Almost an entire month had passed since I started working at Paws Crossed, and summer was nearly over. Since I spent every day there, Lewis and I had become good friends. I had to admit, I never expected to get along with him after our first encounter in the kennels. We were two very different people, me from one world and him from another. In fact, Lewis and I were total opposites.

But from some reason, we clicked. Maybe it was because we bonded over the one thing we had in common: our love of dogs. Or maybe Lewis's carefree, playful personality counterbalanced my sarcastic, pessimistic one. Whichever the case, I was glad for our friendship. I hardly got to hang out with Olivia, Liam, and Kabel anymore, and I had a feeling that my last month of summer would have been a very lonely one without Lewis to keep me company.

It was bath day at the shelter, and Lewis and I spent the afternoon grooming all of our furry friends. There were bathing facilities both inside and out, and since the weather was so nice, we decided to do our work in the sun. We only had two dogs left, a brindle French bulldog called Morris and an adorable Maltese I named Lucy. She'd been rescued from an abandoned building and brought to the shelter two weeks ago, and I quickly formed a soft spot for her. I considered adopting her myself, but my mom didn't like animals in the house. Besides, I only had one year of high school left, and after that I'd be off to college. It wouldn't be fair to adopt her only to dump her on my parents a year later. Lucy deserved better than that.

I was tired from our day's work, and I absentmindedly stared off into space as I lathered Lucy up with soap. Unlike some of the other dogs, she was content with the warm water and didn't mind the free massage, so it didn't take much focus or energy to keep her inside the tub.

Out of nowhere, something wet and heavy hit me square in the chest before splattering down the rest of my shirt. I shrieked and jumped in surprise before glancing over at Lewis. His lips were clamped together in a tight line, and a funny noise was hissing out of his nose as he tried to contain his laughter. Glancing down at the pavement, I realized he'd thrown a sponge at me.

"What the heck was that for?" I demanded, glaring at him.

No longer able to control himself, he let out a deep laugh. "I was trying to get your attention," he told me.

"And pelting me with a sponge was the best way to do that?" I asked as I inspected the damage. A huge dark spot covered the front of my top. Thank god it isn't white, I thought to myself. If it was, Lewis would have been able to see the black bra I was wearing underneath.

"Oh, don't be such a princess," he said, his eyes rolling skyward. "Lightly tossed, not pelted. Besides, I didn't want to throw it at you, but you didn't give me much choice. I've only been calling your name for two full minutes. You all right? You seem out of it."

It was true—I'd been distracted. Thinking about my friends made me realize how long it had been since I'd gone to a party or done anything remotely rebellious. Wow, how lame was I?

Shaking my head to clear the lingering fog, I said, "Yeah, fine. Why? What's up?"

The corners of his eyes crinkled and he gestured at Lucy. "I think she's good."

Glancing down, I realized she was sufficiently soapy. "Oh, right," I said, and began to rinse the bubbles from her coat.

When both dogs were clean, dry, and back in their kennels, Lewis and I started to pick up our mess. I'd just finished draining the water from the tub, when I noticed a sponge laying at the bottom. Lewis had his back to me, so I quickly picked it up and launched it in his direction. It hit the back of his head with a wet smack, spraying water droplets everywhere. For a moment, Lewis remained utterly still as I giggled to myself, but then he slowly turned around. There was a funny expression on his face, like he was trying very hard to look angry, but he couldn't quite hide his grin.

"That wasn't very nice," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

I smiled. "Who said anything about being nice? That was payback for earlier."

Lewis casually glanced at the hose on the floor before bending over and picking it up. Mischief flashed in his eye. "Do you really want to start this with me, Quinn? I might be a gentleman, but that won't stop me from using this," he said, waving the hose at me like it was some kind of weapon. "You'll be soaked by the time I'm done."

"Ew, Lewis. I hope that wasn't some dirty innuendo, because that was terrible," I teased him. "Anyways, I wasn't starting anything. I was finishing it."

Lewis put a kink in the hose before reaching over and turning it on. "Oh, we're far from finished."

My eyebrows shot up and I took a step back. "You wouldn't," I said, holding my hands up and laughing nervously.

A slow smirk spread across his face. "I absolutely would," he responded. Then, without warning, he aimed the hose at me and let go of the kink.

"LEWIS!" I shrieked, as I was sprayed with a cold blast of water. "You're so going down!"

I scrambled toward the second hose. After scooping it up, I turned the water on full blast and sprayed him in return. For the next ten minutes we proceeded to chase each other around the lawn, laughing and shouting until I was breathless. My hose had a longer reach than his, giving me an advantage, but Lewis was much faster than me which evened out the playing field. Neither of us was willing to surrender, but eventually Mrs. Lewis came out to see what the commotion was about and scolded us for wasting water.

"I think I won," he said, as we both collapsed into the grass to catch our breath and let the sun dry our clothes.

"Which is exactly why you didn't," I shot back. "I don't think I won. I know I won."

Lewis tucked his hands behind his head and stared up at the sky. "Well, suppose I let you win?"

I scoffed. "I have a feeling that's not really your style."

