Puppy Love by A. Destiny and Catherine Hapka

whole walking-on-a-leash thing. At least sometimes. Sort of.”
    She laughed. “I know what you mean. One step forward, two steps back, right?”
    â€œYeah. And then ten steps off to the side, chasing a squirrel.” I was a little distracted, since I’d just spotted Jamal coming. Ozzy was turning himself inside out, he was so obviously happy to see us. To be honest, Jamal looked pretty psyched too. His smile lit up his whole face. Not that I was noticing things like that about him.
    Quickly scanning the surrounding area, I was relieved to see that Robert was nowhere in sight. Although he could be hiding somewhere, of course. Probably peering through his binoculars and giggling over seeing me with Jamal. I frowned slightly as I thought about my best friend’s comments earlier. Where had he gotten the idea I was flirting with Jamal? That I’d ever flirt withJamal? The guy was cool—and okay, anyone with eyes could see that he was good-looking—but he was so not my type. Even without Adam in the picture, there was just no way.
    â€œWhat’s up, ladies?” Jamal said as he reached us. “I was afraid I’d be late—I had to stay after school to talk to my cross-country coach about next weekend’s meet.”
    â€œNope, you’re right on time.” Rachel smiled at him. “Should we head back to the training area?”
    â€œSure. Let’s go.” I hurried off, practically dragging Muckle away from his delighted greeting ritual with Ozzy. If my cheeks were going pink because of stupid Robert’s stupid comments, I didn’t want the others to notice and wonder. Especially Jamal. He was a nice guy, and I didn’t want to give him the wrong impression.
    As soon as we started class, I forgot all about Jamal, Robert, and everything else. Even my own name, probably. Because Adam was just as amazing as ever. He was energetic, he was knowledgeable, he was totally focused on the dogs. We started by reviewing some of the stuff we’d done in the first class. Just your basic sit, down, walk on a leash. Most of the puppies seemed a little better today, though the hound mix was just as hopeless as ever, and Ozzy kept getting distracted by Jamal’s shoelaces.
    As for Muckle? He started off okay and performed his sits like a champ. But while we were walking, a bird flew overhead. Yes, a bird. I could only assume it was a wild sparrow or something thathad mistaken the cavernous store for some kind of natural cave and found a way inside, since the store didn’t sell any live animals except fish.
    And that was all she wrote. The other dogs didn’t even notice the bird. But Muck started jumping around, head pointed skyward—well, ceilingward—barking like a loon.
    â€œLauren.” Suddenly Adam was at my side. “Having some trouble over here?”
    â€œSorry.” I was all too aware of his eyes boring into me. His body, so close to mine. I wanted to reach over and run my hands through his shock of raven hair, but I held back. “Um, he’s just a little distracted.”
    â€œCan I try?” He reached out.
    For one giddy moment I almost put my hand in his. I realized just in time that he was actually reaching for the leash. I handed it over, trying not to shiver as our hands touched briefly.
    â€œOkay, Muckle,” Adam said, bending down to caress the puppy’s fuzzy head. “Let’s show them how it’s done, eh?”
    Then he straightened up and walked to the center of the ring. And what do you know? That disloyal little beast trotted along beside him, in almost perfect heel position, as if he’d been doing it all his life. Figured.
    â€œAll right, everyone,” Adam called out to the entire class. “Let’s stop and sit and watch for a moment. I’m going to demonstrate a few things with Muckle here. . . .”
    He went on to do exactly that. And what do you know—onceagain,