Page 222 of Trick or Stalk

Hades looks down. “Seriously?”

Her tail wags.

“Cockblock.”

“Hades!”

“What?”

“You can't call my dog a cockblock.”

“I just did.”

Penny licks his chin. He closes his eyes.

I laugh harder.

Ten minutes later, the fire is roaring, heating the room.

I settle beside Hades, staring at the flames.

Penny jumps up on the couch, then sprawls across Hades's lap.

I stare at her. “This is bullshit.”

He scratches her back. “She has good taste.”

“She barely knows you.”

His fingers stop for the briefest second. Then he resumes scratching her.

“Dogs are good judges of character.”

I snort. “You look like a serial killer.”

“So you've mentioned.”

“And you're claiming my dog thinks you're trustworthy?”

He gestures at her. “Obviously.”

Penny rolls onto her back, showing him her belly. Hades immediately begins rubbing it.

I shake my head. “You're embarrassing yourself, Penny.”

She doesn't care.

I grab the blanket and pull it over my legs.

The fire crackles across from us, filling the room with the smell of woodsmoke.

For a while, neither of us speaks. And strangely, it isn't uncomfortable. For once, I don't feel like I need to fill the silence.

With Hades, I can just... be.

My eyes drift around the room.

Grandma is everywhere. Her books. The ridiculous ceramic pumpkin she bought at a craft fair and refused to admit was ugly. The throw blanket she always kept folded over the chair.