“I knew she would like you,” Declan said as he handed me Kitty’s leash. “But the last test is to see if she accepts you into our pack.”

“You mean I have to prove I’m worthy by going on a walk?” I took the lead warily. As soon as Kitty saw it, she went wild, running around the apartment like her tail was on fire.

“I’m more worried she’ll take you for a walk, so you have to show her who’s boss.”

Great.

“Kitty,” I called. She ignored me. If I couldn’t even clip the leash onto her collar, I’d fail the test. I tried again. “Kitty, come here.” For some reason I stamped my foot, as if that had actually worked for anyone.

Declan just stood there, smiling, watching me make a fool of myself.

“You’re not going to help me at all, are you?”

He shook his head.

“I had no idea you had such a mean streak in you, Declan,” Rebecca said, “You’re doing fine, Sara. You should’ve seen the way Kitty blew off my fiancé when they met. She’s not shy about telling someone how she really feels about them.”

“Was that supposed to be encouraging?” I asked as the dog happily ignored me.

“You have to make her listen to you. Try it again. More firmly this time.”

“Kitty,” I said in the lowest pitch I could manage, willing her to listen.

Declan chuckled. Luckily, Rebecca told him to shut up so I didn’t have to.

“Come here. Now, Kitty,” I repeated in my phony baritone. It sounded ridiculous, even to me. But at least it got her attention. She stopped running and sat down near Rebecca.

I couldn’t tell for sure, but there was a good chance Kitty was laughing at me, too. I raised an eyebrow and held the leash out to her. We stared at each other silently.

“What are you doing?” Declan asked quietly.

“Not sure. I think we’re having a battle of wills.”

“Ah. Who’s winning?”

“Whoever blinks first. Wait. Do dogs have eyelids?”

When he and Rebecca both busted out laughing, Kitty’s tail reacted, wagging so hard, her whole body swayed with it.

I swatted him. “Shut up and let me prove my dominance.”

“As long as you try it with me next time we’re naked.”

“Wow,” Rebecca mumbled. “I really wish I hadn’t heard that.”

I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t smile. Dominant females never smiled. Every dominant female I’d ever known had perfected their resting bitch face. And not to be arrogant or anything, mine was pretty damn good.

My eyes stung from holding them open for so long. If this dog didn’t give in soon, I’d lose.

“Kitty, focus.” I said it softly but firmly as if I were speaking to a toddler who didn’t want to go to bed. “Do you want to go for a walk.” No inflection at the end of the question because dominant females didn’t ask questions. They just knew. “Come here, so I can put on your leash.”

She hesitated for one more second and then took a step toward me. Then another. And another. I didn’t react because dominant females expected results and didn’t give prizes for participation. Only success.

Rebecca cheered silently, shaking her hands as if she were holding pompoms.

“I think you’re winning,” Declan whispered.

“Shut up, or I’ll put you on a leash, too.”

His laugh was broken as he tried unsuccessfully to hold it in.

“Now, Kitty.” I pointed at the floor just in front of me. She glanced at Declan for permission. Before he could ruin my moment, I threw a glare at him. A very dominant glare.

Kitty trotted over to me and stood at my feet.

When I told her to sit, she did.

“Whoa. Sorry, Dec, but I think there’s a new alpha in town,” Rebecca said as I rubbed Kitty’s head and clipped the leash onto her collar. “Congrats.”

I felt like I’d just won an Olympic medal in dogging. If that was actually a thing. “So, where are we going?”

Declan shrugged. “I just got demoted. Alpha’s choice.”

After saying goodbye to Rebecca, I led Kitty to the elevator. Declan followed.

“Press the button, underling.”

“Underling?” He gave me a quick kiss before following my order. “Is that a hint that you want to be on top later?”

“It wasn’t, but that’s a good idea. Kitty, can I borrow your collar when we get back?”

“Don’t answer that, girl,” he said as we stepped into the elevator. “I should’ve known you two would gang up on me.”

“Yeah, you really should have.”

As soon as we reached the street, Kitty lunged forward, practically yanking my arm out of its socket. I used my entire body weight to hold her back until she gave in and walked at my side.

“Why’d you name her Kitty?”

“I didn’t,” Declan said. “When I found her, she wasn’t wearing a collar. I was living with Trevor at the time, and he didn’t want to keep her. So, I spent three weeks posting flyers and calling animal control and shelters to see if anyone was looking for her. I didn’t want to take her into one of them, though. She was pretty rough looking back then—super skinny with bald patches where the vet had to shave when he fixed her up. I knew that unless someone could see what I saw in her, she wouldn’t have been adopted. I couldn’t take the chance they’d put her down. So, when I finally talked Trev into keeping her, I told him he could pick her name.”

“Trevor picked Kitty?”

He shook his head. “Have you ever seen the old Annie movie? The one where she calls the dog a bunch of names, and he eventually answers to Sandy?”

“You’ve seen Annie?”

“Hey, I thought we said no judgments.”

“That was before you admitted to being a little girl.”

He elbowed me gently. “Have you seen the movie or not?”

