Page 148 of What We Break
"So why would we?—"
"Dogs, Laine. Puppies. All the cute, none of the responsibility." He's already bouncing slightly, even lying down. "We just show up, enjoy the vibes, and leave."
"That feels illegal somehow."
"It's not illegal. Probably." That grin. The one that means trouble. "Come on. Tell me you don't want to pet strangers' dogs for an hour."
I do want that. I really do. And he seems to have forgotten about the whole manual labour outside thing, which I don't mind at all.
"Won't people ask questions?"
"We'll be evasive. Mysterious." He kisses my nose. "Live a little, Sunshine. Be a dog park criminal with me."
"Fine. But if we get caught, I'm blaming you."
"Deal."
The dog park is chaos.
Big dog area, small dog area, chain-link fence between them. Reidholds the gate open for me, and we step into the big dog section like we belong here. Like we do this every weekend.
We do not do this every weekend. We have never done this.
"Act natural," Reid mutters.
"You act natural. You're the one who looks guilty."
"I don't look guilty."
"You're walking weird."
"I'm not—" He catches himself in the middle of a weird hoppy stride. "Okay, maybe a little."
A black lab barrels toward us, tail wagging so hard its whole body wiggles. Reid drops into a crouch, arms wide open like he's been waiting for this moment his entire life.
"Hello, beautiful. Yes, you're perfect. You're absolutely perfect."
The lab knocks him backward onto his ass. He doesn't care. He's laughing, face getting licked, arms full of seventy pounds of dog.
This man. This ridiculous man.
"Shadow! Sorry!" A woman in yoga pants jogs over, leash trailing behind her. "She's obsessed with new people."
Reid's already back on his feet, brushing grass off his jeans like nothing happened. "No worries. She's amazing. Two? Three?"
"Almost four." The woman glances between us. "Which one's yours?"
And there it is.
Reid doesn't miss a beat. "We're researching, actually."
"Researching?"
"Breeds. Energy levels." He gestures vaguely, the way people do when they're talking out of their butt. "Trying to figure out what fits our lifestyle."
Our lifestyle. Like we have one of those.
The woman nods like this makes perfect sense. Does it make sense? I can't tell if we're actually pulling this off or if she's just too polite to call us on it.
