“Whose idea was this?” I mumbled to myself as stood outside the door of the huge house. “Oh, right, mine.” I took a deep breath, after practice it was decided that I could just meet Tyler at his house because his sister left earlier, so we would have some time to talk before we left for the road trip tonight. So with a deep breath I knocked on the door, immediately answered by barking.
I could feel my heart rate accelerate when I heard Tyler’s voice on the other side of the door, as he tried to calm down his dogs. I wasn’t going to lie, I was nervous. I hoped that by giving myself another day, after that kiss, and the talk with his sister to complaint how this was going to go would make it easier, but I still had no idea what was going to happen and honestly that scared me.
“Hey Brittany,” Tyler greeted as he opened the door. I looked down as I bit my lip not able to fully look at him, instead occupying myself by looking at the two dogs who sat behind him.
Tyler noticing my gaze stepped aside as he smiled down at me. “That’s Marshall,” he said pointing to the chocolate lab, “and that’s Cash,” he laughed as the black lab stood up, tail wagging.
“But you already knew that.” I nodded, heart still racing, throat dry as I slowly stepped into the house and bent down to pet the big black and chocolate labs. They wagged their tails as I petted behind each of their ears and under their chins. I laughed as Cash made an attempt to lick my face which got a scolding from Tyler.
“He’s fine,” I reassured with a smile Tyler as I stood back up. Tyler ran a hand though his dark hair.
“I take it you like dogs then.”
“I love dogs.” I told him with a deep breath and a smile as I slowly built up the courage to look at him. “I’m going to get a dog one day.”
“Are you?” He questioned with a wave of his hand and a slight nod towards the kitchen.
I nodded with as I bit of my lip, all my courage slowly slipping away as I followed him.
“What kind of dog?” He asked as he opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water and turned back to me, one dark eyebrow raised as if questioning me.
I nodded and swallowed the lump as I grabbed the bottle and told him, “A husky or a golden retriever, maybe both, I don’t know.”
He nodded as he leaned his hip against the counter next to the fridge, which was behind the island where I stood. “Huskie and golden retriever, eh,” his raised his eyebrow in that way he does when he wants you to elaborate.
I laughed to myself as I slid into the stool in front of the island, always so full of questions this one. “I know it’s a weird combination, but I’ve always wanted a huskie, but a couple years ago I watched my neighbors golden retriever when they went on vacation and I just fell in love with her.” I sighed, “So yea, either a huskie or golden retriever. It just kind of depends if I want a large or a medium sized dog.”
“Personality I can say the large dogs are nice.”
“I know, especially labs, they are so lovable. That’s actually why I fell in love with Molly, because she was so cuddling and chill. I loved how I could lay with her and not have to worry about hurting her, can’t really do that with small dogs. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Jay, but he’s not the ideal cuddle buddy.”
“Jay?”
“Jay is my dad’s dog; he’s an Alaskan Klee Kai.” He nodded, “is he small.”
“Not that small, they say they get between 10 to 15 pounds, but Jay’s about 20.” I bite my lip with a chuckle, “he’s a chucky little thing.”
Tyler smiled and I could feel my cheeks heating up as he watched me. So I was grateful when he pushed himself off the counter and said, “Come on, let’s see what’s on TV.”
I nodded as I slid off the chair and followed him into the living room.

---

After that Tyler and I ended up watching some stupid movie on HBO as Cash’s head lay in my lap as he sat between Tyler and I, and Marshall lay at Tyler’s feet. We didn’t talk much, but every once in a while a question would come up, nothing to crazy, just a simple ‘what’s your favorite color,’ or ‘what’s your middle name.’ Surprisingly nothing hockey related, which was odd because usually hockey questions were my go to questions, but as Tyler and I talked I found myself curious about other things, things they were not hockey related.
As the movie came to an end Tyler walked me to the door followed by Cash, Marshall taking this as his opportunity to take a spot on the couch. A little moan escaped Cash’s mouth as I leaned in to hug Tyler and I pulled away with a smile.
“Don’t worry, you get one too,” I cooed to Cash as I bent down, wrapped my arms around his neck and he wagged his tail. He once again tried to lick my face as I pulled away I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Sure will,” he grinned. “And what is the cover story?” I asked one more time, just to make sure we were on the same page. Didn’t want this whole thing to blow up in are faces before it even had a chance to start.
“You just came over to meet Marshall and Cash because you missed your dogs from back home.”
“Correct.” I gave him a nod of approval before I stepped out the door. It may have seemed stupid to have a cover story, but I didn’t want to give the guys any reason to be suspicious.

Notes