“I checked into my lease and we can have one dog. It has to be under forty pounds, but the landlord owes me a favor. So we can just say Axel is on a diet and has his own journey he’s going through.”

He hit the blinker as we turned toward my house. My stomach clenched with the thought of Austin seeing how I lived again.

“I want to make sure it makes sense for your sister and stuff. This only works if it makes her life easier.” He patted my hand.

“I think I have to talk to her about it. It never even occurred to me that I could take Axel with me. With the dorms, that’s a hard no.” I held my phone with my finger hovering over my sister’s contact info.

“Well, we can always come back and get him, too. I have concerns with how far away his furry butt was from your house when he ran.” Austin eased off the side of the road, where he normally would drop me off and pick me up when I was growing up. “And I realize that coming back here is a tender subject as well. I can stay here—unless you need backup.” He tapped his fingers gently on the steering wheel.

“Thank you. I’ll take it from here. I appreciate that. I’ll be back either with Axel or not.” I swung open my car door and shut it as Austin wished me luck.

I walked briskly toward my house. The condition of the yard and the porch brought a familiar paralysis and dread.

It didn't take long before I had an armful of Axel, leash dangling.

Raven was limping toward me covered in mud. “Axel, you're the devil.”

“Funny you should say that. I have a proposition for you.” I rubbed Axel’s big head.

* * *

AUSTIN

I thought it was going to take far longer for Taylor to figure out if Axel was coming with us or not, but it had to be under fifteen minutes when I saw her and Axel loping toward me. Taylor motioned for me to roll down my window.

“What’s up?” I waited as she shuffled a bag and the leash.

“Can he go in your car? It’s, like, really nice. His paws are muddy.”

Axel jumped up, putting said muddy paws on the door. His tongue lolled out the side of his mouth as he tried to see what was going on in my vehicle.

“Hey, boy. You love getting into trouble, huh?” I leaned over and opened the door, inviting them both in. Taylor tossed in a blanket and I draped it over the seat.