Pawliday Love

Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

MASON

J uliet took off the second she was back in her street clothes, heading out the door like the building was on fire. I sighed, resisting the urge to go after her, and instead took my time getting changed before hitching a ride on Brett’s Pargo with some of the dancers. I was in no hurry to get home. Jenny and my other roommate, Damian, were both working closing shifts at another theme park, and neither would be done for hours. That left me going home to leftovers in the fridge and an empty apartment.

I loved my life, but sometimes it felt a little lonely. I’d video chatted with my parents and younger siblings this morning between shows so they could show me all the things Santa had brought. They were too young to understand why their big brother was never home for the holidays, but I’d go see them in January before my next gig started and make up for it.

“Have a good night!” Brett said, clapping me on the shoulder as he pulled up at the security gate to drop us off. “Thanks for the ride,” Avery said as she hopped off.

“Merry Christmas!” Dannajah chimed in.

“Merry Christmas,” I echoed back as I stood up, slinging my duffle bag over my shoulder.

Micaiah unfolded himself from the back row, stretching as if the space had been too cramped for him. He was only a little taller than me, but he was long and lean. Dude was all leg, a dancer through and through. He still had his long brown hair tucked up in a bun from where he’d hidden it under his toy soldier hat all day.

“You got them?” he asked quietly, nodding to where Avery and Dannajah were walking ahead of us.

“Yeah,” I said, nodding. Obviously, we couldn’t walk every single girl we worked with to their cars, but no way was I leaving those two alone at this time of night. It was why Juliet heading off by herself made me crazy. Even if she didn’t want to walk out with me, I wished she would walk out with someone .

“Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Micaiah said, turning to head towards the employee cafeteria. I gave him awave before turning after the girls.

“Avery, Dannajah, wait up!”

I had never been so grateful for heated seats. It wasn’t that chilly, but they were nice on sore muscles. I considered texting Jenny to see if I could use her bathtub when I got home to soak some of this off. I was about to fish out my phone so I could talk-to-text when a dog darted across the road in front of me. I slammed on the brakes, and it was a good thing I did, because a familiar blonde streaked across the road after the canine not a second later.

Juliet!? What the hell??

Panic flooded me. I jerked my car to the side of the road, throwing it into park the moment I had it safely in the grass. Before I even realized what I was doing, I was out of the car, slamming the door behind me and running after them, not taking the time to kill the engine.

I caught up in no time. The dog was up against a fence, its head low to the ground as it whimpered and whined. It was a mix breed of some kind, with a body of an Australian shepherd but with a head and ears like a husky. It didn’t look aggressive, but that could change in a split second. Juliet was reaching for it, talking in a low, calm voice, but all I could picture was white fangs closing around her delicate flesh. I didn’t stop to think. I reached out and grabbed Juliet by the arm, dragging her toward me. Only when I was between her and the dog did the roaring in my ears cease.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I tried to keep my voice low so I wouldn’t scare the dog, but the fear andfrustration bled into the words, coming out in a harsh whisper.

Juliet jerked her arm free like I’d burned her.

“Trying to get this dog back to its family. What does it look like I’m doing?” she snapped. Somehow, her voicewas pretty, even when she was pissed.

“Do you have any idea how close I came to hitting you?” I demanded.

“Not very close, since I didn’t know you were here until you grabbed me like a Neanderthal! Are you following me?” Her brown eyes flashed angrily in the light of a passing car.

“No!” I said defensively. “I was driving home until I saw you in the road, so I stopped.”

She glared at me, like she was trying to decipher if I was telling the truth. Just once, I wished she wouldn’t think the worst ofme.

“You want to tell me what’s going on?” I asked, trying to force myself to sound calm.

“I was getting gas, and this dog came up to me,” Juliet said, gesturing toward the dog, trying to step around me, but I moved with her. “When I tried to see if it had a collar, it bolted.”

“And you just ran after it into the road?” I said, barely suppressing a groan at how recklessly she’d risked her own safety.

“What else was I supposed to do? Leave it to get hit?”

That’s exactly what she was supposed to do. Not put her own neck on the line.

Though I wasn’t sure I could say that when I probably would have done the exact same thing. I’d had three dogsgrowing up. Even without Juliet being here, I probably would have stopped. My hands went to my waist as I slowly undid my belt buckle.

“Mason! What the hell?” Juliet nearly shrieked, taking a step back from me.

“You got a leash?” I asked dryly, sliding the belt free. I looped one end through the buckle, making a circle that I could slide over the dog’s head–if I could get close enough.

“No.”

“Then this will have to do if we want to catch it,” I said, turning my attention to the dog.