Page 38 of Learning to Run

Yes, the pup definitely liked that…I knew there was nothingthey needed to worry about.

Chapter 11

Cashel

He looked so…so excited.

And a bit insane with the way he was talking to himself…orwas he talking to his pup side?

It was kind of hard to keep track because it seemed like hesaw his pup as an entirely separate person…entity?

Why I’d thought this would go any more normally thananything else in our life, I’d never know.

Bates was managing not to laugh as he kept petting Garethand telling him all about what a cute pup he would be, but once the hood wenton Gareth, he didn’t seem to hear most of it. “You’re a cutie, pup. Yes, thisfits you perfectly.”

That seemed to be more about the personality of the pup hoodand not the physical fit of it, but Gareth was more interested in moving hishead from side to side and looking at his paws. If he heard half of what Bateswas saying, I’d have been amazed.

“That’s right. Let’s finish getting you ready and then wecan play.” Grabbing a small red ball off the chair that was designed to besquishy enough for Gareth to hold with his mouth, Bates showed it to Gareth wholit up like it was Christmas. “Knee pads first, then your tail.”

I managed not to blush or squirm at the tail talk, butGareth just started wiggling all over, clearly excited and probably verycurious. Thankfully, neither one of them thought my commentary on tails wasnecessary, so I focused on the practical side of getting Gareth ready whileBates teased and distracted him. “Oh, I think our pup is going to love wagginghis tail.”

Gareth didn’t bark but his rambling commentary had stopped soI thought that meant he’d slipped deeper into his pup headspace. He certainlylooked like he was, at the very least, if the wiggles and squirms were anythingto go by.

Bates seemed to be enjoying every second of it and nothingin his expression or what he was saying in general made it sound like he wasworried. He was just smiling and radiating excitement too which made it easierfor me to push my slightly irrational fears to the back of my head.

Some fears were healthy and warranted, but Gareth was havingfun exploring and figuring out what mental closet he’d lost his pup in. So itseemed like most of my worries were unnecessary and I was going to do my bestto remember that.

“Yes, I bet that’s much better, pup.” Bates gave pup Garetha hug and ran another hand down his back. “We want our pup to be comfortablewhen he’s running around and wagging his tail.”

Yep, still no worries about tails from Gareth.

His naked ass wagged back and forth making Bates laugh whichjust made the pup more excited…in every way. Pup, regular sub, or boyfriend, heliked being naked and showing off, and it was good to see that hadn’t changed.

It was distracting, though.

“That’s right, happy boy.” Bates gave Gareth another hugbefore reaching up behind him again. “Do you want your tail next or yourcollar?”

The collar we’d picked out was just for puppy playtime, andI had to keep reminding myself of that, but it had my breath sticking in mythroat. Somehow, out of everything, that made it feel the most real to me.

Gareth knew it too because he nudged at it with his puppynose and then turned to me, aiming wide and delightfully manipulative eyes atme.

There he was…even as a pup he was still trying to get hisway.

“Oh, do you want your collar?” I couldn’t resist giving hishead a kiss as he wiggled and let out his first bark.

God, he was perfect.

Bates must’ve known how incredible the moment was for mebecause he gave us both big hugs and made the happiest sound as he squeezed ustight. “My boys.”

Once we each got kisses and a few more hugs, I took a deepbreath and took the collar from Bates. They were both vibrating with energy andexcitement as I carefully wrapped the collar around Gareth’s neck, getting abark from Gareth and a sigh from Bates.

Gareth was the most incredible pup I’d ever seen and he wasmine…and he was also still waiting on his tail, because as soon as he got usedto feeling the collar around his neck, he started doing his whole-body twitchagain.

“I haven’t forgotten.” He was dramatic no matter what formhis submission took.

He barked again as I rolled my eyes, a happy and somehowslightly sarcastic sound. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

More wiggles made him look like he was laughing, and judgingby Bates’s snickers, I wasn’t the only one who thought so. Gareth didn’t mind,though, and the attention he started giving Bates put his ass in the rightposition and gave me a second to remind myself that he loved the idea of atail.

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