But Brent was great, too, and Riley had always had him. He just wanted to make sure he could keep him, and he wanted Brent to be the person who made homehome.
That meant he had to prove he was staying, and he knew exactly how to do that.
“By the way,” Riley said. “I’m adopting a dog. His name is Rex. He’s a Boxer cross. He loves having his head petted. You’ll get on great.”
Brent laughed at that. “You don’t sound like you’re asking permission.”
“You said you wanted a dog,” Riley defended. “I come with a dog now, so that’s twice the reason to keep me.”
“I have plenty of reasons to keep you,” Brent said, reaching out to grab Riley’s hand.
Riley’s heart clenched. “Good, because that’s what I want. I mean it.”
“I know,” Brent murmured.
Riley could only take him at his word, but whether or not it was true, Brentwouldknow. He’d see how serious Riley was about him.
There was no way Riley was going to risk losing him again.