“Probably, when I was a little girl, too.” I laughed.

“Trust me, I’ll remember that later when we’re in a place where I can punish you.”

“Hey!” I jumped when he swatted my ass. “Alright, alright. Continue with your story.”

After a moment, he said, “So, just like in the movie I enjoyed so much as a little girl, Trev started saying names. Fluffy, Killer, Fido, etc.”

“And she answered to Kitty?”

He nodded. “My guess is that she could bare to listen to any more terrible options. But Kitty fits her—she’s independent, smart, sleeps a lot, and thinks she’s small enough to sit in my lap.” He stopped and looked at me. “Maybe I should start calling you Kitten— you’re all those things and are small enough to sit in my lap.”

“You want to give me a pet name that is literally your pet’s name. I don’t think so.”

My teasing stopped when I saw my mom coming out of the tiny market across the street. I ducked my head, but it was too late.

“Sara!” she called, raising her hand before realizing it was holding a small paper bag and then lifting the other one to wave.

Oh shit. Why was she here? This neighborhood was halfway across the city from hers. The market’s sign and window ads were all in Chinese, and my mom never cooked anything, let alone Chinese food.

“Sara!” She quickly glanced both ways before crossing the street. I was almost a mean enough person to wish she’d get hit by a car. Almost. But if she, say...got a little bumped—just a very distracting scare, nothing broken or damaged—I’d have been okay with that.

“I think that lady knows you,” Declan said as she dodged a car.

“Not very well.” I looked up to see her standing in front of us, glancing from me, to Declan, to Kitty. A triangle of confusion.

“What a nice surprise,” she said, smiling. “I was just telling Timothy that I barely see you anymore.” As if that were a bad thing. I wasn’t proud of moving back in with my parents, but this was downright humiliating.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “How do you even know this neighborhood exists?”

“A yoga friend told me about it.” She held up her bag. “That shop is the only place in the whole city that carries this particular brand of Royal Jelly.”

I grimaced. “The stuff that comes out of bee butts?”

“Queen bees, Sara. Royal Jelly only comes out of—” She glanced at Declan. “It’s only secreted by the queen.” She reached her hand out, palm-side down, to Declan. Oh God. Did she expect him to kiss her ring? “I’m Elaine, Sara’s mother. And you are…?”

“Wow, it’s so nice to meet you.” Declan glanced at me before gently taking her hand, looking as if he were about to laugh. “I’m Declan, Sara’s friend.” Thankfully, he didn’t pause before friend. Even more thankfully, he hadn’t used a word like date or lover.

“Okay. Great to see you, Mom,” I mumbled. “Enjoy your Queen Bee butt stuff. We need to go.”

“Go where?” she asked pointedly. “In this neighborhood? Nonsense. You’re not allowed to run off before I’ve gotten to know Declan a little.”

I scrambled for an excuse. Kitty—God bless her—chose that moment to get pushy and yank at her leash. “Kitty needs to…relieve herself. So, we should get going.”

My mom looked disdainfully down at the dog. “Oh. Well, Declan, you should come over for dinner sometime.”

“I’d enjoy that. Thank you.”

“How about tonight?” she suggested before I could set a date three years from now.

I cringed. “Declan’s busy tonight. He’s very busy. Always.”

“Oh? What do you do, Declan?”

Dying. I was dying inside. And I had to stop this in the only way I knew how. By making her disapprove. There was no shame in what he did, but I knew my mother’s interest would evaporate as soon as she knew he wasn’t a banker, a lawyer, or a real estate investor.

“Declan is in a band.” I couldn’t look at him, didn’t want him to think I didn’t respect what he did.

My mom hesitated. “How nice for you. Following your dream, I imagine?”

“I suppose so.” The disappointment in his tone trumped my mom’s, and I felt awful.

“Well, if you’re not busy with band things on Sunday, you should come over for dinner.”

My groan was silenced by his reply.

“That’s really nice of you. Luckily, Sundays are pretty slow when it comes to band things. What time should I come over?”

This time, my groan was audible to everyone.

My mom laughed. “Sara’s being selfish, wanting to keep you all to herself. How does seven o’clock sound?”

“Seven would be great,” Declan said.

Sure, seven o’clock sounded doable. All I had to do was make sure I got hit by a bus by 6:45. “Okay...I guess.”

“Wonderful!” She awkwardly reached out as if to pat Kitty on the head. About a foot before her hand would’ve made contact, she changed her mind and pulled back. “Until Sunday, then. Sara, make sure he has the correct address.” Damn it, there went that plan.

“I will.” I smiled tightly and said a quick goodbye before prodding Kitty to start walking. Declan said goodbye more politely and caught up to us.

His hand grazed mine until I pulled it away. “Not where she might see.”

“Do I embarrass you?”

“Not at all.” I looked behind us to make sure she wasn’t watching. “She embarrasses me. I was trying to save you the horror of spending an hour in her company.”

“I have a lot of experience with parents who think what I do is a disgrace, mainly my parents. So, I think I can handle one more.”

Two more—my stepdad would probably be there, too.