Not so silent night the.., p.9
Not So Silent Night (The Kings: A Treemendous Christmas Book 1),
p.9
“Are you crying?” Colton asked softly.
“No.” Ace sniffed. “You’re crying. Why are you crying, Colton? Geez, it’s just a puppy.”
Colton laughed softly and kissed Ace’s cheek. Then Cocoa flicked out his tiny pink tongue and kissed Ace’s other cheek.
“I love him,” Ace said, rubbing his face against Cocoa’s head. He sighed. “There’s nothing like that new puppy smell.” He couldn’t believe it. “We have a fur baby.”
“We do,” Colton said.
“I need you to make me one of your lists. We need all the dog things.”
“Already working on it.” Colton scritched Cocoa behind his tiny ear. “Do you want to change his name? You don’t need to keep it.”
Ace stared at Colton. “Are you kidding me? Not only is Cocoa the perfect name, but we officially have a chocolate chip cookie!” Oh, the excitement was overwhelming. He couldn’t wait to tell Joker.
“What?” Colton blinked at him. “I don’t understand.”
Ace motioned to Cocoa. “Um, cocoa. Otherwise known as chocolate. Chip. And Cookie. Chocolate, Chip, Cookie.”
Realization dawned on Colton, and he barked out a laugh. “Oh, my god.”
The two of them laughed like a couple of dorks, and Ace loved every second of it. He had a dog! Best. Christmas. Ever.
“How did you manage this?” Ace asked, ready to melt into a puddle of goo when Cocoa fell asleep curled up in his arms.
“When I met up with Clara, she told me about her niece, Belle, who’s visiting for the holidays. Belle’s a specialized dog trainer for law enforcement. Anyway, just before Belle left to come to Winterhaven, one of her clients decided to give Cocoa up and asked if Belle could find him a forever home.”
“Why would they give him up?”
“Apparently, there was some kind of mix-up with the pups. Cocoa was one of the puppies deemed unfit to be a K9.”
“What? He’s two months old.” Ace was offended. How dare someone reject his precious fluffball! “Isn’t that like saying that a two-year-old baby isn’t fit to be a doctor? He’s a baby.”
Colton shrugged. “I assume with dogs it’s different. There are special tests they perform, I guess. Joker knows more about it than I do. The tests concluded Cocoa doesn’t have the temperament to be a police or military dog. They said he’d make a great companion or family dog, though.”
Ace had been about to protest their assessment when Cocoa yawned so hard he rolled over and almost fell out of Ace’s arms. Ace quickly caught him. “Yeah, okay, so maybe K9 is not in his future. Their loss is my adorable gain.” He scratched Cocoa’s belly. “Besides, we only need one psycho fur missile in this family, and that position has been filled by your cousin.”
Colton chuckled, and Ace shook his head. He still couldn’t believe this was happening. Ooh, he had some very long nights ahead of him, but he didn’t care.
The door jingled, and Ace’s smile couldn’t get any bigger when the rest of their family came in.
“What’s going on?” King asked as they headed over. “What’s the urgent—”
Leo gasped and practically ran over Joker to get to the couch first. “A puppy!”
Fitz squealed and darted over, sitting on the coffee table in front of Ace. “He’s so precious!”
“Aw, now he is sweeter than stolen honey,” Mason said, leaning over the back of the couch to pet Cocoa’s head.
“Can I take his picture?” Laz asked, Red and Gio coming to the other side to coo over Cocoa as well.
“Well, we’ve lost them,” Joker said.
Ace carefully put a fist up. “I am victorious.”
“No, your puppy is victorious,” Jack said, laughing.
“Still a win. I’ll take it.”
Laz asked Merry if he wouldn’t mind taking a photo. They all managed to squeeze in and around the couch with Cocoa in Ace’s arms, wagging his little tail and soaking in all the attention.
“Everyone ready?” Merry asked. “Say, puppy!”
