Dino by Jaime Lewis

Chapter THIRTEEN

Dino popped the sweet icing-covered sugar cookie in his mouth as he walked down the hall from the game room to the kitchen, where everyone was gathered.  At least the adults were. He loved spending the holidays with the team and their families.

“Uncle Dino, wait for me.” Sienna, Irish and Bailey’s little girl, called out as she raced down the hallway after him. Dino slowed his pace so her small strides could catch up with him. For the past hour, he’d been playing hide and seek and foosball with her and some of the other kids.

Biologically, Sienna was Irish’s niece. Unfortunately, Irish’s older sister had gotten involved with the wrong crowd and ended up pregnant by her drug dealer boyfriend. Neither of the parents wanted the baby, so they took off right after Sienna was born and were never heard from again. Irish’s parents had stepped in and raised her until a few months ago. With his parents getting up there in age, it became more difficult for them to raise a small child, though they loved her dearly. So, Irish brought her to live with him. That had been around the same time that Irish had met Bailey. In fact, Bailey had been Sienna’s kindergarten teacher. He and Bailey were married a few weeks ago on Thanksgiving and had officially adopted Sienna.

At six years old, she was already a firecracker. But nobody would expect less considering she was related to Irish, his sometimes-crazy teammate. Although Dino thought there were times when Sienna gave Irish a run for his money.

He chuckled as she latched onto his leg. “I got you!” She playfully shouted at him.

He bent down and quickly scooped her up with one arm, then flipped her upside down. She squirmed and squealed as he carried her like that until they got to the dining room where everyone was.

“You sure about that squirt? Because from the looks of it, I got you.”

“Uncle Dino. You’re not playing fair,” she giggled but pretended to pout.

“I’m not?”

“No!”

“What isn’t fair?”

“You have big muscles.”

“So?”

“I can’t pick you up.”

Dino grinned as he walked further into the room. As it was late in the evening, everyone else had already headed home, and only the guys from the team were left, along with their wives—well, those who were married. Even though Ace and Alex were yet to get married, Dino still considered them a married couple. After all, it was their budding romance in the desert that brought on all the relationships amongst his teammates.

“Daddy!” Sienna called out to Irish.

Irish glanced over, and a slow smiled formed. “Whatcha got there, Dino?”

“Not sure yet. She flounders like a fish, though.”

“I’m not a fish! Fish are stinky. I’m not stinky,” the little dynamo responded to Dino. “I want to be a seal, like daddy.” She started slapping her hands together as if she had flippers, then started making an awful sound that was a mixture of a bark and a wail, making everyone laugh.

He flipped her right side up and held her in his arms. “Hug me, and I’ll let you be a seal.” Her smile was infectious, and she wrapped her tiny arms around his neck and gave him a big squeeze. If he couldn’t have kids of his own, at least he could love his teammates' kids.

He set Sienna down then took the empty seat between Potter and Frost. Christmas at Ace and Alex’s hadn’t disappointed. Alex was the master when it came to holiday and party planning. Plus, she could cook.

It was nice to be able to spend the holidays all together with all of the families. And, speaking of families, their little group was growing by the numbers. A year and a half ago, it had been just him and the seven other guys on the team. If they were CONUS—in the continental United States, they usually crashed at either Frost’s or Stitch’s parents’ house for Christmas dinner.

The team had been lucky on several fronts to have met Alex during a mission in Afghanistan about a year and a half ago. At the time, she was working for a private firm that ran missions on behalf of the government. She had been assigned as an attachment to their team in capturing a terrorist in the region.

She was the only female he’d met who he’d never go one-on-one with in any combat situation. The woman was totally badass. She also had the respect of every member of the military who knew her. She was damn lucky to still be alive, considering she had been kidnapped, shot, and tortured by the man they had hunted. To this day, her ordeal still haunted Dino and the rest of the team. If it weren’t for the video footage that showed her taking the lives of her captors before the team had rescued her, nobody would’ve believed she had done it. She was truly an amazing woman with a heart of gold.

