Every inch, her growl got louder, and she wagged her tail more.
“Girlie, this is not playtime. You need to listen to Mommy. The big bad busy street is too close. It’s dangerous for cute puppies.”
She clearly did not have a good grasp of English yet—because as soon as I got within an inch of her—she barked, sidestepped me, and ran down the other side of the pile.
“Aww, shitballs,” I said as I scrambled up the dirt pile. I saw her escaping over the side—so I dove.
I freaking dove, grabbed that chubby, golden body of hers securely in my hands, and we rolled down the rest of the way.
When we got to the bottom, I peered down into her adorable face. “You are trouble, aren’t you?” I asked the now filthy, mostly gray, puppy.
She answered by giving me a big lick on my cheek. I laughed and gave her smelly, dirty self a hug.
“I think you’ll fit in with our household nicely.”
Then, I stood and attempted to brush off as much dirt from myself as possible. It really was a losing battle, though.
The puppy kept moving around in my arms, getting me muddier, anyway.
“Oh, goodness. We are going to need one long shower, you and I.”
She didn’t seem to care.
I held her to me, and we hurried back to the car. After that, I grabbed my bag.
“Time to go meet Daddy. Are you ready?” I asked and shut the door.
She licked my cheek again.
I laughed and squeezed her grimy body. “He’s going to fall in love with you so hard.”
I mean, how could he not?
She kept licking my face as I carried her. “Okay, okay, save some of those kisses for Daddy.”
As soon as I reached the gate, I breathed a sigh of relief. Nobody was in the courtyard.
Which meant I wouldn’t have to explain the fact I was carrying the sweetest thing ever in my arms.
Gosh, the second Gigi caught sight of this puppy, she’d freak out.
That girl loved puppies.
Luckily, I managed to open the door.
I spotted Trey lying on the couch. He stared at the TV.
“Hi,” he said without so much as turning his head. This was pretty standard.
He left the facility early now because they weren’t even letting him scrimmage at the end of the day.
“Trey, we have a problem,” I stated and shut the door behind me.
He finally turned his gaze to me. “What—” his eyes widened, “what the hell? Are you okay?”
He jumped off the couch in record time and ran to us.
“I’m good—we’re good. I found her by the dumpster at the rink. She looked hungry and lost, so I brought her home.”