A week and a half later, we arrive at the crack of dawn at Doggy Style. 

It’s opening day. 

A mixture of hopefulness and despair stirs inside me. I pray that we’ll adopt out a ton of dogs today. Obviously finding them homes will be the greatest reward, but I also want to prove to Preston that customers will adopt these rescue dogs, and he doesn’t need to sell puppies. I know he’s agreed to only feature rescue dogs for the future, but I want to show him he can have a successful business without using breeder dogs. Of course, we still have the purebred puppies in the store until they’re all adopted. And I’ve come to peace with that, because Preston agreed to follow standard adoption protocol on all the dogs, regardless of pedigree. All of the dogs have been fixed, and every owner will be required to submit to a home check, along with completing an adoption application and contract.

As for my personal growth, I vowed the other day to try to be less judgmental. I can’t hate on people who don’t know any better, so it’s on me to educate them. I’m working on being more calm, friendly, and sweet. Preston is the perfect example. He didn’t know about the horrors of homeless pets, and then he learned. Now he’s changed his mind and will end up saving thousands of pets.

Preston paces around the store, his hand clutching his phone.

I walk over to him and give him a kiss. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I just need this to do well. I was so confident, but I can’t believe Hugh bailed. I just have a bad feeling, you know? Like he’s going to do something to fuck up the opening.”

Hugh has completely vanished. No one has seen him since he left the store that day with Gidget. He also hasn’t been on any social media. Preston’s called him a bunch of times, reached out to Hugh’s parents, even considered filing a police report, but I told him to hold off.

Clearly, Hugh has some anger and resentment toward Preston. I believe Hugh left of his own accord to prove to Preston that the store would fail with the decision to feature rescue dogs. I could be wrong, and I don’t know the dude at all, but if something bad happened to him, he wouldn’t have abandoned Gidget in the night drop. 

“Well, he better not, but we’ll be okay no matter what. Avril and Eden are here to help, and all our rescue group friends are helping to promote it. People will be so glad you’re going to be saving so many lives. Not to mention this store is beautiful. Its owner isn’t too bad either.”

He pulls me to him, and we kiss. We’ve been fucking like rabbits since we arrived back in California. I’ve never had sexual chemistry with anyone like I have with Preston. Everything about him is perfection. 

Even so, our emotional intimacy hasn’t caught up to our physical intimacy. I still don’t know any more details about his damaged relationship with his dad, and I still haven’t fully told him about my past. But I’m not worried about that. We started fast, so it’s fine to take our time opening up to each other. 

Avril stands in front of us. We break our kiss and stare at her. She rolls her eyes but shoots us a friendly grin so we know she’s not really annoyed. 

“Come on, lovebirds. Time to open.”

We all go outside, where a huge crowd has gathered. Looks like our hard work promoting the hell out of the grand opening has worked. Even some local television networks and radio stations are present.

The mayor of Huntington Beach is waiting for Preston, and he hands Preston huge scissors to cut through the ribbon. 

Preston whispers in my ear, “I’d rather have your handcuffs.”

I playfully smack him. “Where are those things anyway?”

“You’ll see them when the time is right.”

I roll my eyes. 

Preston greets the crowd. “Thank you for coming out today. Initially, I started this store just to make a profit off of dogs. I know it sounds horrible, and it was. But then I met this gorgeous woman, Yesenia Cordova, and she educated me about shelter dogs. I honestly never knew much about homeless pets. She’s changed my life for the better, and I’m just glad she opened my eyes up to their plights. I’m so thankful for taking this journey with her, and even more happy that she’s now my girlfriend. So, everyone, welcome to Doggy Style!”

Oh my god.

Tears well in my eyes. I didn’t expect him to say anything like that. Here I am, crying on camera like a blubbering fool. No one has ever done anything like that for me. Or even publicly acknowledged me as part of their life.

I wrap my arms around Preston and kiss him again. Cameras flash in our faces. I’m super proud of him. Time to adopt some dogs.