Dino glanced over at the power couple. There were times he felt a slight sting knowing he’d never have what those two shared—love. Nope…been there, done that, and got burned. He still had the mental scars from that time in his life, and it was something he never wanted to relive again.

Sienna jumped onto Irish’s lap and stole a cookie off the dessert plate. She was nibbling on it like a little squirrel when Tenley asked her, “Sienna, where are Cody and Alejandra?” Alejandra—Tenley and Potter’s oldest daughter was seven years old; they had adopted her from Ecuador after an earthquake had struck her home town and her parents were killed. Tenley, who’s a nurse, had gone to Ecuador to assist with the injuries. Like Alex, she too had run into trouble that had threatened not only her and Potter’s relationship but her actual life.

Cody was a super cool kid and one of the bravest kids he had ever met. Frost had adopted Cody after he and Autumn had gotten married. Cody’s biological dad was a Marine and was killed in action a few years ago. When Autumn had her run-in with danger involving her crazy ex-sister-in-law, it was Cody who had come to her rescue. At eleven years old, he was already becoming a little Alpha, but having Frost as a role model, it was no surprise.

Cody and Alejandra had become attached at the hip ever since they first met. Everyone always joked that they’d marry when they got older. It drove Potter batshit crazy.

Sienna turned her cookie-crumbed face to Tenley.

“Umm…I think they went to play with Cody’s balls again. He’s got those big squishy ones.” She tried to give them a visual as she made a fist and began to pump it. She hadn’t done a very good job with her explanation because Frost’s face had completely lost every ounce of coloring and Potter choked on his drink before he quickly handed off his newborn twins, Kensi and Kelsey, to Tenley and Alex. Just as both Frost and Potter were scrambling to get out of their seats to go in search of the two love-struck kids, Sienna reached into the pocket of her hoodie and pulled out a large stress ball shaped like a dolphin and held it up. “Cody has one like mine but his is bigger.”

Dino couldn’t help the snort of laughter that emitted from him at the way Potter and Frost sank back into their chairs with a look of relief. If Potter thought he, had it bad now, he was in for a rude awakening when his three daughters were all grown up.

Sienna then turned her attention to Irish, and what came out of her mouth next made Dino wish he had his camera out to catch the moment on video.

“Guess what, daddy?”

“What, peanut?” Irish responded, wiping away some of the cookie crumbs around her mouth.

“Did you know that I have a pussy?”

At first, Dino wasn’t sure if he had heard her correctly, but with the sounds of silverware dropping and a couple of gasps from folks at the table, Dino was pretty sure his ears were working just fine.

Alex had her hand over her mouth, and Dino wasn’t sure if it was to keep from laughing or if she was literally shocked. Tenley’s eyes were so big they looked like they were going to pop from her head, while Mia and Autumn just stared at each other as if asking one another if they had heard Sienna correctly. Poor sweet Bailey; her cheeks were as red as a ripened tomato ready to be plucked from the vine.

When it came to peculiar comments made by Sienna, Irish appeared utterly at a loss for words. He then confirmed what Dino assumed when he turned to Bailey and gave her a pleading look to help him out.

Bailey took a sip of water before she cleared her throat. “Sienna, honey. Where did you hear that?”

“Oh, all the kids at school were talking about it.”

“Oh, for the love of God. You heard that in school?” Irish barked out, then looked at Bailey. “She heard that in school? I don’t remember learning about that when I was in Kindergarten—maybe middle school in sex ed—”

Bailey slapped his shoulder to make him shut up. She shook her head at Irish before focusing back on Sienna. “Sienna, when you say all the kids were talking about it, did they specifically single you out?”

The young girl’s face took on a confused expression.

“Well, no. We talked about Megan’s pussy and Ellie’s pussy.” Sienna turned her head toward Mia and grinned. “We talked about Aunt Mia’s pussies and how soft and furry they were.”

Stitch, at that moment, had just taken a swig of his beer and spewed it all over the table while Mia’s face turned redder than Bailey’s was just a few moments ago.

Out of nowhere and breaking the silence at the table, Potter barked out a loud laugh. Tenley gave him a dirty look and told him that it wasn’t funny, but he just smiled and shook his head at his feisty wife. He then looked at Sienna and smiled.

