Page 5 of Taken By my Brothers' Best Friends

I was writing the part right after Anna found out the truth and I was struggling with how to make her forgive them. Forgiveness wasn’t really something I was all that great at so it was more complicated for me to write. Not that I couldn’t fake it with the best of them. That’s basically what I did for a living.

Dylan and Ryan were just starting their big apology tour when I heard a sound that drew me out of the story. I sat up, my hand instantly reaching for the curtain to swipe it closed. Only one person in my real life knew that I was V.H. Springs and I was motivated to keep it that way. The scratching sound came from the front door so I put my office away and stood up to check it out.

Maxie had told me more than a few times that I was the kind of person who got killed first in horror movies and she was probably right. Not only did I have an impressive rack, but I really did also go towards the noise. My type never lasted much longer than the opening credits. Even knowing that didn’t stop me from pulling open my door.

Instead of a serial killer, I was met with a massive dog in a onesie who charged into my house before I could even get a good look at him. Or her. I spun around and found the biggest pit bull I’d ever seen sitting on my couch like he’d always been there. He was definitely a ‘he’, I noticed. Unfortunately. I looked outside, expecting to see an owner chasing their dog down but I got nothing.

Looking back at the dog, I shrugged and pulled the door closed. “I guess you’re here for now, right?”

He let out a quiet bark and stretched out. His coat that wasn’t hidden beneath his pajamas was velvety gray and his eyes were a pale green unlike any other I’d ever seen on a dog. A tag gleamed in the light but when I tried to read it, the big boy reached up and batted my hand away.

“Excuse me. You’re in my house. I think I’m supposed to look at your tag and call your owner. Don’t you want to go home?” I tried again and was met with another paw. “Fine. Don’t go home. Stay here with me and find out what happened to all my pet goldfish.”

He lifted his head and his eyebrows moved up and down in such a comical way I almost believed he understood me. He rolled onto his back, exposing his belly and below to me, and yawned.

I stood there, staring down at him, almost waiting for him to respond to me for too many seconds to admit before I shrugged and went back to my office. I was only at my desk for a few minutes before I heard the dog jump down from the couch. He came into my room and jumped straight into my bed.

“Alright. Now you’re just pushing boundaries to push them. That’s my bed. Myhumanbed. I don’t even know you. You can’t just jump in my bed when I don’t even know your name.” I rolled over in my desk chair and managed to sneak a look at his tag. “Bobby? Are you serious? Your name is Bobby?”

He let out a louder bark then and I held up my hands. Apparently, he liked the name he’d been given.

“Fine. Whatever, Bobby. I’ve got work to do. You just hang out, I guess.” I sighed and looked around, as if I expected the owner to just appear. “We’ll go out to look for your owner when I finish this chapter. Cool?”

Bobby was already asleep. On his back, head on my pillow, he was asleep and snoring that quickly. I wasn’t sure if the pajamas were coloring his personality or if his personality had caused the pajamas. Either way, he looked cozy. And kind of adorable in his onesie that had baby elephants all over it.

Writing was harder with Bobby’s snoring filling the room. Trying to write a sex scene with the sound of wet snores filling the background wasn’t exactly working for me so I gave up writing until the dog was done with his nap. I shut up my office and went to my kitchen to heat up a frozen meal.

I’d just closed the microwave door when I turned and saw Bobby standing with his front paws on my kitchen counter. I screamed, truly surprised by his presence, and he looked at melike he thought I was an idiot. “You scared the hell out of me! How’d you move so fast? Also, get off my counter. Isn’t that a rule most people impose on their dogs? No counter standing?”

If he knew the rule, he was pretending like he didn’t. His big pink tongue rolled out and I watched a strand of drool drip down onto my countertop.

“Are you kidding? That’s disgusting! I eat there!” I put my hands on my hips and tried to be stern. “Get down, Bobby. Now.”

He barked and I got the impression I was being told off. Instead of getting down, he lowered his head and licked all along the counter. That was the biggest f-you I’d ever gotten from an animal.

“Fine. Stay on the counter. I love it.” I realized I was trying to use reverse psychology on a dog and cringed. How many times could I feel like an idiot in one day? “Whatever. I’m not going to argue with you. I’m going to go eat my food on the couch while watching trashy daytime TV. You’re not invited to join me.”

Of course, he joined me. He sat next to me on the couch and put his giant head in my lap. Not one to be bested by any man, even in dog form, I rested my cooled plate on top of his head and ate like I wasn’t sharing my personal space with a dog who possibly weighed just as much as me.

CHAPTER 5

Vera

After spending the day with Bobby, I was willing to admit I didn’t absolutely hate him. His pajamas were so cute and he was a cuddler, which I found that I liked. He smelled kind of nice, like a cologne I almost recognized, and he let me know every time he needed to go outside to the bathroom. He was smart and he honestly had better communication skills than some of the men in my family.

I was on the verge of kidnapping someone’s dog when a loud knock sounded at my front door. Bobby braced himself between me and the door and snarled at it. His fierce growls were only slightly diminished by the elephant onesie.

“Bobby?”

Bobby stopped growling and started wagging his tail as soon as he heard the voice coming from the other side of the door. He turned to me, giant smile on his face, and his whole back end wiggled from side to side.

I laughed at his change of attitude and opened the door so he could reunite with his owner. A part of me was sad because I didn’t want him to go but that part of me was overshadowed by frustration when I saw who his owner was.

Dean bent down to pet Bobby and slap his butt a few times before looking up at me. The smile on his face faded completely when he saw I was standing in front of him. “Did you try to steal my dog?”

I scoffed. “Are you serious right now?”

He crossed his arms over his chest and pulled the toothpick he’d been chewing on out of his mouth. “Fuck yeah, I’m serious. Bobby’s been missing all day. I’ve been looking for him and this is one of the last places I looked. Why do you have my dog?”

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