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As you turned the corner of your street, your dog Barney on his leash at your side, you were distracted. You hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, but you went on the walk first thing in the morning anyway, knowing that if Barney didn’t get his exercise, it would be more hell for you than you wanted.
Barney stopped to sniff a leaf, his long legs stretching so that he didn’t actually ever leave the sidewalk, but merely leaned far enough to do his sniffing. The dog was nearly all long, skinny leg and nose, being a greyhound. When he was a puppy, there were times you thought he’d get so tangled up in himself he’d get hurt, but he always made it out okay. His pointed noise was also constantly sniffing away at things, often getting himself into trouble.
Once the leaf had been properly attended to, Barney kept walking with you. A car passed by, and your eyes watched it go. Before it had completely disappeared down the street, Barney suddenly tugged at his leash.
The tug caught you off guard and the leash was out of your hand before you could catch it. “Barney, no!” you yelled, running after him. He was headed to the yard just a couple houses ahead of you, running across it before disappearing up the driveway and into the open garage.
Great, now you were going to have a neighbor who thought your dog was out of control. When you got to the garage, though, all of your thoughts flew out the window.
An attractive man (I mean really, people shouldn’t be allowed to be that handsome) was kneeling beside an older model black car, rubbing Barney’s ears. Your dog’s tail was wagging like it was dinnertime, his tongue escaping his mouth to try to kiss the man’s face.
“I am so sorry,” you said, rushing over to grab Barney’s leash. “He just took off, and, well, greyhounds are fast runners.”
The man chuckled, making a kissy face at Barney before standing up. He was tall, so tall, and his green eyes made you weak in the knees.
“It’s totally alright,” he said. He held his hand out toward you. “I’m Dean.”
You switched Barney’s leash into your left hand before taking his with your right, shaking it. “Y/N. And this is Barney.”
Dean looked down to Barney, fluffing his ears with his hand again. “Handsome boy you’ve got there,” he said. You smiled. Dean was incredibly attractive and he likes dogs? You were so gone you couldn’t handle it.
“I just moved to the neighborhood, do you live around here?” Dean continued. You nodded.
“I live in the house on the end of the block, the other side of the street,” you told him, pointing toward your house. “It’s a great area. Barney and I love it.”
Dean nodded. He looked down to Barney. “Maybe you and Barney can show me around sometime. I’m happy to join you for a walk.”
The word ‘walk’ had Barney’s tail in overdrive, even though you’d been walking him for the past half hour already. You laughed.
“I think Barney likes that idea,” you said, smiling at Dean. “We walk mornings and evenings around 7. Come join us when you can.”
Dean smiled back at you. “I’ll see you tonight at 7 then,” he said, holding your eyes with his. You felt a blush rising on your cheeks, so you looked down to Barney.
“Come on, boy, let’s get home,” you told him. You pulled the leash a bit to get Barney moving. “We’ll see Dean later, okay?”
Barney gave Dean’s hand one last lick before turning and trotting away, pulling you after him. You waved at Dean before getting to your house quickly, stomach eagerly knotting in anticipation for your walk this evening.
You might even be more excited for the walk than Barney.