“Sweetie, are you talking about Mr. Whiskers, your kitty cat at home, and all of the pussy cats that your Aunt Mia has at her shelter?”

When Sienna grinned and nodded her head, Dino could hear every single person slowly release a large amount of air that they had been holding. Then as if unfazed by the discussion of pussies, Sienna leaped off Irish’s lap and darted down the hall toward the game room, yelling to the other kids about all the pussies she knew.

For a few moments, everyone sat there staring at one another as if silently asking if that had really just happened. Irish had his head down, resting in his hands. Finally, he looked up and ran his hand down his face. “I think I’m scarred. I don’t ever want to hear the “P” word again.”

Potter looked at Irish and grinned. “You are such a pussy.” Everyone laughed and started to make jokes. There most definitely is never a dull moment when their crazy group gets together.

Changing subjects, Alex asked, “Is everyone going to Bayside for New Year’s?” Of course, everyone said they were. Those with kids had already lined up babysitters for the evening.

“Isn’t Arianna supposed to be home?” Tenley asked Alex and Alex smiled.

“Yes.  In fact, I saw Paul the other day and confirmed it with him. He said she’s supposed to arrive tomorrow or the next day. He gave me her new number. I was going to reach out to her.”

“She’s been MIA for the past few years?” Stitch asked, looking suspicious.

“Yeah. Anytime I asked Paul about it, he gave me short answers and just said it had something to do with her job. Not sure what she’s been up to.”

“What does she do?” Skittles asked.

“Last I heard, she was contracting with the FBI in their forensics department.”

“That sounds interesting,” Dino chimed in.

“Yeah, if I remember correctly, I think it was like cyber forensics or something like that. I know she said she investigated numbers and stuff like that.”

“Sounds pretty cool. Maybe a Forensics Accountant,” Skittles said. He was probably right since he was into all that computer stuff.

“It’ll be nice to see her and catch up,” Frost admitted, and the others agreed.

Just then, Zuma, Ace, and Alex’s chocolate Lab trotted through the room. Seeing the pooch made Dino think of Nigel. Then he remembered that Anna told him she had gotten him from the clinic and shelter that Mia ran.

“Hey Mia, do you have an employee by the name of Grace?”

Mia set her glass down and smiled. “I do. Why do you ask?”

“My neighbor just got a dog from the shelter, and she was saying how nice and informative Grace was.”

Diego tried to cover his laugh with a lame cough, just as did Ace. Dino talked with the guys earlier and told them about the collar incident with his neighbor, minus the shower activity. Diego was the only one who knew about his and Anna’s arrangement. Dino was surprised Diego hadn’t let the cat out of the bag. But there was always time.

“Grace is amazing at what she does. Do you know which dog your neighbor adopted?” Mia asked.

“I don’t know what kind it is, but he’s gray and huge. His name is Nigel.”

“Oh! Nigel, yes. He is a big dog, but so friendly. I was thrilled when Grace told me someone adopted him. I think people were scared of him because of his size.” Dino nodded his head in agreement. He could understand that. Hell, Nigel had scared him at first.

The conversation turned to another subject, but Dino’s mind remained on—his neighbor, Anna. He blasted himself. Their arrangement was supposed to be just that—a no strings attached type of arrangement. But Anna had become a permanent stakeholder in his mind—the image of her and the sound of her voice were always there in the forefront. That wasn’t a good thing. Maybe he needed to take a step back and regroup.

“Dude,” Diego said as he nudged his arm.

Dino looked up at his best friend. “What?”

“Did you not hear a word I said?”

And that there was a prime example of why he needed to stay away from the raven-haired beauty.

“Sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

Judging from Diego’s smirk, he knew not what but who had been on his mind.

“I was saying that I want to finish up the kitchen and living room drywall before New Year’s. Are you still available to help after work for the next few days? The others said they were in.”

