Page 48 of Facing the Line

I hold out my hand for him to shake, relishing the contact. “Deal.”

“Puppies?!” I squeal, my spirits lifting instantly as I peer at the wriggling mass of furry puppies through the chain link door.

Jonas nods, his dark eyes twinkling. “Yep. Wanna pet them?”

“I absolutely do.” My heart pounds faster. Probably endorphins due to the cuteness overload. And okay, maybe his smile, too.

He opens the door and ushers me in. A small herd of fluffy puppies rush over to sniff us.

“How old are they?” I ask, squatting to pet them.

An adventurous one leaps up and licks my face. It surprises me and I lose my balance, landing on my butt. But I don’t care. Another one climbs into my lap, and I comb my fingers through their soft fur.

“The vet here thinks they are at least eight weeks. Old enough to leave their mom.”

I don’t know a lot about dog breeds, but based on their longish coats, I’d guess they are some kind of Golden Retriever mix. “And someone just dropped them off here?”

Jonas sits beside me and scoops a puppy to cuddle. “Sadly, no. Someone left them in a box on the side of the road.”

“Asshole.” I mutter the word, like I can’t swear in front of impressionable puppies.

Jonas frowns and nods. “Right?”

“But seriously, what kind of monster does that?”

“I don’t know, it’s not something I’ll ever understand.” He lifts a puppy to his face and nuzzles his nose against theirs. “But this is supposed to make you feel better. So how about you just focus on the adorableness?”

Jonas snuggling a puppy? Yeah, I can’t focus on anything else.

I shrug. “Okay. How did you know about this?”

Not meeting my gaze, he stares at the puppy in his lap. “I volunteer here sometimes.”

He volunteers at the animal shelter? My ovaries might explode.

“That’s really sweet,” is all I can manage.

“I don't like to make a big deal about it, though.” Setting the puppy down, he stands and brushes off his shorts. “So you don’t, like, need to bring it up in front of the guys or whatever.”

“You worried this will damage your street cred? Because I heard all about how you got everyone listening to princess music.”

Jonas laughs. “I suppose that’s true. My street cred is already shot to pieces. Now that you’ve had puppy time, you wanna take some dogs on a walk with me?”

“Sure.” Getting up, I say goodbye to my new best puppy friends and follow Jonas.

I watch him out of the corner of my eye as we get two dogs leashed up. He’s quietly competent without being cocky, gentle without being weak. It’s possibly the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.

He leads us outside, and I can’t help but smile when the sun hits my face. It’s so humid, it’s like swimming through an oven. But I don’t care, I love summer.

Jonas is right. This is exactly what I needed. In fact, this might be the most perfect moment I’ve had in a while.

The kiss he and I shared the other day flashes in my mind as I contemplate my happiest memories. That’s top of my list, too. And what’s the common denominator?

The dog tugs on the leash, pulling me back to reality. Which is good, because I’m in danger of jumping Jonas at the animal shelter and climbing him like a tree.

It was my idea to keep things quiet between us. That boundary will make it easier in the fall, when everything ends, and we go back to being just friends.

But the puppies won’t tell, right?

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