Parental Guidance (Ice Knights #1)(47)

“You can’t do that,” she said, doing her best to sound serious because she was right. “He’ll never learn.”

“It won’t hurt anything,” Caleb said as he fed the dog another biscuit.

Zara scoffed. “You saw how people scattered when he came sprinting over to you—he scared them half to death. He needs to learn some manners.”

“He’s got some, it’s just that they’re his own.” Caleb reached out and patted the dog on the head.

Anchovy, traitor that he was, immediately sat down, gazing up adoringly at them both. What in the world was she going to do with them? They were both nothing but trouble. Of course, she only had Caleb for one more date. The fizzy little champagne bubbles popped one after another, leaving her deflated when she should have been elated.

She was nearly to her goal of completing five dates to help her dad get his SAG card (he was already filling out his paperwork) and to get her as Gemma’s plus-one to the Friends of the Library charity ball. Plus, she had the added bonus of her vagina cobwebs being utterly and thoroughly cleaned out—which sounded gross when she thought it out loud in her head that way, but what the hell, it was true.

Caleb continued. “I just know that some people—and dogs—learn a little differently than others.”

Her chest tightened as she pictured him alone in front of that classroom. If she had access to a time machine, she would love to go smack that teacher up side the head. “So what was your mom’s reaction to that teacher who was such an ass?”

“She told me to buckle down, try my best.” He squatted next to Anchovy, keeping all his attention on the dog, as if looking at her and saying the words was too much. “That’s Coach Britany’s answer to just about everything—figure out your goal and work harder. The thing was that I hadn’t been slacking. It’s a processing thing, not a lazy thing. I don’t know that she understands that even today.”

Emotion clogged her throat and her chest burned as she took the three steps over to him. For once, she towered over him, but she’d never felt more helpless. The lasting hurt of old wounds was something she knew all too well, and if she understood how to heal them, she would have done so by now. But she didn’t. So she did the one thing she could to try to help—she ignored the little voice in her head warning her that she was on the edge of breaking the no-relationship rule and reached out to him. She combed her fingers through his thick hair, pulling his head close so he leaned it against her waist. They stood like that, her, Caleb, and Anchovy, an unbreakable triad if just for that minute, before breaking apart.

“Our parents make us who we are and they make us crazy,” she said, wishing there was more she could do.

“Yeah,” Caleb said, standing up and flashing a grin at her that almost reached his eyes. “We’re completely well adjusted.”

Okay, she could play along. “Which is why your mom picked out your date and my best friend blackmailed me into coming.”

“Do you regret it?” he asked, dropping the act, his gaze searching her face.

They were on some sort of edge here; one move either way and they’d go straight over. He wasn’t hers to fall for, though. They were total opposites in more than just mashed potatoes or dog training philosophies. They were opposites where it counted. He went by his gut and trusted his instincts. She couldn’t help but admire that faith in the universe he seemed to have, but that wasn’t her. It never would be. They couldn’t work, and she needed to remember that. They both did.

“No. It’s been fun,” she said, putting enough cheer in her tone that it almost sounded genuine. “Now we have to get to teaching Anchovy the basics of rolling over.”

She went straight to the handout the trainer had given them with step-by-step directions. Caleb, however, dropped into a plank position on the grass next to Anchovy. The dog, no doubt sensing fun was afoot, immediately did his best to copy the move. Then Caleb rolled over and the dog did the same.

“Sometimes you have to take a chance on something fun,” he said. “It almost always works out.”

And as they got back to getting Anchovy to work for his treat biscuits, she couldn’t shake the idea that he might be right. How many times had she heard the same advice from Gemma or her dad? Maybe this time, taking a chance on something fun was just what her rigid, workaholic self needed—if only for the date and a half of time that was left with Caleb. As long as she kept remembering that, she’d be okay after it was all over.

…

Caleb spent the next forty-five minutes with Zara trying to teach Anchovy some manners. It went about as well as could be expected for a dog who thought he was a human and didn’t need any learning. The best part was watching him think around the trainer’s tricks and doing just what needed to be done long enough to get a biscuit and a pet before going back to trying to start a mutiny among the other dogs to get back to the play park. By the time the session was up, even the trainer was laughing as Anchovy led the rest of the dogs in a game of chase.

“I definitely went wrong somewhere,” she said, shaking her head.

“No way, that dog is golden.” And so was this opportunity.

This time he took Zara’s hand as they walked back toward the bench near the play park, but instead of stopping there, he led her behind a tree next to it. Hands on either side of her hips, he bent down to kiss her, but she stopped him with the palm of her hand against his chest.