Page 124 of The Guy Who Fake Dated Me

“Frank looks excited.”

I focused on the duo and found William squatting down in front of the dog trying to keep his attention.

“Do you know how old Frank is?” Brooke asked.

“I don’t.”

William drew a treat from his pocket and apparently told Frank to sit, because Frank lowered his haunches to the ground and waited.

Brooke let out a littlehumphof approval.

My eyes drifted from William to several other dogs and their owners. Some dogs sniffed everything in sight. Others merely rolled in the grass, then sprawled out. Three looked to be involved in a game of tag, and one sat on its owner’s lap shivering.

Kyle, who had walked Holly around the track so they could both cool down, approached us. “Hey, Brooke, I need to use the bathroom. Will you keep Holly moving?”

“Of course.” Brooke rose, accepted the leash, gave Holly a quick rubdown, then trotted off.

“Be right back,” Kyle promised me. “Just stay there and no one should bother you.”

I hadn’t been thinking about what I’d do if a dog came toward me without an owner, because Brook had been here. Now that I was alone, all sorts of worst-case scenarios played out in my mind.

What if one of those ankle-biters attacked? Was I okay to kick it? If I did, would the other animals band together to come after me?

Or, what if the dog the size of a pony came over and decided he wanted the bench? I’d bolt for sure. I could get licked, bitten, shed on, or drooled on at any moment.

None of those sounded appealing.

So I kept my gaze roaming. Alert. Anyone or anything who made eye contact got a glare from me and kept walking.

A few minutes passed, and I was beginning to wonder exactly what Kyle was doing in the restroom when a fluffy, white creature appeared by my side.

This canine was like a ninja. One second, I’d been alone, and the next he stood at the end of the bench, looking up at me with his bright blue eyes. I recognized the animal as a husky or a malamute, but only because I’d met Logan’s dog, Sky, when I’d been up in Big Bear.

Fear clamped my throat shut. Brooke had instructed me not to make any sudden moves, so I sat stone still. The dog’s nose twitched as it sniffed the air, then it sat and gave me a little whine.

“What?” I asked.

He stretched his neck toward me as if imploring me to pet him.

I put my hands up. “What do you want?”

“Sky, stop scaring her.”

That voice hit the slow-motion button on the scene. My eyes fell to the dog, and I took a moment to study his face. I knew those markings.

And that voice could only belong to one person in the world.

That person appeared next to Sky, a grin on his lips but trepidation in his eyes. My mind struggled to make sense of it.

Sky and Logan were here?

Right now?

In California?

Logan ran his hands through Sky’s thick fur. “Hey.”

I swallowed.

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