“You’ve come a long way since then. Declan even respects you enough to let you lead some of his presentations.” Cal’s sincere words warm my heart. “But that doesn’t mean you should give up your dream because you think my brothers are more important.”
My smile falters. “It’s not the right time.”
“There’s never a right time to make a hard choice.”
“How much weed did you smoke this morning?”
“Not enough to be the voice of reason in this conversation.”
I glare at him. “I’m not quitting right now, so drop it.”
“Not quitting what?” Declan’s voice cuts in.
My pulse point flutters at his low, authoritative tone. It takes all my strength to drag my eyes toward Declan’s face.
“Yes, Iris, what exactly are you thinking of quitting?” Cal raises a brow, not bothering to hide his smug expression. “Fancy seeing you back so soon, brother. Forget something?”
Declan doesn’t respond, but the two of them share a look before my fiancé’s eyes lock onto mine.
“Umm…You see…” I scan the room, trying to spark an idea. A silent commercial for an animal shelter plays on the screen.
“She didn’t want to tell you the truth—” Cal starts up.
I jump from the floor and step in front of him. “I’m not quitting until we adopt a dog.”
Oh God. Did you really just say that? You have never considered owning a dog in your entire life!
The expression on Declan’s face tells me indeed I did.
“A dog,” he repeats.
“Oh, yes. Irislovesdogs,” Cal offers, failing to hide the amusement in his voice.
If looks could kill, Cal would be choking on his own tongue now.
“My mom never let me have a pet, so now might be the perfect chance for me to have one.” I mean having a dog might not be the worst thing ever. It could keep me company in this big, empty house.
“You want a dog,” Declan states with a strange expression on his face.
An idea of how to get out of this mess strikes me. “Yes. A big, fluffy dog that follows me around everywhere.”
“No.”
Sell yourself. Don’t make him suspicious by agreeing too easily.
“But I’ll do everything by myself. I know crate training can be annoying, but I doubt you’ll hear them howling over the sound of your snores.”
“There isn’t a chance in hell I’m letting that happen.”
“But think of all the serotonin we could be boosting if we had one.”
“My decision is final.” He turns on his heel and exits the living room.
“‘My decision is final.’ What a pretentious ass.” Cal’s eyes roll.
I drop onto the couch with relief. “You bastard. Why do you do that?”
“You could have told him the truth.”