"You're right. It isn't," he said. "Either way, that was fun."

"Yeah, it was," I said in agreement. Which was a strange thing for me to admit. A month ago, I never would've thought something as silly as a water fight could be so entertaining. Back then, if someone sprayed me with a hose, I would have exploded in anger if a single drop of water touched whatever expensive shoes I was wearing. But I hadn't worn a pair of Christian Louboutin, Miu Miu or Gucci in weeks. Since my first experience with cleaning the kennels, I'd stuck to tennis shoes.

A long silence stretched between us, but it wasn't an awkward one, and I let my eyes fluttered closed as I enjoyed the warmth of the sun on my skin. I felt Lewis shift beside me.

"So..." he started. "How's that boyfriend of yours?"

My eyes snapped open again, and I turned to look at him. "He's fine," I said.

Kabel was one subject Lewis and I didn't discuss. We'd talked about everything else in between—our childhood's, favorite music, plans for the future, et cetera—but we never once broached the topic of significant others. There was a silent agreement between us, ever since I'd awkwardly dropped Kabel into the conversation when Lewis invited me to lunch. I knew nothing about his romantic history, and I wanted to keep it that way. I told myself it was because we were strictly friends and I didn't need to know that kind of information about him. But if we truly were just friends, would I really care how many girls he'd dated or if he was currently in a relationship? No, I shouldn't, I told myself. And yet, I didn't want to know.

Lewis had rolled onto his side and propped his head up on his hand so he could look at me. "Do you get to see him much since you started working here?"

Two weeks after we started working together, I felt comfortable enough with Lewis to tell him the truth about why I took a job at Paws Crossed. At first I'd been nervous that he'd look down on me, but he thought it was hilarious that I got busted for joyriding a golf cart. Ever since I told him, Lewis would occasionally let me leave early, taking care of the rest of my chores so I could go out to dinner with Olivia. I'd been unable to coordinate anything with Kabel though. He always had plans already, and I was starting to feel like he'd forgotten about me. But I wouldn't admit that to Lewis.

"Here and there," I said vaguely.

"So..." He trailed off for a moment, lowering his gaze as he chose his words. He pulled a clump of grass out of the ground and then said, "Would he mind if I took you to Tacoalypse Now again?" Lewis looked back up at me. His eyes searched mine, an earthy brown that, for a moment, seemed to consume me. I'd never heard him sound so serious before, with the exception of when he was teaching me something about caring for the dogs at the shelter.

"As long as it's just one coworker paying for another's sandwich," I joked, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

He laughed softly, and it was light a sound that drifted over me like the afternoon breeze on my skin. "We can leave as soon as we finish the dinnertime feeding routine. Henry is going to be at the arcade, so I figured we could play a couple rounds of Space Monkey when we're done eating."

Since my first trip to Arcade Avalanche, Lewis had taken me back a few times in attempts to teach me his favorite game. I'd gotten better acquainted with the kids—Chip still thought I was an alien that needed to be blasted, but Carmen officially decided she liked me when she realized how much I sucked at the game. As for Henry, he was always shy, but Lewis insisted he never shut up about me when I wasn't there.

"Oh." My smile fell. "Tonight? I'm supposed to grab dinner with Olivia. How about sometime later this week?"

He arranged his face into a mock pout. "I suppose," he said, sniffling a little. "But poor Henry will be heartbroken."

I lightly punched him on the shoulder. "Henry will be fine," I told him.

***

Later that day, after we finished feeding the dogs, Lewis walked me out to the parking lot. My dad had been checking the GPS in my car to make sure I wasn't sneaking out to places I shouldn't be, so Olivia was waiting to drive me to dinner. When we were done, she would drop me back off at Paws Crossed so I could drive home.

"See you tomorrow?" Lewis said, heading in the direction of his truck.

"Bright and early like always," I called back to him. I opened the convertible door and slid inside. Olivia's gaze was fixed on Lewis, her eyebrows pulled down into a frown. I sighed. "Now what?"

"Are you sure there's nothing going on between you two?" she asked.

"Seriously, Liv. He's just a good friend. I promise." I insisted, glancing back to Lewis. He'd opened his passenger side door and taken a clean shirt out from a duffle bag on the seat. I watched as he pulled the dirty one over his head, right there in the parking lot as if no one could see him. I gulped and quickly glanced away.

"Well," Olivia said, turning the car on. "If that's the case, you should bring him to my house tomorrow night. I'm having a party."

"You know I can't come," I told her. "My dad would kill me."

She shot me a pointed look. "So sneak out. It's not like you've never done that before."

"I know, but my dad is finally starting to relax a little. I don't want to do anything to screw that up."

"I know, I know," she said with a sigh. "But you should try. Kabel told me that he misses you."

"Maybe he should tell me that," I mumbled to myself.

"Huh?" Olivia asked.

"Never mind," I said. "I'll try to be there. Maybe I'll tell my dad I'm working late at the shelter, and Lewis can drive us over."

"Good," she said, nodding her head in agreement. Then she wrinkled her nose. "And by the way, Quinn—you totally smell like wet dog."