“How you feeling?” he asked.

“Ouch.”

“Anne, I’m so damn sorry,” said Reece, looking about as contrite and torn up about it as possible. “Are you alright?”

“I’ll live.” Mostly. “Advil and ice would probably be good.”

“Yep, let’s get you upstairs.” Mal carefully brushed the hair back from my face.

Panting this time came from the box, along with a high-pitched yelp.

“It’s alright, Killer. Mommy’s okay.” Mal put a hand in the box and lifted out a wriggly little body covered in black-and-white fur. A fancy, studded collar sat around his neck, topped off by a big red bow. The bow was bigger than the dog. “Mommy was trying to save Daddy from evil Uncle Reecey, wasn’t she? A nice thing to do, but Daddy is still going to spank Mommy for being so silly and jumping into a fight. Yes he is, because Daddy’s the best.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” mumbled Reece.

“Happy birthday; I got you a puppy.” Mal held the puppy near my face and a wet, pink tongue darted out, licking my chin. He had the darkest, sweetest little eyes. “I named him Killer.”

“Wow.” God, he was cute–the man and the dog both. “Mal, you can’t call something that small Killer.”

“He earned it. Killed one of my Chucks right after I picked him up this afternoon. Chewed a hole right through it.”

The puppy licked me again, nearly getting me on the lips this time.

“Gross, little dude.” I smiled. “I know what you do with that tongue.”

Mal smiled, then handed the puppy to Reece. “Here, carry him up. Don’t drop him.”

“I won’t drop him.”

“You better not.”

More grumbling from Reece and some yips from Killer the puppy. Truly, this night was surreal.

“Wait, Mal. What about your mom?” I asked. “How is she?”

His mouth firmed and his brows descended. “Not good. She doesn’t have long now.”

“What are you doing here?”

His bloody face screwed up and gave me a pained look. “That’s kind of a long story too. I’ll tell it to you upstairs.”

A car pulled to a screeching halt at the curb, and Nate and Lauren rushed out. I waved groggily at them. “It’s okay. They stopped fighting.”

“Ooh, look at the puppy!” cried Lauren.

“You two fucking idiots. What did you do to her?” Nate squatted down next to me, scowling, studying my rapidly swelling shut eye. The world was a blur on that side. “How’s your head, Anne?”

He turned back to Lauren, who was still busy petting and cooing at Killer. “Lauren, leave the dog and call that nurse friend of yours. If we take Anne anywhere like this people will ask questions I’m assuming she won’t want to answer.”

“Sorry. Yes. Good idea.” Lauren pulled her cell phone out of her purse.

“No, please don’t,” I said. “It’s fine.”

Lauren hesitated, looking between me, Mal, and Nate.

“Really,” I insisted, trying to look perky. “I’m going to have a shiner, but I’m okay.”

“I’ll carry her,” growled Mal when Nate tried to pick me up.

“I’ll walk. Just help me up.” I held up my hands and Nate gently pulled me to my feet. Behind me, Mal jumped up. He gripped my hips, holding me steady as the world slipped and slid.

“Whoa.” My head spun round and round.

“Easy.” Mal stood at my back, letting me lean against him until I found my feet. “Fuck, Anne. I’m so sorry.”

“I’ve never had a black eye before.”

“Could have lived without you getting one now because of me.” His lips brushed against my ear. “Let me carry you.”

“Okay.” Fighting was dumb. Mal and Reece fighting, and me resisting being carried.

Mal picked me up in his big, strong arms while I swooned like a proper romance-novel heroine.

“I’m thinking my career as a prizefighter has come and gone.” I rested my head on his shoulder, breathing in his familiar scent. Man, I’d missed that. Mal just shook his head. I don’t think he was quite ready to see the humor in my getting hit just yet.

Nate opened the front door to our apartment building and the rest followed behind me and Mal, Reece carrying the puppy, and Lauren still trying to pat the puppy.

“You’re back and you got me a puppy?” The concept still seemed strange. It might have been my recent brain injury. I looped an arm around his neck, taking liberties with him while I could. Who knew how long he’d stay this time. Or why he was even back.

“You never had one as a kid.”

“I can’t have pets in this building, Mal.”

“Yeah, I know. I got you a new apartment too. No point doing things halfway, right?”

“Riiiight.” I had the worst feeling he wasn’t joking.

Up the stairs we went. Nate rummaged in my purse and pulled out my keys, opening the door.

“Just put me on the couch, thanks,” I directed. “Ah, there’s an ice pack in the freezer.”

Without a word, Mal deposited me as told then went to find the ice. It didn’t hurt too badly to let him go. Not in comparison to my eye. I kept one hand over it, shielding it from the too-bright overhead light.

“Thanks for coming back, guys,” I said to Nate and Lauren. “Sorry to mess with your night.”

They just looked at me, sort of stunned still. Lauren had on heels and jeans, clearly ready for a night on the town.

“I’m sorry I interrupted your date. And Reece, relax,” I said, moving right along. “It was an accident.”

He gave me eyes full of guilt.

Mal came bustling back in with an ice pack wrapped up in a towel, a bottle of water, and a bottle of Advil.

“Thanks.” I swallowed two of those suckers straight down and held the ice pack over my eye. “Reece and Mal, you need to stop fighting. Can I have that for my birthday, please?”

Without delay, Mal stuck out his hand, ready for shaking.

“Yeah, okay.” Reece moved the puppy to one arm and shook Mal’s hand.

“Thank you.”

“Here,” he said, holding my new dog out to me. The big, red bow had flopped down over Killer’s face and he was growling and tugging on it with his teeth. Cutest thing ever. I hadn’t even realized I wanted a dog but despite my eye throbbing like a bitch, I couldn’t stop smiling. Reece placed him in my lap. Immediately he tried to climb me and lick my chin. Out of the three males present, he was definitely my favorite, despite being the jumpiest.

“Chill, little guy.” Mal sat beside me on the love seat, placing a restraining hand on Killer.

“You sure you’re okay?” asked Lauren, reaching in to give Killer a final scratch behind the ears.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thanks.”

“You want us to go so you can kick Mal’s ass?”

“Please.”

She nodded, grabbed a scowly faced Nate, and dragged him out the door. Because girls got it. Men, not so much.

“Listen, Anne,” said Reece. “I’m sorry about the scene out front. About you getting hit and everything.”

“I know you are, Reece. But right now, I need to yell at Mal. Can we do dinner another time?”

“You’re not going to yell at me?”

“No. I’m going to yell at him, because I’m in love with him.”

Mal stiffened beside me, the hand petting Killer missing a beat.

“Right,” said Reece. “Which means you’re definitely not in love with me, and I need to give up and back off.”

“I’m sorry, Reece.”

“All right.” Reece gave me a sad smile, then leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. “I’ll remember that next time. Just do me a favor? Don’t come to work for a few days. Stay home and give your eye and my guilt time to heal.”

“You got it.”

“So damn sorry about that.”

“I know. It was an accident, Reece. No hard feelings.”

“Yeah, no hard feelings,” he repeated softly. Then he gave me a halfhearted wave and left, closing the door behind him. And here we were, me, Mal, and Killer. The apartment was eerily silent apart from the snuffling, panting puppy. Mal picked him up and put him carefully on the floor.

“I want to yell at you for leaving me the way you did, for disappearing on me,” I said, moving the ice pack from my face. “But I can’t because the situation with your mom is terrible and I know you’re hurting. And for some stupid reason I still feel guilty about not agreeing to marry you even though you asking me was an insane, ridiculous stunt that had next to nothing to do with me.”