Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 13992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 70(@200wpm)___ 56(@250wpm)___ 47(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 13992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 70(@200wpm)___ 56(@250wpm)___ 47(@300wpm)
“Yip! Yip!” I shook my tail hard and tried to munch it out of his hand, but he closed his fingers and giggled.
“No, buddy, you have to earn this one. I’ve got an idea.” He pulled a rope from the toy box and held one end out to me. “Let’s play tug-o-war. If you can get the rope away from me, you get the yummy pineapple bear, okay?”
I shook my tail again, showing that I was ready to play. “Okay, grab hold!” Ollie instructed, and I clasped my teeth around one frayed end of the rope. “Go!”
Ollie pulled and tugged, putting up a better fight than I imagined, but I wasn’t giving up so easily. I lowered my head to the ground and backed up, using my center of gravity to get more strength.
He tugged again and the strings almost came out of my mouth, but I chomped harder to regain my hold. I playfully growled and shook my head back and forth, trying to loosen his grip, but Ollie only giggled and held on tighter.
Just when I thought I was going to lose the war, Frankie helped me out by tickling Ollie’s ribs. Ollie laughed and toppled backward, letting loose of the rope as Shawn cheered for his boy, and Holden quickly gave Ollie a once over to make sure he was okay before smiling at his giggling boy.
“That was cheating,” Ollie said through his laughter.
“I’m sorry,” Frankie replied, “But Lucky looked like he really wanted that gummy bear.”
“Yip!” I agreed, making my friends chuckle again.
“Okay, you’ve got it,” Ollie gave in, handing over the delicious treat, which was gone in a matter of seconds.
“You’re not ruining your dinner, are you, pup?” Master’s voice sounded within the room. I turned around to find him watching me adoringly. I wondered how long he’d been observing me play.
“Nope, I only gave him the treats you gave me,” Ollie defended quickly.
“Thank you, Ollie,” Master smiled at him. “I want my pup to eat a good dinner; which just so happens to be ready.”
“Yay!” Ollie cheered. “I’m super hungry!”
“Please put those toys away and then let’s go get your hands washed up for dinner, baby boy,” Holden instructed as he rose from the couch.
“Yes, Daddy.” Ollie stuffed the toys under the coffee table and then jumped to his feet to follow his Daddy down the hall to get cleaned up.
“And let’s get you ready as well, pup,” Master said with a tap on his thighs. I rushed to his side and stayed on his heels as he took me back into the bedroom.
He removed my knee pads, then my paws, pausing to kiss each hand, unfastened my belt, and lastly, removed my hood. He smiled as he combed his fingers through my messy hair and then helped me to my feet.
“Did you have fun playing?’
“Yes, Master,” I told him excitedly before pulling him into a tight hug. “Thank you so much for allowing me to have fun with my friends.”
“Of course, pup; I always want you to have fun. I want to give you the best life possible.”
“You do,” I insisted, looking up into his eyes so that he could see my sincerity. “You give me the best life. I never want to live without you; I can’t. I need you every day and I love you so much.”
Zack kissed my nose and wrapped his arms around me tighter. “I love you too.” He held me for several long moments, soaking up the love between us before he unfortunately let me loose. “I could hold you all night, but we better go to the kitchen so that I can serve dinner.” I wanted him to hold me all night, but I knew that we had plans with our friends, so I nodded and followed him out into the kitchen.
Zack pulled out a chair for me at the table and I joined our friends while he served each of us a Caesar salad. Well, except for Ollie, who got a bowl of applesauce instead.
Once we were finished with the first course, Zack gave us each a plate of spaghetti, covered with his homemade meat sauce, which he’d worked on for hours the previous day. He sliced, simmered, mashed, and chopped everything inside the mixture, and it was one of his specialties. Many of his clients ordered this meal on repeat, and for good reason. It was one of the best things I’d ever eaten (all of my other favorites were also made by my talented Master).
Zack sat down next to me so that we could all enjoy our meals together. The table was filled with hums of approval and happy dances from Ollie, who was gobbling down the spaghetti that his Daddy chopped up for him.
“So, how is the wedding planning going?” Zack asked Shawn. He and Frankie had gotten engaged on our train ride trip with Ollie and Holden, and from what we’d heard, they didn’t want to wait very long for the ceremony.