Page 75 of I Hate You More

“I’m proud of me, too,” she said somewhat mistily. “But for the love of everything, please don’t show up drunk.”

* * *

The day of the West Coast Canine Classic was always chaotic.

Most of the stage was set up in the two days preceding the event. They timed the show to occur in summer so they had free access to the high school gymnasium, where vendors and rental companies transformed the bleak white walls into a glittering blue-and-gold canopy. Fortunately for Spencer, Lawson always handled most of the details out front. Spencer was fine setting the locker rooms up as temporary dog dressing rooms, and he was happy helping the Rotary Club set up concessions, but dangling tassels from the ceiling and aiming spotlights had never been his strong suit.

“She’s not here yet, so don’t ask.” Caleb sauntered up with his hands driven deep in his pockets, looking as though he didn’t have a care in the world—which he probably didn’t. Spencer’s brother had been nothing but supportive over the last few days, but that was easy when everything he cared about wasn’t on the line. “And, yes, I double-checked to make sure she and Wheezy are still on the list. As far as everyone here is concerned, she’s nothing more than an ordinary entrant with a well-trained and well-bred dog to show—though I’m sure they’ll revise that opinion after three-point-four seconds.”

Spencer knew his brother was just trying to calm his nerves, but that only served to make them jitter harder.

“What if she doesn’t come?” he demanded. “What if I never see her again?”

Caleb cast an obvious look around the main gym, where Lawson was overseeing the final touches being put into place. About half the dogs were already here, many of them in curlers with scarves wrapped around their carefully coiffed hair as they underwent their final preparations. An air of expectancy and excitement filled the air, months of hard work finally coming together. A few dogs were sniffing out the obstacle course; a few more were sniffing each other. It was all so familiar to Spencer, his favorite day of the year. Christmas was fine and birthdays were okay, but this—thiswas something worth celebrating.

Dogs. Dogs everywhere. Dogs who’d worked hard and played hard and lived hard. Dogs wholovedhard.

“You see that bichon frise in the corner near the drinking fountains?” Caleb asked.

“Yes. That’s Mortimer. He won his breed last year, though he couldn’t eke it out over the Afghan for Best in Show.”

“Oh my God, Spencer. You’re pathetic.”

“What? You asked.”

Caleb nodded in the other direction, to where a Labrador was sitting stately and serene while his owner chatted at length with a breeder who was a friend of their parents. “And what about that Lab sitting with the Jacksons?”

Was this supposed to be some kind of test? To see how much time and mental energy Spencer dedicated to the West Coast Canine Classic? There was no need to play games—Spencer could tell him the answer.

A lot. It was a lot.

“You mean Nightmare? She’s didn’t place last year, but I feel like that might change. She’s really improved her performance in the show ring. They have their sights set on Westminster.”

Caleb nodded. “See? You have nothing to worry about. Ruby will be here.”

As much as Spencer wanted—needed—to hear that, he didn’t follow. “What does Nightmare have to do with it?”

“These dogs are the cream of the crop when it comes to Seattle. The most prestigious, the elites of the elite.” Caleb laughed—actually laughed, as though Spencer’s entire life’s happiness didn’t depend on the appearance of one woman. “Ruby will be here. That woman wouldn’t pass up a chance to compete with the best. I don’t think she can.”

Spencer’s whole heart yearned for that to be true—and, acknowledging his brother’s certainty, he allowed himself to hope. For the past five days, all he’d wanted was to call Ruby up, send her an official invitation to the dog show, park himself in front of her apartment door and beg her to give him another chance. But he’d put himself in Caleb’s hands for a reason.

“Okay.” Spencer fingered the neckline of his shirt, which wasn’t, for the first time in his life, buttoned up all the way to the top. It felt foreign, that open splay, the brush of air at his throat, but he liked it. “I believe you. She’ll be here.”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than a commotion near the front drew his attention. He knew, without turning his eyes in that direction, that it was her. It had to be. No one else could enter a room in such a way that there were literal gasps from the crowd—of awe and wonder, of unadulterated delight.

“Fuck me.” His brother released a low whistle. “I think maybe you should run and hide while you still have a chance. You’re in a hell of a lot of trouble, Spencer. More than I could handle, that’s for sure.”

Although Spencer had promised to start taking more of his brother’s advice, there was no way he was going to run away now. Not when every cell in his body was suddenly soaring. She was here. She’d come. She wasn’t giving up on—

“Fuck me.” Spencer echoed Caleb’s words almost perfectly, though his mouth had grown so dry there was no way he could even pretend to whistle. There, at the threshold to a high school gymnasium filled with dogs, stood the most beautiful woman in the world.

She was also the most out of place. Although plenty of people dressed up for the event—some even coordinated their outfits to match their dog’s—no one could boast a long, blue-green gown that dazzled in the light and skin that glowed with ethereal incandescence. Or, you know, a literal crown upon their head.

Despite how much she stood out, Ruby didn’t bat a single false eyelash. She swept into the gym as though she owned it, unaware or uncaring of anything but the movement of her own feet.

At the sight of it—ofher—Spencer’s breath caught in his throat and almost choked him. Not because of how she looked but because of what that confident, unerring stride signified. That was the Ruby Taylor who competed to win. That was the Ruby Taylor who could conquer the world.

That was the Ruby Taylor he loved.