They all cheered, “Puppy!” and Merry took several photos before returning the camera to Laz. Everyone gathered around, talking, laughing, ordering drinks and sweets, and taking turns holding Cocoa. Ace took Colton’s hand in his and kissed him.
“Thank you,” he whispered in Colton’s ear.
Yes, wherever their family went, chaos seemed to follow. But in the end, Ace wouldn’t change a thing. He loved each and every one just the way they were. “Your puppy’s peeing on your lap,” Joker said, falling over with laughter.
Did he say love? He meant tolerated.
Leo petted Ace’s shoulder. “At least it wasn’t squirrels.”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Ace lifted Cocoa onto his hind legs and arched an eyebrow at him. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
Cocoa stared at him, then he barked, his little tail wagging furiously.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Maybe there was something magic about Winterhaven. Whatever it was, Ace was grateful he got to experience it with his family. Squirrels and all.
Continue the holiday hijinks with Sleigh It Ain’t So, the second book in The Kings: A Treemendous Christmas series (Fitz and Jack’s holiday story)!
What’s Leo up to? Will the boys get the Ice Castle fixed in time? Can the Kings and the Boyfriend Collective save Christmas at Winterhaven? Keep reading to find out!
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Thank you so much for reading Not So Silent Night, the first book in The Kings: A Treemendous Christmas series. I hope you enjoyed Colton and Ace’s holiday hijinks, and if you did, please consider leaving a review on Amazon.
The fun continues with Sleigh It Ain’t So, Book 2 in The Kings: A Treemendous Christmas series (Fitz and Jack’s holiday story). It’s now available for preorder.
Reviews can have a significant impact on a book’s visibility on Amazon, so any support you show these fellas would be amazing.
Haven’t read the Kings? Start with Love in Spades, available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.
Want to stay up-to-date on my releases and receive exclusive content? Sign up for my newsletter.
For exclusive content and to read select works-in-progress, join me on Patreon. Tiers start at $5 a month. The higher the tier, the more perks you receive, including ebooks, signed paperbacks, and exclusive merchandise!
Follow me on Amazon to be notified of a new releases, and connect with me on social media, including my fun Facebook group, Donuts, Dog Tags, and Day Dreams, where we chat books, post pictures, have giveaways, and more!
Looking for inspirational photos of my books? Visit my book boards on Pinterest.
Thank you again for visiting the Kings Universe. We hope to see you soon!
ALSO BY CHARLIE COCHET
Shifter Scoundrels Series
Co-written with Macy Blake
FOUR KINGS SECURITY UNIVERSE SERIES
Four King Security
Four Kings Security Boxed Set
Black Ops: Operation Orion’s Belt
The Kings: Wild Cards
The Kings: Wild Cards Boxed Set
Runaway Grooms
The Kings: Royal Flush
The Kings: A Treemendous Christmas
THIRDS UNIVERSE SERIES
THIRDS
THIRDS Beyond the Books
THIRDS: Rebels
TIN
THIRDS Boxed Sets
OTHER SERIES AND NOVELS
Paranormal Princes Series
Soldati Hearts Series
North Pole City Tales Series
Love for the Reaper
DID YOU KNOW?
If you own a book or borrow it through Kindle Unlimited, you can get Whispersynced audiobooks at a discounted price. Interested in audio? Check out the Charlie Cochet titles available on Audible.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charlie Cochet is the international bestselling author of the THIRDS series. Born in Cuba and raised in the US, Charlie enjoys the best of both worlds, from her daily Cuban latte to her passion for classic rock.
Currently residing in Central Florida, Charlie is at the beck and call of a highly opinionated sable German Shepherd and a rascally Doxiepoo bent on world domination. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found devouring a book, releasing her creativity through art, or binge watching a new TV series. She runs on coffee, thrives on music, and loves to hear from readers.
Website: www.charliecochet.com
Email: charlie@charliecochet.com
Sign up for Charlie’s newsletter:
https://newsletter.charliecochet.com
Charlie Cochet, Not So Silent Night (The Kings: A Treemendous Christmas Book 1)