“Yeah, man. Of course.” Diego had bought a large fixer-upper house and had been refurbishing it room by room in his spare time. The guys on the team would help out when they could. Usually, it would end with the entire team over along with their families, and they would have a big cookout. Except in the colder months, the cookout was brought indoors.

“Cool. I think it’s just you, Skittles, and me. I’ll pick up some subs and beer.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Instead of the three amigos, it would be the three bachelors.

◆◆◆

A few hours later and feeling worn out, Dino pulled his Chevy Blazer into the driveway. He grabbed the containers of leftover food that Alex had packed up for him. He had watched her fill the containers—she gave him enough to feed an entire family. She packed him a little of everything; prime rib, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, some sort of rice and beef mixture, and his favorite go-to snack when he was in the mood—sugar cookies.

Just as he was about the shut the door, headlights turning into the driveway next door caught his eye. He shook his head and laughed when he saw Nigel sitting in the front passenger seat, looking like he truly belonged there.  When the mutt’s eyes met his, he started barking which caused his owner to lean forward in her seat to see what he was barking at. That was the moment Dino knew he should’ve made a mad dash for his front door.

He shut the door and waited for her to get out. He didn’t want to be rude and act like he hadn’t seen her. He was greeted by Nigel first, who was more interested in the food Dino had in his hands. He gave the furball a good scratch behind his ears.

Anna then appeared dressed in hip hugger jeans, a red long sleeve t-shirt, and white Converse sneakers.

For casual, she looked hot, and he had to bite his lip.

“Nigel, sit,” Anna commanded, and surprisingly the dog sat.

Dino looked at Anna. “Did you just teach him that?”

She grinned. “My dad and his friends did.”

“I’m impressed.”

“Me too.” She gave Nigel a little pat on the head. “He’s a quick learner.”

“Did you have a nice Christmas?” She asked.

He nodded. “It was nice. A lot of friends and family time.”

“You can’t go wrong with good friends and family.”

He chuckled. “No, you can’t.” He nodded toward her. “And you? Did Santa bring you everything you asked for?”

“Ehh…It was okay. I spent the day with my dad and some of his friends. We volunteered at the shelter in town then went for a drink afterward.”

It was nice to know she cared about the community and its people, even those less fortunate. He would have to remember to mention her name to Alex if she needed any help at her charity organization.

“Would you like to come over for a little bit?” She held up a tin. “I don’t have much food, but I have cookies and can make us some coffee.”

So badly he wanted to say yes, but after the thoughts he had earlier, he decided he would pump the brakes before he got sucked in further. It was in no way anything against her personally. It was all him and the ugly past that haunted him.

“I think I’m going to turn in early, but thank you.”

He felt terrible when her smile faltered a bit, but she recovered quickly. “No worries. Well, don’t let me keep you. Good-night,” she told him and called for Nigel to follow her.

Dino stood there and watched her walk up to the porch and let herself inside. “What in the hell is wrong with me?” He muttered to himself as he walked the opposite way to his house.

◆◆◆

Arianna followed Nigel inside and locked the front door behind her. She felt stupid and embarrassed by Dino’s rejection. The funny thing was she wasn’t even insinuating having sex. She just wanted the company—someone to talk to. Since she had been gone the last two Christmases and had spent them by herself, she hoped to spend more time with her dad, but she understood that he had already made plans since he wasn’t even aware that she’d be home.

She set her things down then went over to the fireplace, threw a couple of logs in, and then lit the fire starter under the grate. It hadn’t taken long for the flames to grow and for the warmth to start filtering into the room. When she stood, she looked about the essentially bare room. Except for some basic furniture like her living room and bedroom sets and kitchen table, she hadn’t decorated the place. Her plans were still somewhat up in the air, so she had figured why unpack everything until she decided.

Irritated with herself for feeling disappointed, she went into the kitchen and made herself a cup of hot chocolate. She took a sip and almost burned the hell out of her mouth. She set the cup aside and decided to slip into something more comfortable while her drink cooled.

Usually, when she felt down in the dumps, she would change into one of the many sexy lingerie outfits she had acquired during her stint undercover. However, she wasn’t in the mood for feeling sexy. She went to the laundry room and rummaged through a basket of clean clothes that she hadn’t taken upstairs yet and found a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and a cami top that matched. It was perfect for her frame of mind.

