Page 35 of Pretty Puppy

The corners of Shane’s lips twitched, and Ash was sure he spotted the hint of a smile. Maybe they could become friends after all.

* * * *

Two days remained before the start of the event, and Lee snuck a peek into the room where everyone was doing a rehearsal for the Best in Show. The puppies, kittens, ponies—and one hedgehog—weren’t necessarily in their play headspace, this was merely to help get everyone familiar with the stage and final props that had been set up. Although, he could tell that some of the pets were lost in their roles.

Leave it to Ash.

Lee smiled as he watched Ash interact with the pups, frolicking on the long mat that made up the show’s staging area. Ash rarely wore his hood, preferring the freedom of the attached ears, tail belt and mitts. The plug tail was saved for when they played at home. That was how Lee had trained him originally, and it seemed as if that had stuck even after Ash left.

There ended up being twenty-four entrants in all, including the one from Scotland. Shane told him one of the ponies was from Germany, and Lee couldn’t be more thrilled. It seemed their event that had once been a fun, local activity to raise money for the LGBTQ Advocacy Group, was now becoming recognized around the world.

After they tallied the receipts from the current year’s event, Lee planned to guarantee that amount to the charity going forward, then investigate other charities he could add on to the following year’s event. At the rate things were going, he’d have to build a separate facility from the resort altogether.

Lee stayed behind one of the pillars, not wanting to be seen by Ash. Even though Ash was excellent in staying in his headspace, he didn’t want to distract him while he was with the other, newer pups. Plus, the opportunity to enjoy Ash playing unobserved was its own thrill.

One of the bigger pups scrambled up to Ash on all fours and wearing his gear that included a hood. He barked loudly, almost aggressively, and Ash rolled onto his back, exposing his belly and twisting around, paws in the air. The big dog sniffed at him then jumped around, his bark becoming excited and playful instead.

In one, swift move, Ash was back on all fours and wagging his tail. He chased the bigger dog back and forth across the mat a few times, then the big dog chased him. Lee was exhausted just watching them. A couple of the other dogs joined in, and soon it was mass chaos with limbs flailing, puppies flopping and leaping and a loud chorus of barks and howls.

Shane blew a whistle, and everything came to an abrupt stop. Lee caught sight of Ash at the far end of the crowd, sitting on his haunches with tongue hanging out as he panted. He snickered to himself. Nothing was more adorable then watching Ash when he was Champ.

“Good dogs,” Shane called out. “Now everyone go to your handlers, and we’ll practice the order in which you’ll be presented.”

Other then the Scottish pair and one of the pony play pairs, the rest of the pets were unmatched. One of the main draws of the event, and where they raised the most money, was the adoptions on closing night. The main reason subs entered the show and signed up for the training was in the hopes that they’d leave the event with a Master of their very own.

Since that wasn’t why Ash was there, he came bounding over to Lee on all fours while the others took their positions. Lee noted that he was being greeted by Champ rather than his boy. Clearly, Ash wasn’t ready to leave Champ behind yet.

Champ nudged his hand and leaned his head against Lee’s thigh. He scratched behind Champ’s ear, then petted his head with long, slow strokes.

“That’s my good boy,” Lee cooed. “You were playing very nice with the other pups, even when the biggest one was acting out.” Lee continued to stroke Champ’s head then petted his upper back. “I’m very proud of you.”

Champ let out a little whimper then bumped Lee’s arm with his nose. Lee knew his pup well enough to understand what he wanted. He let his hand hang loose and Champ began to lick the back of it before moving to the palm. After a minute or two of Champ lapping away at his hand and fingers, Lee was losing the battle to keep his erection at bay.

Lee gently extricated his hand then patted Champ’s head. “Daddy loves his good boy, but let’s save the licking for later, hmm?”

Champ fell back on his haunches then brought his paws up in a begging pose. His lips turned down and he gave Lee the most pitiful expression as his whimpering cries increased in volume.

Lee held in the laughter that threatened to burst out. He sucked in a deep breath and made the most severe frown he could manage.

“Don’t make me take back my good boy remark.”

Champ’s eyes widened then he howled before scampering off to the section of the hall that had been constructed as a dressing room and backstage area. Lee shook his head, finally letting out the laughter he’d been holding in. Ash was the best puppy he’d ever had. So full of life and personality. No one could ever replace him.

Lee sighed. No one ever had.

As he waited for Ash—who he assumed was changing out of his gear—he noted that Shane was approaching with a frown. He hoped nothing major was going on. Registration began in the morning and the welcome party was taking place in the evening.

“Sir, we have a problem.”

Lee pinched the bridge of his nose then let his hand fall away. “Please don’t tell me the DJ or caterers have cancelled or something else last minute we can’t fix.”

“No problem with the DJ, caterers confirmed, but I’m afraid the group of pups traveling from Seattle for the adoptions have had to cancel.”

Lee drew his eyebrows together. Since Shane was coordinating the entire event, Lee didn’t know anything about who was attending or what the numbers looked like.

“We still have plenty of other pups and kittens, though, right?”

Shane consulted his clipboard. “We currently have eighteen total, which is down from twenty-four. One of the kittens isn’t feeling well right now and is unsure whether they’ll be better by Sunday. Their roommate is starting to feel bad too, so it’s possible they’ve caught whatever Frisky has.”

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