He walked over and grabbed her around the waist and kissed her hard. “For luck.”

“You’re not going to war, idiot! You’re outrunning a dog.”

“Hey, it’s a big fucking dog.”

She pushed him away, laughing. “God, I wish I had a video camera with a night vision. I so want to record this and put it on YouTube.”

“You’ll pay for that.”

Eric took a deep breath as he went to the door. “Okay, flick off the light.”

She did as he asked, and the room went pitch-black. As if sensing he was ready to run, the dog started growling again.

Eric gripped the doorknob, and with a quick jerk, he threw the door open, pushing the dog out of the way.

And he took off, his boots clomping against the crunchy snow. He could hear the dog behind him, panting. Melvin shouted something, but Eric kept running.

Suddenly, a heavy weight crashed against his back, and he hit the cold, hard ground with a curse.

He didn’t move as the dog stood above him, growling. The hot air of its breath tickled his bare head and he realized he’d left his hat in the shed.

This was a bad fucking idea.

Suddenly, he heard the slam of a door, and Gracie’s cry: “Hey, puppy, puppy!”

The dog’s weight was suddenly gone, and he looked up in time to watch her running her ass off toward the fence, the huge beast hot on her heels.

“Move, you idiot, move!” she hollered.

Eric climbed to his feet and did what she said. The dog seemed to have a hard time deciding who to chase, since every time he started after one, the other would whistle or yell.

Melvin was coming down the hill, huffing and puffing in the dark.

“Who the hell is out there? We shoot trespassers, you know!”

Gracie was climbing up the chain link, which left only Eric on the ground. He dived for the opening in the fence and had managed to squeeze in past his ass before the dog grabbed a hold of his pant leg with his teeth.

Eric clawed at the ground, trying to pull himself through as the dog played tug-of-war.

Gracie landed on the ground by his shoulder, and he had to hand it to her. For being such a girly girl, she could sure climb a fence.

Gracie grabbed something off the ground and threw it over the fence. “Get the stick, doggie.”

Brutus released Eric long enough to investigate, and Gracie grabbed the chain link and lifted it. “Hurry.”

Eric made it just before Brutus came back, barking and jumping, his big tail swinging. Eric laughed, realizing that the dog had thought it was a big game and wasn’t actually trying to eat him.

Gracie helped him to his feet, and they ran through the trees. Melvin called for Brutus several times in the distance, and by the time they made it back to the car, Eric was sure the old man had given up the chase.

They leaned over the hood, breathing hard, and when their eyes locked in the light of the moon, they both started laughing.

“God, that was crazy.”

“You’re crazy,” she said. “Next time, I’m picking the activity, and there will be no trespassing or giant dogs!”

“Deal.” Eric reached for her hand and pulled her against him. “It was still fun, though, right?”

She shrugged against him. “I guess. You know, the five minutes in the pool were pretty fantastic.”