Page 15 of The Best Kind of Bad

Eighty pounds of stinky fur, big green eyes that can steal your soul and whatever food you happen to be eating.

He waddles in a chubby boy circle, doing the happy dance he does every time I come home. Tail wagging so hard, he has a hard time standing upright. Labs ain’t the smartest dogs you’ll ever come across, but they sure know how to bring the happy.

But then he spots her.

Ed and I must have similar taste, because I can just see his little doggy face light up.

He loves a good stranger.

And this one is particularly beautiful.

11.

Marnie

I literally just saw him five minutes ago. I can still feel the impression of him moving inside me.

And yet, my memory already dimmed his vicious good looks.

Damn. Just beautiful.

But also a little creepy. I told him I wasn’t interested, and he followed me, anyway. I like hot men as much as the next girl, but stalkers? I’ll pass.

Wariness tightens my shoulders and then a giant blur of fur and paws comes rocketing out of nowhere. It’s a chocolate lab.

Agiantchocolate lab.

I don’t like labs.

I’m not a fan of big dogs, in general. I don’t like having a dog that size anywhere near me, and as though he senses it, the dog turns and stares at me.

Pulling my arms tight against my body, I turn away.

It wasn’t a lab that attacked my friend when I was a kid, taking the tip of her pinky clean off her hand, but it was a big dog kind of like this. In an instant, I’m eight years old again. Weak and vulnerable.

“Get it away.” I manage to croak.

Dusty whistles. “Ed. Get away from her. Get over here, you big idiot.” Dusty closes the distance quickly. “He’s a teddy bear, I swear.”

That’s what they all say. I swear to God, dog owners have the biggest blind spots when it comes to their animals. Yeah, he’s a big sweetie until he takes a bite out of you.

‘Ed’ seems determined to prove that he is, in fact, just a big teddy bear. He’s bowling into my legs and with every step I take back, he follows me. We do a strange little tango, him wagging his tail, me fearing for my wellbeing. Good fun.

Then Dusty’s striding between the two of us. He grabs me around my waist and lifts me up to the back of his pickup. “Ed, come! She doesn’t like dogs. Get on back.”

He grabs Ed by the collar, whose tail is still wagging merrily, and drags him over to the front of the truck. Swinging the door open, he points at the bench. “Inside.”

Ed plops his butt down on the gravel, looking balefully at me. Scooping him up, Dusty holds him like a baby, plunking him down on the seat before swinging the door shut.

“Sorry about that.” Dusty circles around the truck, rubbing the back of his neck. “He gets excited around new people. Terrible guard dog. Friendly as hell, though.”

I slip off the back of his truck, feeling embarrassed and thoroughly harassed. “What are you andEddoing on my property?”

“Your property?” Dusty asks, his expression going flat. “Oh, shit.”

“Yeah, oh shit, Dusty. What made you think it was okay to follow me home?”

He frowns, cheeks heating up despite the dim lighting. “Well, probably, because this is where I live.”

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