Page 14 of Theirs

Chapter 5

I’m walking my dog clients along the street when I get a phone call. A few days ago, I invested in a handsfree earpiece so I don’t have to worry about juggling one more thing in my hands while I’m working. Kristen is the only person that usually calls me around lunch time because she’s just leaving her yoga class and heading out to meet some friends for lunch. Me, I’m usually lucky if I get to snag an iced coffee around this time because I’ve got so many people wanting their dogs to get a walk in.

“Hey!” I say after pressing the button.

“Hey, gorgeous,” says a voice that sounds familiar, but I can’t pinpoint it. I want to pull my phone out of my fanny pack, but I don’t have enough hands. I’ve got three leashed dogs on each side, and they’re strong.

“Who is this?” I ask.

“Colin,” he says, laughing softly. “And Benjamin, we’re across the street.”

I look up and across the way, and find Colin and Benjamin waving at me from a fancy restaurant patio, and try to lift a hand to wave, but it’s impossible with all these dogs trying to pull me in different directions.

“You should come join us,” says Colin. We’ve got our date tomorrow, and I wasn’t really expecting to run into anyone I know today. Half the time, I don’t even see the pet owners because they’re at work. Yet, here I am in all my glory. My hair hasn’t been washed in three days, so it’s up in a high bun. I’m wearing some ripped leggings (and I didn’t buy them distressed like this) and my Southern Rebirth concert tee that Benjamin bought me while at the show. I really need a new pair of tennis shoes as well, there’s a hole in my right sole. Maybe I’ll treat myself for Christmas this year. New gym shoes for work. Everything I do is revolving around work and trying to survive on my own two feet, even purchasing the hands free earpiece was for work specifically.

I laugh and continue walking the dogs. “Kind of busy right now if you couldn’t tell, these dogs aren’t going to walk themselves.”

“What time will you be done?” Colin asks.

“Probably long after you guys are done and heading back to work,” I say, heading up the stoops of one of the owners, handing the leash over to the nanny who’s waiting at the door. She hands me over the cash and I pocket it into my fanny pack, and wave goodbye to her. She’s probably making more money than me since she’s watching the human child for my clients. Maybe I need to get into nannying... but I love the dogs.

“How about we join you then?” Ben says. Colin must have me on speaker. “You’re walking toward my office anyway.”

“No, you guys should enjoy your lunch, I’m sure you’ve both got busy schedules and don’t have time to hang with me and the dogs.”

Colin chuckles. “Sounds like you’re trying to brush us off, Teagan.”

“I’m not,” I say. “I’m working, and I’m just not trying to put an end to your little lunch date.”

I almost scream when I feel someone reaching down and trying to take the three leashed dogs on my right away from me. I spin around, ready to throw hands at the dognapper. Didn’t Lady Gaga’s dogs get kidnapped once? I will go down trying to keep these purebred animals safe.

“What the—” I start to say, ready to fight, but the dogs are going bonkers and jumping up and down at our attacker, begging for attention. The cute little dummies have zero survival skills.

“Just us,” says Ben, smiling up at me as he kneels down to let the dogs greet him. “You should know that we won’t take no for an answer when it comes to spending time with you, Lavender.”

I let him take two of the dogs, and hand a leash of one of the others to Colin.

“Sorry,” I say, catching my breath. “Just kind of on edge since I got a lecture from MacKenna Sunday.”

“What did he say to you?” Colin asks as we walk down the sidewalk.

“Just kept going on about how unsafe my neighborhood is and that I need to get out of there, and asking if I had a roommate to babysit me and make sure I didn’t get murdered,” I say. “Honestly, he sounded just like my brother, or a very overprotective father. Kane’s always yelling at me, telling me I need to find a nicer part of the city to live in.”

“Why don’t you?” Colin asks, as we approach our next destination. I swap him dogs and tell the guys I’ll be right back; I have to drop this pup off with the keyless entry code I have since the owners are out for the day.

Once I get back, I take one of the dogs back, and we continue our walk.

“Isn’t it obvious?” I ask, waving to my outfit. “I can hardly afford to buy clothes for myself, let alone pay for groceries and a safer apartment. I don’t hate where I am. What I hate is rich pricks like MacKenna not understanding the value of a dollar.”

“I don’t think he meant anything by it,” Ben says, defending his friend. “He can be very protective.”

“But why? He doesn’t know me. He just saw a woman, in a pretty dress, that his friends were int—never mind. It’s whatever. I’ll go on my date with MacKenna, and then he doesn’t have to worry about my safety ever again. I’m not his problem.”

The boys go quiet next to me, and I look up just in time to see them both exchange a look. Like they’re having a silent conversation with each other.

“Not sure if it’ll be that easy, Teagan,” Benjamin says, finally meeting my eyes. I like it better when he calls me Lavender.

“What do you mean?” I ask, as the three of us come to a standstill at my next stop.

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