Page 52 of The Stud

Bear immediately woofs in agreement prompting me to point a stern finger at him. “Don’t forget who feeds you, bud.”

“Pretty sure that was me on Tuesday becausesomeonewantedsecondsof their honey garlic chicken and cauliflower rice but didn’t wanna get up.”

“Your fault.”

“How is that my fault?!”

“For making magic in your cauldron.”

“Crockpot.” He tosses me another smug smirk. “Althoughnotedthat you think I’m magical.” Tanner bounces his eyebrows at me. “Perhaps magically delicious.”

“I would happily kick your ass off a rainbow.”

New rounds of laughter flood the night air during our descent down my driveway, yet upon our arrival at the end, near the trunk of his car, he reaches for the leash. “Let me hold it.”

Veering to the left is attached to me asking, “Why?”

“You hold mine. I hold his. It’s only fair.”

Giggles can’t be stopped, and neither can the transferring of the object.

Not that I want either to be stopped.

I…begrudgingly admit…I love how much he makes me smile.

And laugh.

And giggle like the schoolgirl I barely got to be.

I alsoreallylike that he seems to get Bear isn’t just any pet.

He’s the type you need the approval of if you’re planning to be around for the long haul.

Which heclaimsto be.

Too bad I’m not totally convinced this isn’t all some season-length strategy to simply get me into the sack.

Then again…I’m not…notconvinced.

According to my mom if a man cooks for you, cleans up your dirty tissues when you’re sick, and picks up your dog’s shit, you might as well be expecting a marriage proposal sooner rather than later.

Except I don’t date hockey players.

Especially not ones accused of crashing some sorority girl’s twenty first birthday party when he was really just picking us up hot wings.

The somewhat prompted reminder pushes me to investigate his unpredicted presence. “Should you really be doing more cardio right now?”

“Yeah, I do not thinkwalkingBear qualifies as cardio.”

On cue, my best fur-having friend shoots a scowl over his shoulder.

“That was not a challenge, mate.” Snickers swing back and forth between us. “No need to square off.” Bear whips his head forward leaving us to our conversation. “This is like stretching.” Our eyes find one another’s. “Which we all know is quite important especially after a game like tonight.” Joy rapidlyrips through his gaze. “Can you believe we had a fucking shutout on our first home game?” Tanner doesn’t wait for a response. “Groffee is such a fucking beauty.”

“And you’re not?” I mindlessly chime back on a light elbow. “You almost had a hattie on game one.”

“I got lucky.”

“You gotcrafty.” Guiding us towards the trail that runs around the neighborhood creek smoothly occurs. “I haven’t seen a knee to ass to spread eagle bardownskie…probably…ever.”

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