both she and Hope were better, he’d use it for something other than dog and neighbor updates.
Chapter 9
Zeus
Zeus
How’s our girl doing this morning?
Yas
Perky. We just got back from a walk around my block, and she seems okay, thankfully.
Zeus
Around the block is good; she does better with more short walks than fewer walks that are longer.
Yas
Noted! I’m taking her to work with me today, so that should be easy enough to arrange.
Zeus
I hope you two have a good day at work.
He smiled at the next text that came in, a shot of Hope sitting on the floor in front of Yas, hoping for some kind of treat. She was smiling her doggy smile, and her tail was blurred, indicating it had been wagging when Yas took the picture. The fact that she was sitting again, instead of standing or pacing, made him feel a lot better. She definitely was adjusting to being at Yas’ better than she’d been at his house.
As if he knew Zeus was distracted by another dog, Tiger shoved his head under Zeus’ hand, making him chuckle.
“Yes, you’re a good boy,” he said, giving Tiger a rough rubdown, making him wriggle with joy, then bounce a couple times before darting off. Zeus chased after him. “I’m gonna get you! I’m gonna get you!”
Unfortunately, he only had a few minutes for Tiger’s favorite game before he had to be out the door. Tiger sighed dolefully when Zeus stopped playing and flopped down on the mat by the door, watching as Zeus got ready.
“Sorry, buddy. I’ll be back later. And Tara will be by this afternoon.” He gave Tiger another head rub and headed out. The teenage dog walker was on the cross-country team. She liked to take Tiger out for a run with her because it let her get her exercise and have a guard dog at the same time. Plus, make a bit of money. And Zeus didn’t feel so bad about Tiger being left at home when he knew the dog was going to get an afternoon run. It worked out well for both of them.
