Kellan actually liked dogs. One of the few things he did like. Dogs never betrayed you. They could actually be extremely loyal.
He saw a dog poke his head out and the girl reached over to pat him softly.
He wasn’t as small as Kellan had been expecting. How had they missed seeing him before? Had they been so focused on the girl that they’d failed to see a large dog sitting in her car?
“What kind of dog is that?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know what sort of dog you own?” Eli asked.
“Well, I don’t exactly own him.” She shuffled her weight from foot to foot.
He stared at her in interest. She didn’t own him?
“Did you steal him?” Kellan asked in a casual voice. As though it meant very little to him.
It shouldn’t mean anything to him at all.
Well, other than the fact that she was a thief and he should report her to the sheriff.
“No! Of course I didn’t steal him. I’m not a thief. I came across him soon after you guys left me. I don’t know if he’s lost or been abandoned. I thought I’d try to figure that out tomorrow.” She rubbed her head tiredly.
“You just picked up a stray dog off the road?” Kellan asked incredulously.
To his surprise, anger surged inside him.
What was going on? He didn’t feel emotions like this. He glanced over at his brother who was giving him an interested look.
Shit.
3
Kellan knew that he had to get himself under control. This wasn’t like him at all.
Stop engaging with her.
“Don’t you know how dangerous that is,” Eli added. “He could have hurt you, attacked you.”
“Horse wouldn’t do that to me,” she muttered, staring down at her feet.
Kellan got the feeling she knew they were talking sense. She just didn’t want to admit it.
“You named him?” Eli asked.
“Horse?” Kellan added.
“There’s nothing wrong with the name Horse,” she defended.
“Why would you name a dog Horse?” Eli asked.
As if the dog realized he was being spoken about, he climbed out of the car.
Shit.
Was that a dog? Because it was huge. It’s head reached the girl’s hip and if it wasn’t so skinny, he was certain he would probably outweigh her.
Although she did look like a stiff wind would blow her over.
