Page 31 of You and Me, For Real
Once our houris almost up, we give Roxy a small break and have Griffin practice his verbal and visual commands on Teddy.
“Lie down,” Griffin says, while holding his hand up like he’s halting traffic.
I chuckle. “No, you want to make the motion of lying down.”
He starts patting an invisible drum. “Like this?”
“Slow. Make the motion slowly.” I wrap my fingers around his hand and mimic the movement. “Like this.”
Our arms align along one another, his heat along my back. His breath brushes my neck.
“Like this?”
Shivers play chase along my skin, and I step away. “Yup. You’ve got it.”
Teddy immediately complies with Griffin’s command.
Griffin rewards him with a treat and kneels down, giving his face a good scratch. “Good boy, Teddy.”
My heart melts a little at the sight.
Teddy takes advantage of the moment and leaps toward Griffin with his giant tongue.
“That went into my ear!” Griffin wails, and he swipes his face and ear with his shirt sleeve.
I cackle and squat to pet Teddy too, with Roxy by my side. “He likes you!”
Griffin’s kneeling in front of Teddy, holding the sides of his head, preventing Teddy from giving him more kisses. “Love meless, bro. At the very least, buy me dinner first. I’m not that kind of guy.”
I crack up even more. I need to be around more people who rarely interact with dogs. This is entirely too much fun. Honestly, I need to be around people more in general. Our brief hour together flies by too quickly.
Griffin bumps his shoulder into mine, his gorgeous blue eyes twinkling in the morning light. “I’m glad you find this entertaining.”
“Immensely.”
We brush the dog hair from our thighs and stand.
“What’s next?”
More people have filled the park than I’d noticed earlier. And they’re starting to stare. In multiple directions, phones pop up aimed at us.
“I think that wraps it up for today. You guys did great.”
“If by great you mean epically failed? I held her leash and she walked with me—sort of. She ignored almost every single one of my commands, choosing instead to lick her hiney and give me the side-eye.”
“But she stayed calm with you. That’s progress.” I briefly glance at him, though my focus is anywherebuthim.
Is that a zoom lens near the bushes? I’m probably being paranoid. Wait, no, there’s definitely someone by the tree to our left. Is that a camera or a phone? My body tenses, my heart pounding faster against my ribs, imagining their thoughts.
Is that Griffin Ford? Who is she? Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?
Why did I think this could work? It’stooclose to my old life. The wound I thought I’d patched is starting to crack open again.
Griffin touches my arm. “Hey, I was just joking. Today’s been great.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s them.” I gesture to a couple not far away, their phones pointed at us.
“Give me just a sec.”