She stopped back in the kitchen and grabbed her mug of hot cocoa, and when she passed by the kitchen table, she saw the large stack of mail that her dad had given her. She gabbed that too and made her way to the couch. Nigel had already made himself comfortable in the corner of the sofa and was already half asleep.

She hit the music app on her phone, and in seconds the joyful sounds of Christmas flooded her living room. She sat down, tucking her feet under her butt, and got comfortable. She went to reach for her fuzzy blanket, but it appeared that Nigel already claimed it.

She took the stack of mail and laid it in her lap. She flipped through the pile, throwing obvious junk mail like advertisement fliers and magazines into a small waste basket next to her on the floor. When she was left with what she would consider being actual mail, she started with the top one and began to open them. One was for her car warranty—that went into the trash since the date had long passed. She opened a couple from George Mason University Alumni and put those to the side to look at later. After a while, she got tired of that and put the rest of the stack on the coffee table in front of her to go through later.

She reached over to the table beside her and turned the lamp off, plummeting the room into darkness except for the glow of the flames coming from the fireplace. When her mom’s favorite Christmas song, The Christmas Shoes, started to play, Arianna couldn’t hold back the tears she’d been trying to keep at bay. She missed her mom so much, but even more so around the holidays. She missed all of the traditions she and her mom had established; baking and decorating cookies, decorating the Christmas tree, shopping, and wrapping presents. But most of all, she missed the presence of her being there to talk to. Her mom had not only been a parent - she had been her best friend.

Just as she wiped away the few tears she had in her eyes, someone knocked on the front door, making her jump. The sound woke up Nigel, and he barked.

◆◆◆

Dino was feeling antsy. He felt like an asshole for telling Anna that he was tired, because that was furthest from the truth. Since he entered his house and put away the leftovers, he’d been sitting in his recliner in the dark, staring out the window that faced her house.

The longer he spent thinking about it, the deeper he realized that maybe she was just being friendly and wasn’t inviting him over for a quick roll in the hay, but really was offering just coffee and cookies. God, he was an idiot. He just needed to be honest with her that things between them had started to wig him out a little. After all, they both had promised that they’d be open with each other.

Decision made, he stood up and headed out the door. As he walked next door, he casually scanned the area around the houses. It was a perpetual habit no matter where he went. He was trained to always be aware of his surroundings. There were many unfamiliar vehicles parked along the street, but it was expected for neighbors to have friends and family over for the holiday.

He climbed the steps and took a big breath, then knocked on the door. He smiled to himself when he heard Nigel’s deep bark. He waited for several moments then knocked a second time. Again, Nigel barked but there was no sign of Anna.

Finally, he saw movement through the sidelight windows next to the door. Moments later, the sound of the lock disengaging echoed in the silent night air.

He readied himself as the door started to open, but the pep talk he had given himself on the way over went out the window when her face came into view. The redness and puffiness in her eyes, along with her strained expression, told him that something was wrong.

“Oh, it’s only you,” she told him, looking as if she was relieved.

“Were you expecting someone else?” He asked, wondering if she had invited someone else over after he declined her invitation. A sudden feeling of jealousy hit him, but he pushed it aside for the time being.

Ignoring his question, she asked, “Why are you here?”

He grinned. “Well, you did invite me over for coffee and cookies.”

“And you declined, stating that you were tired,” she raised her manicured eyebrow at him as she threw his words back at him, and boy, had he felt the hit.

“I changed my mind,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

She huffed a small sigh and turned and walked further into the house, leaving the door open for him to enter. He stepped in, closed the door behind him, and then gave Nigel the attention he was seeking. He loved that dog. Once he got Nigel settled down, he found Anna in the kitchen. She was obviously trying to keep herself busy while trying to avoid him, and he wondered why.

Suddenly, she turned around and faced him. With her arms crossed in front of her chest, appearing defiant, she leveled her gaze with him. “I’m not in the mood for sex,” she blurted out.

