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In spite of his frustrations, he chuckled. “You remember that, huh?”
“Oh, the dirty tricks? Like waiting until I was right behind you to toss a banana peel. Or letting me get past you, just so you could shove a shell up my ass.”
His chuckle turned to full-blown laughter. “The fact that you’re still hanging on to those things tells me you’re no better at losing than I am.”
At their feet, Molly whined. She might not like him, but she disliked not being the center of attention even more.
“You’re right, I like winning.” She nodded. “Which is why I don’t want to have come all this way only to fail on day one. So can we work together, all three of us? Can we at least give it our best shot for Leah?”
God, hearing that fierce sense of competition and loyalty in her voice was enough to get something stirring below Keaton’s belt. Which in itself, was a shock.Nobody elsehad stirred things down there in years. Not since his wife. Not since the life he thought he was working for crumbled like ash in his palm.
But August still had an effect on him. Even now. Even after everything.
“Yeah,” he said, nodding and trying to swallow back the wave of attraction that crested inside him. “Let’s try to win for Leah.”
“Good.” She nodded, satisfied that they were all on the same team. Well, at least the humans were. Molly still needed convincing. “Come crouch down by her and slowly put your hand out.”
Keaton did as she instructed. He wasn’t frightened of Molly biting him or anything like that. She might be a diva, but she was incredibly gentle with people. He’d seen it with his sister when she walked with her cane. Molly was almost hyperaware of her and moved carefully around, making sure not to get underfoot. And one of Leah’s friends had a little girl who was three, and Molly was very patient with the small grabbing hands and the squealing.
And he’d promised August that he would accept her help, so he was going to uphold his end of the bargain.
He held out his hand. Molly looked at him. He wasn’t sure if dogs had eyebrows—it was kind of hard to tell since they were covered in fur anyway—but if she did have them, then one was currently raised sky-high.
“Can you just roll with it, please?” he said under his breath. “I’m making an effort.”
He didn’t dare look at August’s face to see if she was laughing at him. Molly glanced down at Keaton’s hand and stuck her head forward, nostrils twitching. Then she bumped his hand with her nose.
“Good,” August said. “Now see if she’ll let you pat her.”
He felt like a bit of a fool, but he still needed to ask, “Where?”
“Well, you can pat her on the side of the body. She likes a pat on the head, too. Just stay away from her tail, feet, legs and...lady parts.”
“Right, because I was planning to go straight for the genitals.” He rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Captain Obvious.”
She giggled. “Hey, you asked.”
He reached out toward the dog and her eyes followed his hand, curious rather than concerned, and he stroked his palm along her side. Molly’s fur was thick and soft. At first, she looked at him with narrowed eyes like she wasn’t quite sure what was happening. But after a moment, her eyes fluttered shut and she let out a content sigh.
Turned out, a diva would allow herself to be pampered rather than refuse out of spite.
This went on for a few minutes, then August suggested they see if Molly might be willing to cooperate a bit more. “Tell her to get up and see if you can get her to do a couple of simple tricks—things she’s already very familiar with. Then, when she does them, you have to praise her verbally, give her a treat and then some affection.”
He opened his mouth to argue that it seemed overkill for a trick she’d already learned, but when he caught sight of August’s no-nonsense expression, he decided to keep his trap shut.
“You’re the boss,” he replied with a nod.
“Yes, I am.” She smiled.
He laughed. August had been bossing him around since she was a spunky thirteen-year-old who came over for regular hangouts at his house, making him set up the Nintendo for her and Leah, and getting him to help them hang fairy lights in the lounge room so they had the right “vibes” for their sleepovers.
He’d always been happy to do it, because August made Leah happy and that was all he cared about. Though he’d never admit it, she made him happy, too.
“Molly, sit.” Keaton almost held his breath to see what the dog would do and, to his surprise, she got off the ground and plonked her fluffy ass down, head tilted up toward him and awaiting his next command.
He was about to issue it when August cleared her throat. Oh yeah, praise bomb time.
“Aren’t you an...excellent girl!” Was that better than the standard good girl? “Here’s a treat.”
