Page 65 of Next to Everything We Wanted

Empathy shined in his eyes as he nodded. “I know. I love you.”

I picked at my waffles, my appetite dissipating. “I love you, too.”

“Those dogs were not in the mood for a bath today.” Raina laughed as she looked down at her soaked shirt and shorts. “Maybe we should’ve worn swimsuits.”

“I’m so doing that next time,” I said as we walked out of the animal-washing room. My shoes squished. “Do you happen to have extra socks?”

“I wish.”

We went outside to the doggy field, where Hayden, Dallas, and Arielle played with the dogs. Well, Hayden and Dallas were playing with them. Arielle was too busy getting chased by a black Scottish Terrier, giggling as her hair got in her face.

“Arielle, you’re supposed to play with the dogs, not run from them,” Raina said as she sat on the bench.

“She won’t stop!” Arielle cried as she sprinted around. “She’s going to—” She tripped over the small doggy pool, falling stomach-first into it. The water splashed everywhere, nearly wetting Dallas and Hayden where they sat in the grass.

The four of us let out the ugliest laughs.

“Oh my gosh, I wish I had that on video,” Raina said through her fit of giggles.

“It’s not funny!” Arielle shouted as Hayden helped her up. Her entire tank top and shorts were drenched. She groaned, pulling her wet strands of hair aside. “Andthisis why I always bring an extra pair of clothes with me.”

Hayden chuckled. “At least your makeup didn’t get ruined.”

She shot a glare at him. “I lookhorrible.” With that, she stormed inside.

Dallas shook his head. “We told her to be careful.”

“She was just so scared of that dog,” Hayden said as he moved the doggy pool to the side.

Dallas’s gaze went to me and Raina. “Did you guys fall into doggy pools, too?” He nodded to our drenched clothes.

“No, we got brutally splashed by a bunch of dogs instead,” Raina said.

Dallas laughed. “Now that’s something I would’ve loved to see.”

“Oh, really?” Raina got up from the bench before tackling Dallas in a hug. “Are you enjoying this?”

“Stop it, stop!” Dallas giggled, trying to push Raina off him. His back hit the ground, and Raina climbed on top of him before pressing her lips to his.

“And now every dog here is traumatized,” Hayden said as he threw a ball to one of the dogs. “Great job, guys.”

I giggled. “They’re so disgusting.” I loved it for them.

“Please stop,” Dallas begged Raina. “You’re crushing my ribsandgetting me soaked.”

“You complain too much,” Raina murmured before kissing him harder. She clearly had won Dallas over, because he let out a throaty moan that made me snort.

Hayden gagged. “Hold on while I puke real quick.”

I played with some of the dogs to distract them from Dallas and Raina’s make-out session. My thoughts traveled back to my kiss with Gavin last night, and the strange sensation from beneath my ribs returned. Would we ever get to the stage where we kissed likethat?

“Dang, why are you grinning so much?” Hayden asked while playing tug of war with the dog he’d been playing catch with. “Does seeing our friends make out excite you? Because Iwillpuke on you.”

I snorted. “Gosh, no.”

“Come on,” Raina said as she finally broke away from Dallas. “We’re notthatgross.”

“Actually, we are,” Dallas said, looking at his now-wet T-shirt. “Does Arielle happen to have a shirt in my size with her?”