Page 63 of Falling for the Forward

He’s just jogging until we get close. He’s surprisingly fast when he wants to be.

“Treaties!” Olivia yells. “Want treaties, Darling?”

He stops and looks at her. I creep toward him, stepping as quietly as I can.

“Let’s go home and get treaties,” Olivia says, crouching down. “Want some Goldfish?”

He heads toward her, snuffling with excitement. I get close enough to grab his leash and I pick it up.

“Good boy, Darling,” Olivia says, hugging him.

“He’s not a good boy. He only wants treats.”

“Well, at least we caught him.”

I walk him over to my car, and when we get there, a guy is standing in his yard, filming us with his camera phone. Fucking great. I really don’t want the world to know I have a pet pig who wears a puffer coat and dog boots.

I ignore the guy filming and tell Olivia to get in the car. She does, and I pick Darling up to put him in the back seat. He squeals loudly, making it look and sound like I’m stabbing him or something. This isn’t unusual; he hates being carried.

“I swear I’ll put you on a sandwich,” I grumble under my breath. “Get your ass in the car.”

I manage to get him onto the seat, put the leash in the car and close the door.

“Can I see him?” I hear Hallie saying when I get in the car.

“I FaceTimed her,” Olivia says to me.

She points her phone toward the back seat. “There he is.”

“My darling!” Hallie cries.

“Hi, Darling.”

That voice belongs to Suki. I turn the car around quickly and step on the gas, eager to get home and see her.

“Did you have an adventure?” Olivia asks Darling. “Are you hungry?”

I let go of my irritation over freezing my balls off chasing the pig. It was his getting away from Olivia that made Suki come back. I want her to stay.

When I come home from a road trip, it’s to Suki and the girls. I was a dick when I made coming home to them sound like some sort of accomplishment, but I’m not a charming man. I’m a direct communicator, not a game player.

Hopefully she cooled off during our time apart. I definitely did. I’m disappointed she’s not all in like I am, but if she needs more time, I’ll have to be okay with that.

When we get back to the house, Suki’s car isn’t there.

“Where’s Suki?” I say out loud.

Olivia types out a text and then waits a couple of seconds. “Charlotte says she just left.”

“For fuck’s sake,” I mumble.

“Are you guys having a fight?”

I don’t want her to worry about it, so I say, “We’re fine. Just working through something.”

I pull into the garage, Hallie standing there waiting for us. As soon as I park the car, she opens the rear driver’s side door and greets Darling with hugs and kisses.

At least she’s happy. I’m sure as hell not.

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