Protect Her

Chapter Thirty One

Derek- 2 months later

"Can we keep him, Derek?" Riley grinned, batting her long eyelashes at me. Her arms were draped around the neck of a German Shepard puppy. "Please, please, please."

"Yeah, can we Derek? Please." Cam smirked, shooting me the exact same grin as her daughter.

"Where did you find that thing?" I chuckled, folding my arms over my chest. They had gone to the beach this afternoon and returned with a tiny terror of a puppy. It had been in the house for maybe two minutes and already chewed a pair of my favorite shoes.

"That thing is named Champ, and we found him at the ice cream shop." Cam laughed, rubbing Champ's head. "His mom was hit by a car."

"Please, Derek! He doesn't have a family! We could be his family!"

I wasn't a huge fan of dogs. We had a dog growing up, and he was my best friend. We did everything together when I was younger, and when he died, I was crushed. I never wanted another pet after that, and even when my parents got us a puppy for Christmas, I kept my distance. Dogs were hairy and dirty and the chewed on everything.

I had no fucking hope while looking down at Riley's excitement, though. She was already head over heels in love with this dog and it would shatter her if I told her she couldn't have it. All I could think about were the white leather couches in my pent house back in New York. I had to remind myself that we weren't in New York, though, and we weren't going back for the foreseeable future. I didn't hate the idea of having a dog for protection and, obviously, it would make the girls happy.

"Fine." I conceded, a smile tugging at my lips. I loved the way Riley thought we could be its family, like we were already in our own little family unit.

"Yes!! See mommy, I told you he would say yes!" Riley jumped up and down excitedly, wrapping her arms around my legs.

"But here's the deal..." I bent down in front of her. "If he's going to stay, you have to feed him, and pick up after him, and take him on a walk every single day."

"I will! I will!" She grinned wildly. "Come on, Champ! Come see my room; you can sleep in my bed. "

"Ugh." I cringed, putting my arm around Cam's shoulder as we watched Champ chase after Riley down the hall.

"We don't have to keep him." Cam smiled softly. "We can find a home for him if you really don't want him. He was just so cute and we couldn't resist him."

"How exactly did you find a puppy at the ice cream shop?" I chuckled.

"There was a guy with them in the trunk of his car." She explained.

I rubbed my temples. "You followed a guy to the trunk of his car in a random parking lot?"

"No!" she insisted. "He was right in front of the shop and there were all kinds of people around looking at the puppies."

"But let me guess... you were the only one who ended up taking one?"

"Buying one." She clarified.

I let out a sharp laugh. "This story just keeps getting better and better."

"He just made her so happy, I couldn't tell her no. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, babe. Really." I said, leading her into the kitchen. "We'll figure it out. And it'll teach her some responsibility while we're at it."

"How are you more like her father than her own?" Cam rolled her eyes and then gave me a gentle kiss. "We're so lucky to have found you."

"I'm the lucky one." I pressed my lips to hers again, holding the kiss a few seconds longer. "But speaking of her father... How are you feeling about the trial starting next week?"