Page 8 of Never Kiss Your Brother's Best Friend

"But I want to bring him home now," she whines, her lower lip trembling.

"I'm sorry, but it's not possible quite yet. I don't actually work for the shelter. Someone should be here soon though, so you can start the process," I tell her.

The woman seems to sense her daughter's desperation. She steps forward. "We just have to be patient, sweetheart and wait until they get here."

Her daughter heaves a sigh but seems to understand.

"Can I just hold him for a little bit, please?" the little girl begs.

"If it's okay with your mom."

She looks to her mom, and the woman nods. "Sure, sweetie."

The little girl grins and takes the puppy from me, wrapping him up in her arms and burying her face in his fur. He licks her face and wiggles around in her embrace. As I watch the two of them, my eyes catch a familiar figure in the distance.

Emma and her friends Mia and Zoe are strolling through the festival. Even from here, I can hear Emma's laughter cutting through the crowd. She seems to be in high spirits. I haven't seen her since the wedding debacle, and a pang of guilt tugs at me. I should have checked on her sooner.

"Hey, Tom," I call to the volunteer who finally shows up. I point to the mom and daughter, “They are checking out a puppy, but I gotta go.” I do my best not to shove anyone out of the way in my attempt to quickly catch up with Emma.

He turns around and grins when he sees where my attention has gone. "Sure thing, Doc."

I smile my thanks and head off in the direction of Emma's voice, hoping to catch her before she disappears in the sea of people. I spot her before long, and as soon as I do, a warm rush of affection fills my chest.

"Hey there, trouble," I greet her, smirking as I catch up with the trio.

Emma's face lights up when she sees me. "Sterling! What brings you to the festival?"

"I was helping out in a booth for the animal shelter. We've got some new puppies up for adoption and need to spread the word," I reply, nodding toward the booth I just abandoned. "What about you? More girl time?"

"You got it," she says with a grin. "We were just about to conquer the Tilt-A-Whirl. Wanna join?"

"I'll pass, thanks," I say, smiling at her enthusiasm. "Still not a big fan of heights."

"It's okay. You're be safe with me," she teases, nudging my shoulder. "It's only a fifty-foot drop. I promise. Come on, live a little, Sterling!"

I scoff, making a face. "No, thanks. You three have fun, though."

"Hang on a minute." Emma turns back to her friends. "Girls, I'll find you later, okay? I haven't had a chance to catch up with Sterling since the ‘I was dumped at the wedding but we don’t talk about it out loud’ thing." She puts a finger to her lips.

Geez, she’s adorable.

Zoe waggles her eyebrows and blows Emma a kiss, and Mia gives her a knowing nod.

"Yeah, okay," Mia says with a smirk. "You go have fun. We'll meet up later."

"Thanks," Emma says, rolling her eyes at her friends before she loops her arm around mine. "Can I at least talk you into some fried food and carnival games? I haven't had a chance to check out the food trucks."

"Sounds good to me."

After I check in with Tom, who assures me he can handle the traffic alone, we wander the festival, taking our time, stopping at the different tents and eating the weird food. I swear they’ll fry anything here. I think they went too far with the deep-fried butter.

Emma tries her hand at the ring toss, but her aim is off and she can't get the rings anywhere close to the glass bottles.

"Hey, Sterling, you try," she says. "Win me a prize like you did in high school. Unless, of course, you've lost your touch."

"As if," I retort, grinning.

She takes a step back, and I grab the first ring, holding it up in front of the bottles.

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