She snorted a defeated laugh. “I should have walked out the moment I saw which fraternity he belonged to,” Evie said. “I spent too many years around their kind.”
She blew out a sigh. “You will think I’m insane, but I’m not ready to give up. I know you don’t believe finding a new place to house The Sanctuary is an option, but I won’t be able to sleep at night if I don’t at least explore the possibility.”
He held his hands up. “Whatever you need to do to sleep at night, Ev. Who knows, there may be something out there.”
“I’ll start searching tomorrow. Right now, I just want tohug my dog and forget about the disaster of a meeting we just went through.”
Bryson stuck his hands in his pockets and debated the wisdom of speaking the words he was about to say. The afternoon had already turned into a shit show. He figured he didn’t have anything to lose.
“Not to sound like a horny, insensitive asshole, but we can always go back to my place and cheer each other up with sex.”
He fully expected Evie to call him on his horniness, insensitivity, and assholery. Instead, she nodded and pointed at his car.
“Go get Bella. I’ll get Waffles and meet you at your place in an hour.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
They could not have asked for a more perfect day for a carnival if they had ordered it from a catalog. The sun was shining but not oppressive, and the slight breeze felt like heaven on Evie’s skin as she carried a laundry basket filled with purple, yellow, and green plastic balls from her car.
Too bad her stomach was twisted into knots. Despite the pep talk she’d given herself this morning, she couldn’t help but feel this was all for nothing.
It’s not. You and Bryson will figure something out.
Those knots twisted even tighter at the thought of Bryson. An awareness of how quickly things were moving with him sat in the back of her mind, nudging at her whenever she felt herself getting too comfortable with the thought of jumping headfirst into a legitimate relationship.
Well, except for every night this week, when she found herself more than just comfortable in his new bed with histhousand-thread-count sheets that felt even better than her green ones.
Focus, Evie!
There was too much to be done today. She would not let the memories from last night derail what could be The Sanctuary’s best chance of surviving.
She took the walking path that led to the backyard of Barkingham Palace’s new location. Her mouth fell open the moment she entered the gate. The outside play area had been transformed into a Mardi Gras–themed wonderland for dogs.
“Evie! Bring those here!”
Evie carried the basket over to where Ashanti stood, stringing balloons onto a balloon arch.
“Kara went back home to get the blow-up pool,” Ashanti said. “That’s where those will go.” She gestured to the yard. “It’s looking pretty good out here, huh?”
When Ashanti first suggested the canine carnival, Evie had imagined a few games, maybe a doggy photo booth, and possibly a silly Mardi Gras–themed costume contest. She had not expected a full-blown extravaganza, complete with a doggy Ferris wheel and carousel. The grounds were peppered with over a dozen kiosks and booths offering everything from spa treatments to dog-friendly cupcakes.
“This is a lot more than I anticipated,” Evie said.
“You want to raise money, don’t you? You have to give people something to spend money on. Now, the food trucks with be here at—”
Evie whipped around. “Food trucks?”
“Of course,” Ashanti said. “I have three coming. And each have pledged fifteen percent of their sales to The Sanctuary.” She clipped on the last balloon, then held up one end of thearch and handed it to Evie. “Help me bring this over to the photo area. Just wait until you see it!”
The photo area had been designed to look like the dogs were riding on a Mardi Gras float.
“You know that you were only supposed to help with this, and I was supposed to do the heavy lifting, right?” Evie asked.
“And I told you that you would only get in the way. Kara and Kendra are using this as their volunteer hours.” She pulled out her phone and tapped something out on the screen. “I just sent you the list of work assignments. Several of the twins’ classmates who also need volunteer hours will help run the agility-course apparatuses and operate the booths.”
“Is there anything for me to do?” Evie asked jokingly.
Ashanti’s forehead crinkled as her mouth dipped with a confused frown. “Um, not really.”