Her outburst had shocked him, and he became intrigued with her sudden mood shift. Was she pissed and upset at him, or had something or someone else caused the temperament swing?

“Is everything okay?” He asked her as he matched her stance and crossed his arms across his chest.

When she didn’t answer immediately, he knew something had happened. Finally, she dropped her arms down to her sides in defeat.

“It’s just me feeling sorry for myself,” she replied, waving him off. She leaned her hip against the counter, still facing him. “I just wanted to enjoy the night. I wanted to share it with someone—whether you, my dad, just someone. I wanted to sit on the couch and watch Christmas movies while enjoying some hot cocoa and cookies. Is that too much to ask for?”

Now he felt like a real ass knowing she thought that he believed that she had only invited him over for sex. He wouldn’t lie, though; sex had crossed his mind.

A sudden possessive feeling ascended over him, and he couldn’t stop himself from reaching out. In two long strides, he was in front of her and held her by her shoulders. He could see the emotion swirling in her hazel eyes he thought were beautiful.

He pulled her tightly against him and held her there with his arms wrapped around her, acting as a security blanket. He felt less insecure when she leaned against him. She didn’t say a word, and that was okay. He would stand there until she was ready. After a silent minute or two, she finally leaned back and looked up at him. Her eyes were still glistening with leftover tears.

“Better?” He asked, caressing her cheek with his knuckles.

With her head tilted back, staring up at him, she quietly whispered, “I’m sorry.”

He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and smiled at her. “Why are you sorry?”

“For my behavior just now.”

“Anna, you don’t have to be sorry. And, just for the record, sex wasn’t the reason I came over.” She gave him a “don’t blow smoke up my ass” look, and he snickered. “Okay…maybe it was part of it, although it was low on the list.”

When a smile appeared on her face, he knew things were heading in the right direction.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips against her forehead. God, she fit him perfectly.

“Are you sure you’re, okay?”

“I’ll be okay. Just thinking about things.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really. But thank you,” she told him and pulled back before she turned and pulled down a box of cocoa from the cabinet above her. That was when he noticed the bright pink, puckered scar on her upper arm just below the shoulder. He remembered the first night she had a bandage wrapped around her upper arm. She had told him that she had cut it somehow while she was moving. Dino hadn’t been born yesterday, and especially in his line of work; he knew the difference between a cut from a bullet wound. A bullet most definitely caused her scar.

When she turned around, she must’ve sensed his scrutiny because her hand immediately went to the area on her arm in question. Interesting.

“From the looks of that scar, it must’ve been a pretty nasty cut,” he told her, making sure he emphasized the word cut.

With just a nod of her head, he’d let her off the hook, for now. He couldn’t promise that the topic wouldn’t be revisited. They may just be friends with benefits, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care about her, and if she were in some sort of trouble, he’d be there to help her.

He could tell his questioning had made her uncomfortable because she started to fidget, and that was the last thing he wanted to do right now. If she wanted non-sexual company for the evening, then that was what he would give her.

He walked into the living room and grabbed her mug from the coffee table, then went back to the kitchen and pulled another mug from the drying rack next to the sink, and began to make hot chocolate.

“What are you doing?” She asked.

“What does it look like? I’m making us some hot chocolate, then we’re going to go sit down and watch a movie together.”

She scrunched her forehead up and gave him a questionable look. “We are?”

He smiled. “Yep! Now, go sit down and find us a movie. I’ll be there in a sec.”

A few minutes later, with two piping hot mugs of hot chocolate in his hand and a tin of cookies under his arm, he found Anna on the couch cuddled in one corner while Nigel claimed the other. He set everything down and took the seat in the middle of the two.

Anna looked over at him and grinned. “Thank you,” she told him, and he could hear the sincerity in her words.

He softly smiled. “You’re welcome. Come here.” He put his arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her into his side. Her body immediately relaxed as she laid against him. Moments later, the movie began.

As he sipped his hot chocolate and watched Ralphy from A Christmas Story almost shoot his eye out, he wondered to himself if this could be what it would be like all of the time if he could just let the wall down that was guarding his heart.