Page 56 of Accidentally Checked By My Brother's Best Friend

Ryder turns to Duncan, sits in front of him, and looks directly into his eyes. His head tilted in expectation. Duncan’s lip lifts at the corner, and my heart nearly melts at the softness of his gaze. “I know what you want, little man. Ava, can you grab one of the treats.”

“Of course I can.” I lift the lid and slip one of the bone-shaped treats out. When Duncan turns that same look on me, my knees nearly buckle. Pulling myself together, I shift my gaze to Ryder, who is now staring at me with his mouth open and tongue hanging out. “Here you go, cutie.”

Ryder gently snatches the treat from my hand and swallows it whole. After he’s done, he sits tall in front of Duncan as if asking for seconds.

“One per dog,” Duncan says, as if Ryder can speak English. When Ryder all but rolls his eyes and snorts, I can’t help but wonder if he does.

“Ava?” Susie asks as she leans in closer and whispers, “Ava Norris?”

As soon as the corner of my lip lifts, she reaches out and grabs my hands. “I am such a HUGE fan of yours! Adam, it’s Ava Norris!” She screeches.

Adam looks down at his wife with adoring eyes, and I can’t help but chuckle at her reaction. “I’m so glad you broke up with Nathan. He’s a complete nincompoop.”

Duncan steps closer to me and gives me a gentle nudge. “I’m glad she broke up with him, too.” I glance up, and the emotions in his eyes catch my breath.

Slipping my arm through his, I smile and lean in, finding comfort in his closeness. “I don’t think either of you is as happy as I am. Though I’m looking forward to the day when there isn’t some celebrity gossip about it.”

“Have you not looked lately?” Susie asks, her brows pulled together. When I shake my head, she goes on. “Nathan has been getting a ton of pushback. Just the other day, he went after a reporter at one of his pressers for his new movie. Pretty sure he’s in the process of ruining his career.”

As I take in what she says, I find that I don’t feel any satisfaction at the news. I’m glad that the press is focusing on other things and that he’s showing his true colors, but all I feel is sadness.

Looking up at Duncan, I find him searching my face, and a slow grin creeps along my lips. What we have issupposedto be pretend, but the more time I spend with him, the more things feel real.

Therealrelationship I was in with Nathan is what was fake, but not what I have with Duncan.

A chuckle escapes me, and I shift my gaze to Susie. “Thank you for telling me that. I’ve been trying to stay out of the drama of it all. I feel a tiny bit bad for him, if I’m honest. I didn’t realize he was so unhappy with his life.”

Duncan’s arm tenses under my hand and I look up to find his expression wary. I narrow my eyes and try to figure out what it was I said that caused his reaction.

“It was great to meet the two of you, but I need to get these dog treats to the front office so the rescue can start selling them,” Duncan says to Susie and Adam. “You have a great dog there. Make sure to stop in and buy him some treats.”

Ryder jumps up and gives a high-pitched bark, causing Susie and Adam to look down at him affectionately. “We’ll definitely grab some before we leave!”

“My niece Scarlett would love to say hello if you’ll be here for a bit. She should be here any minute.” Duncan looks around and juts his chin forward. “There they are now.”

Looking in the direction that Duncan indicated I see David and Scarlett waving at us. Scarlett says something to David before dropping his hand and running over, calling out Ryder’s name.

Ryder lets out the ‘wooo wooo wooo wooo’ Scarlett demonstrated and starts to pull Susie over to my niece as she gets closer. Scarlett pulls a ball out of her pocket, and he immediately starts jumping up.

“Can I play fetch with him?” She asks Susie. “I know how much he loves it.”

Susie looks at Duncan, who nods. “Sure. Why don’t we head over to that open field over there.” She points to a fenced area where the dogs can run off-leash.

Susie and Scarlett walk away with Scarlett talking non-stop and asking all types of questions. David, who wasn’t quite near us yet, shrugs at his daughter and changes direction to follow them.

The smile covering Adam’s face is full of tenderness as he watches Susie with Ryder and Scarlett.

“Do you have anything else you need to carry over?” Adam asks, pointing to the containers in Duncan’s hands. “I’d be happy to help.”

“This is it,” Duncan says, lifting the containers. “But thanks.”

“Sure. Well, it was great seeing the both of you.” Adam gives both Duncan and me a smile as he turns to follow the group that went to play fetch.

“I’m going to bring these to the office. Do you want to join David and Scarlett in the park?” He asks, without looking at me.

I let go of his arm and step before him. I wait for him to turn toward me. When his gaze finally meets mine, my heart drops to my stomach with a thud at the guarded expression I see there.

What the heck just happened?

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