Page 15 of Pretty Puppy

Lee crossed his arms. He was beginning to tire of the whole situation. “Tell me what’s going on with Ash. Whether we’ve been involved or not is of no consequence. He can either do the job or he can’t.”

Shane let out a sigh. “He’s not what I imagined he’d be given his experience and supposed reputation. For one thing, he’s the least toppy Master I’ve ever met. Do you know that he’s down there right now rolling around on the mats with the other pups?”

Lee snorted.Oh this I’ve gotta see. He balled his fists.No, I don’t.

“Okay, I’ll bite. What’s the grand reputation he supposedly has?”

Shane rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh man. Now that I have to say it out loud…” He winced. “My friend and I go way back, and he knows his stuff.Hisfriend swore that Ash was not only top notch as a trainer, but that he’d been sought out by one of the richest and most powerful Sheikhs of Dubai to train his secret boy toy.”

Lee threw back his head, laughter bursting from him until his stomach hurt and tears were running down his cheeks. He could almost picture Ash coaching his buddy—undoubtedly Owen—on what to say. Lee shook his head, still chuckling as he wiped a finger under each eye.

“Good lord. That’s hilarious.”

“I know, sir. I know.” Shane rubbed his wrists, his jaw ticking. “It’s ridiculous. I shouldn’t have taken my friend’s word, I should’ve done more research. I’m not making excuses, but the applicants up to that point were abysmal. Only a few people answered the ad from the kink sites and only one of them had any experience at all.” Shane shot to his feet. “I’ve failed you. I’ll start searching for my replacement today so you won’t have to trouble yourself.”

Jesus. Lee gestured for Shane to sit down. “That won’t be necessary. Let’s just figure out where to go from here.” He scrubbed his face with one hand. “Are there any replacements at all from that abysmal pile? Or possibly recent applicants you haven’t taken a look at yet?”

“I’m afraid not, sir. Once the job was filled, I took down the listings.”

Anger bubbled below the surface of Lee’s skin. Because of Ash’s shenanigans, their ability to put on a top-notch event was at risk. In order to drive interest in attendance and participation, they promised Masters the best pets around. No one flew in from another country to watch average demonstrations or adopt untrained pets. Word could get out that it’s a half-ass event, and their ticket sales would tank in the future. Which of course, meant less money for the charity.

And for what? He still didn’t know why Ash had gone to all this trouble. Was he angry at him for some reason, trying to fuck up his reputation? The boy Lee remembered was feisty but kind, scatterbrained but compassionate. Imagining Ash as a spiteful little shit didn’t track. At the same time, he couldn’t imagine his angle.

“All right, why don’t you start seeing what you can do about finding a replacement. Check first with the one experienced applicant, see if they’re still available. In the meantime, I gotta see this rolling around you described. Ash was actually always a—”

Great. Now he was admitting to Shane he already knew Ash. On the other hand, being dishonest wouldn’t paint him in a positive light either. Lee clasped his hands and straightened in his chair.

“I should’ve mentioned this sooner, but I ran into Ash in the Blue Underground last week. About five years ago, he lived up here and we were an item for almost a year. I can’t speak to what he’s been up to since he left Tahoe, but I like to think the pup training I gave him was top notch.”

Shane arched his eyebrows. “Ah, I see. Well, I’m sure he’s been trained well, but that answers one of the biggest questions I had about him. He’s most definitely a bottom and a true pup. I can’t picture a Master going into puppy space. Not that they couldn’t, but theonlymethod of instruction? I never got a Top vibe from him at all.”

Lee snorted. “And with good reason.” He rolled his chair away from the desk. “Okay, you get busy on your end. In the meantime, I’m going to pay a little visit to our wayward instructor.”

* * * *

Ash yip, yip, yipped then threw back his head and let out a loud howl. The two pups with the least amount of inhibitions followed suit, and soon the entire room sounded like a pack of coyotes had invaded the resort.

The other three pups who had shown up for the first week of training sat with their backs against the wall, two of them cross-legged, the other with his knees to his chin and his arms tightly wrapped around them.

Ash jumped to his feet, out of breath from all the romping they’d been doing for the past fifteen minutes or so.

“That’s awesome, guys.”Wait. I’m the Master. “I mean, good boys. Nice puppy noises.” He couldn’t remember ever being praised for howling or barking, but whatever. His nerves were so shot from flying by the seat of his pants all week, this would have to do.

“Now roll over.” He twirled his finger and both pups flopped onto their backs before rolling right into each other and banging their foreheads together.Oops. “Uh, why don’t you put some space between you then try it again.”

One of the pups raised his hand. “I’m sorry to break the puppy space rule while on the mat, but to be honest, when you say stuff that seems like you’re talking to me, Josh, not Digger my pup, well…” He shrugged. “I’m sort of confused. Is there a way you could make a gesture or say a word that indicates we’re switching?”

Ash poked out his bottom lip and squinched his eyes together.Good idea. Maybe this dude can take over the training.

Having zero clues had never been so real to him before. Sure, he’d been trying to recreate what his Masters had done with him, but truthfully, when he was in the zone, he wasn’t paying attention to methodology. He was lost in the moment. Plus, what he really wanted to do was play, so it was easy to get caught up in that instead of being Mr. Toppy Pants.

“Sure. If that would work better for you, we could uh, explore that as a concept.” He couldn’t tell if he sounded mature and in charge or like an idiot. “Why don’t we take a break? Let’s give it ten, then we’ll start up again.”

He gave them all a big smile, directing his biggest one to the three terrified non-participants. He had no idea how to bring them out of their shell. The likelihood that he’d be found out at any moment was terrifyingly real. Keeping up this hopeless pretense was not only exhausting but becoming more laughably obvious by the minute.

The first five pups were only the beginning. The next batch would come in next week, then another, then another… Then finally, all twenty applicants would begin their final training as a group for the event.

The thought alone made him want to retch.

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