Page 20 of Claimed by my Bestie's Dad

I kick my boots off and grab the top of the fence. When I see what Bella is doing, though, it makes me lose my grip, and I fall.

Bella is digging furiously at the frozen grass like there’s a treasure trove of buried treats.

Treats!

The thought hits my head, and I thank it. I run back to my house and manage to get some treats without lettingBigfoot escape. I come back to my side of the fence, hoping I can get Bella to squeeze back through the hole.

“Bella!” I offer, waving the treats on my side of the hole. But she acts as though she can’t hear me. She heads to the other side of the yard. All I can do is watch helplessly as she begins to go after a flowerbed.

How on earth did Bella even manage to squeeze through? Can I fit? I spend all of two minutes trying before I give up.

That’s not going to work. I have to climb the fence.

But for some reason, I can’t seem to get it today. My foot slips, and a thin slice of pain tells me I’ve just gotten a splinter.

“How did I do it with Scout? Maybe that spot in the fence was easier to climb.” It’s the only hope I have. I can only imagine how many flowerbeds Bella has already destroyed.

Cursing under my breath, I kneel and start trying to widen the gap under the fence. I don’t want to run across Ethan’s front yard and get his attention. What if he hates me enough to call the police on me for trespassing?

I pull my phone from my pocket with dirty fingers and call Wesley, my brother, who’s always been the more practical one. “Wes, I need help. One of the dogs I’m sitting got into my neighbor’s yard. Can you come over?”

“On my way,” he says without hesitation.

I hang up, shoving the phone back into my pocket. I’m not getting anywhere with the dirt, and my hands are freezing. The barking has stopped, which is somehow even more alarming than when it was echoing through the neighborhood. I can only imagine what kind of chaos Bella is creating.

Panic hits me as I wonder if she’s stopped barkingbecause Ethan has come outside. If he’s inside, how could he have not heard her at this point?

I have no choice. I have to go to the other side of the fence and hope I’ll be able to climb that side. “Samson, stay.”

And he does. I dart across Ethan’s front yard, only daring one glance at the house as I pass it. No one yells at me or makes me stop.

Once I’m on the other side of the fence, I grab the top and try to climb again. But it’s not working. I’m getting frustrated at myself. I climbed it with Scout. Why can’t I do it again? My fingers are red and stiff with the cold, and my foot is telling me that I definitely have a splinter stuck in it.

These dogs are literally going to drive me to my death.

I grab a treat from my pocket, one of the smelly liver snacks that usually gets the dogs’ attention. “Come on, buddy,” I call. I shove the treat partway under the fence, hoping I can at least distract Bella from destroying everything until my brother gets here.

The dog, wherever she is, is ignoring me. My knees are damp and freezing, my hands raw from the cold, but I keep at it, hoping to lure him back before Ethan comes home and finds his yard destroyed.

And then, of course, because my luck is just that bad, I hear a car pull into the driveway. I freeze, still on my hands and knees, covered in mud, just as the driver’s side door opens. Ethan doesn’t pull all the way into the garage, and I feel awkwardly exposed.

Ethan steps out, looking every bit as put-together as ever, and his gaze locks onto me immediately. His eyebrows shoot up in surprise, and for a moment, we just stare at each other, with him standing there looking polished and sophisticated,and me half-dirty and clearly desperate, crouched on the ground.

“What…are you doing?”

I push myself to my feet, brushing the dirt off my knees and feeling my face flush with embarrassment. “I just wanted to see if I could fit under your fence.” I roll my eyes. “One of the dogs I’m sitting got into your yard. I was trying to get her out.”

Ethan’s gaze flicks from me to the fence and back again. He takes a step closer, and I wonder if he’s going to mention my visit with Aurora. I don’t want him to. I’m desperately begging for him not to, but I don’t know how to prevent it. “Did you say a dog is in my yard?”

“Yes, she’s in there somewhere, digging up your grass, I think. I’m sorry—these dogs are escape artists. I didn’t expect her to get through the fence. There’s a small gap, and she just… I don’t know…”

Ethan looks at me for a long moment then sighs and pulls a set of keys from his pocket. He’s about to say something when another car pulls up and parks in the street.

Relief floods through me when I see my brother’s car. Wesley hops out and jogs over. “What’s the situation?” he asks, glancing between me and Ethan.

“The dog’s in Ethan’s yard. This is Ethan, my neighbor.”

“Wesley, Madison’s brother.” Wesley smiles and shakes Ethan’s hand. “Hey, you’re the same guy who used to live here, huh? Madison played with your daughter all the time.”

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