Page 68 of Borrow My Heart

Bean was lying on a pile of towels to our right, obviously exhausted from the excitement. A discarded sign lay on the ground next to him. It read:Get Wet for a Cause!

“Your family’s?” I asked, pointing to the sign.

“Probably,” Asher said. He peeled off his wet sweatshirt. Hehad a T-shirt on, which was equally soaked and stuck to his toned chest. He shook his head and water droplets hit my face. He smiled. Why was he so adorable? Why was I going to ruin everything with my confession later?

“Excuse me,” a woman to my right said. I hadn’t even heard her approach. “Have you seen a pair of red goggles?”

“No, I—”

“Is she looking for goggles?” Chad called from across the room, holding up a pair and proving he was paying even more attention to me and Asher than I had realized.

Behind the woman a little girl, probably eight or nine, stood staring at Bean, who had sat up at the sight of the new visitors.

“Thank you!” the woman called, and headed toward Chad.

The little girl lingered, she and Bean in an eye lock.

She inched forward and I started to move as well, but Asher flexed his fingers toward me as if saying,Just give them one second.Bean’s tail was wagging and we were close, so I did.

“Hi, Bean,” the little girl said. “You’re so cute.”

Bean’s mouth stretched into a doggie smile. He and the girl finally met. They were inches from each other when Bean reached up and licked her face from chin to forehead. She laughed and scratched his head.

I looked at Asher. He was watching the exchange with the biggest smile on his face.

“Maggie, step back!” called the woman, who now held her goggles and was coming back toward us, Chad beside her.

“It’s fine, Mama! He’s nice!”

Bean licked the little girl’s face again and I laughed. Once thewoman reached us she took Maggie’s hand and pulled her several feet away from Bean. My chest tightened and I prayed to the dog gods that Bean would like Maggie’s mom as much as he liked Maggie. But Bean, being who he was, seemed to think now was a good time to walk in slow tight circles, as though he was chasing his tail, but much less playful and much more weird. The woman stared at him for a few moments, then said, “Uh, thanks. Good luck.” She walked away, hand in hand with the girl.

“I love him,” Maggie said as they left.

“He loved you, too!” Asher called after her.

The woman didn’t look back.

“That was so close,” I said, disappointment settling onto my shoulders. Bean had stopped spinning and his smile from before was gone. I picked up his leash from the ground and clipped it to his collar. I scratched behind his ears and kissed his face.

“If we just had to convince kids,” Chad said, “there wouldn’t be any dogs in the shelter.”

Asher met my eyes. “It was close.”

“You ready?” Chad asked me, like we were a couple or something.

“Yes.” I said. Asher had never answered my question about getting together later. Did that mean he didn’t want to? “Bye.”

“I’ll walk with you guys.” Asher’s shoes squeaked and left watery footprints as he walked.

“Thank you so much!” I called to the rec center director, who waved.

“You really should’ve had Bean on leash with that little girl,” Chad said, in a careful voice.

He was right. I should’ve. We had rules for a reason.

“He was fine,” Asher said. “His body language was relaxed and friendly.”

“It’s policy,” Chad said.

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