The Luckiest by M.J. O'Shea & Piper Vaughn

Author:M.J. O'Shea & Piper Vaughn [Vaughn, M.J. O'Shea & Piper]
Language: eng
Format: epub

WHEN HE got to the deli, Nick was waiting for him with two grilled sandwiches, chips, soda, and a wiggly Stephanie at one of the outdoor tables. Nick was right. The neighborhood was older, not what anyone would call trendy. Luka realized what a relief it must be for Nick to be somewhere he wasn’t very likely to be recognized. It had to take some of the pressure off.

“Hey,” Luka said with a smile. He bent and greeted his dog, who gave him a long, slurpy lick on the face. “Hi, love,” he murmured. It was then he noticed she had on a brand-new collar, black leather with pink enameled skulls.

“You got my dog a new collar.” He didn’t know whether to laugh or be pissed. It was awfully cute.

“A girl’s gotta have some options, right?”

Luka snorted. “And that would be the gayest thing you’ve ever said. You really like Steph, don’t you?”

“Here, sit down and eat.” Nick gestured nervously at the sandwiches. “I ordered you a Coke. That okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Luka settled into his chair and gave Nick a wry look. “Good try, but Nick Ventura, I’ve known you long enough to be able to tell when you’re avoiding a question.”

“I do like dogs. I haven’t had one in a long time, though.” He scritched Steph’s head until she tipped her face up and licked his fingers.

“No time for a pet with the touring and stuff?”

“It’s been a lot longer than that.” Nick looked down at his tray and picked at one of the potato chips. “Your sandwich is getting cold. You should eat.”

Luka could tell Nick wanted to talk about the dog. His poor, stubborn little boy. Luka was going to have to pry the story out of him. “What was your dog’s name? The one you had before, I mean.”

“Tucker. He was a German shepherd. Really sweet. He used to like to sleep with me too, at the foot of my bed. Tucker was always more my dog than Shaney’s.”

“So you were a kid when you got him?”

“Yeah, nine, I think. He was gone before I was in middle school.” Nick took a bite of his sandwich and spent a really long time chewing. Luka sighed inwardly.

“What happened to Tucker?” he prodded.

“Luka, it’s fine….”

“It might help if you tell me.”

“Fuck. Have you been talking to my therapist?” Nick crushed a chip in his hand and sprinkled it all over the basket.

Luka chuckled. “No, that’s illegal. Tell me about where your dog went.”

Nick stalled. He took a drink of his soda, made sure the lid was on tight, glanced at the pigeons eating breadcrumbs on the street.

“My dad was never very nice to him. I learned to keep him out of my dad’s way, if you know what I mean. But one day I was at school, and someone had let Tucker inside from where he usually was in the yard.” Nick took a long, shuddery breath. Luka didn’t know what to do, so he stayed quiet. “Anyway, my dad had some of his asshole friends over from work, ya know? And they were all drunk.

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