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I blurt out, "Whoa!"
Riggs chuckles and takes him from me. King Madden licks the salt water drops on his chest. Riggs steps closer and kisses me on the lips with a quick peck. He declares, "You're up early, pet."
I shrug. "Looks rough out there today."
He glances at the waves. "It's perfect for surfing."
I add, "Still looks dangerous."
He chuckles again. "You worry too much."
King Madden squirms, and Riggs sets him down. He takes off down the beach in the same direction he went when we first got here.
I fret, "He's going too far."
Riggs whistles, and King Madden freezes. Riggs calls out, "That's far enough, King Madden."
He turns to face us, then lifts his head as if in a challenge, pinning his gaze on Riggs.
My husband grunts, muttering, "Is that how you want to play this?"
I laugh. "I think you've met your match."
Riggs whistles again, and the shrill sound flies through the air. King Madden races toward us.
I declare, "I need to learn to whistle."
"You just have to be stern," Riggs asserts, then he sits on the beach and pats the sand next to him.
"You're the one who gives the commands in this house," I tease, winking, my stomach filling with butterflies at the thought.
I sit on the sand next to him, and King Madden jumps onto my lap. Riggs gives me a tight smile, and my gut flips. I've seen that look before, and it comes out when he's upset.
He states, "We need to talk about last night."
My chest tightens and my pulse increases. I take his hand in mine, trying to reassure him.
I try to find the right words, but they feel off even as they come out. I declare, "It's nothing against you. I don't want to be reliant on anyone, including you. It's not fair."
"It's my job to take care of you. I'm your husband," he insists.
I quickly tell him, "You do take care of me, and I'm not asking you to not take care of me, but I want my independence. There's a difference."
He admits, "That doesn't make any sense to me."
I stare at the waves crashing against the shoreline, pondering how to explain this so that it makes sense. Yet I barely understand why I'm fighting him on this. I stroke King Madden's soft fur and state, "I want to be your equal."
"You are my equal," he declares.
I shake my head and sigh. "No, I'm not. At least, not how it was before everything went south between us."
Silence fills the air with tension growing between us. He turns to me, crisscrossing his legs.
King Madden jumps off my lap and lies between them.
"Traitor," I mutter.
Riggs grunts and then pets the puppy. His long fingers fill almost the entire back of King Madden.
