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1246 Words
Rae wiped her hands on a napkin like she hadn’t just humiliated an entire bloodline, then flagged Brenda down with the sweetest smile she’d used all day.
“Miss Brenda? Can I trouble you for another milkshake? Chocolate this time.”
Brenda blinked at her, then burst into a grin. “Sugar, after that show? I’ll bring you two.”
She bustled off—and that was when Aspen decided to commit a crime.
The little traitor wedged his head up from under the table and stole a fry straight off Rae’s plate.
Rae froze mid-sip of water. Slowly. Very slowly. She turned her head toward the dog.
Aspen chomped loudly, tail wagging like he wasn’t committing food theft with zero remorse.
Remi slapped a hand over her mouth, shoulders shaking. Del choked on a laugh so hard she wheezed.
“Aspen Roux LeBlanc,” Rae hissed in full Cajun fury. “Mo pa kwé ou jis fè sa. Ton ti derrière—give me back my damn fry!”
Aspen barked once—mocking. Then stole another.
Remi lost it completely, folding over the table. Del was crying laughing.
But the reactions from the other side of the diner?
That was the real entertainment.
Trey had one hand braced on the doorframe, shoulders shaking as he tried—and failed—to keep a straight face. His eyes were locked on Rae, softening with something dangerously close to fondness.
Will looked between Aspen, Rae, and the plate like he was witnessing a cultural ritual he was afraid to interrupt. His brow arched, impressed and confused in equal measure.
Elijah didn’t laugh… but the smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth was unmistakable. He muttered something under his breath—probably calculating Aspen’s odds of survival if Rae really snapped.
Aspen stole a third fry.
“Pa touche sa!” Rae swatted at him. “Touch my food again, I’m puttin’ you outside with the mosquitos!”
Aspen wagged harder.
“Girl, he thinks you’re bluffin’,” Del giggled.
“I am not bluffing,” Rae snapped, reaching under the table to retrieve her fries like they were hostage negotiators.
Remi wiped tears from her eyes. “You yell at him like he understands every word.”
“He does understand!” Rae insisted—then pointed accusingly at the dog. “He just chooses violence.”
Aspen huffed in triumph and curled back under the table.
Trey couldn’t stop himself anymore—he laughed, full and warm and unguarded. “God help us,” he said quietly to his brothers, “she’s gonna be trouble.”
Will just murmured, “No kidding.”
And Elijah shook his head once, amused. “This is going to be interesting.”
At that exact moment, Brenda reappeared with two tall chocolate shakes.
Rae snatched one protectively, casting a death glare under the table. “You steal this, Aspen, I swear I’ll—”
But Aspen only thumped his tail.
Trey watched her with a smile he wasn’t ready to admit to.
And Rae? Rae pretended she didn’t notice.
But everyone—everyone—did.
Then the boys finally approached.
It wasn’t dramatic. They didn’t stomp or posture. They just moved, and the air shifted like the room adjusted around them.
Will walked in front—steady, calm, that unreadable intensity still pinning Remi in place. Elijah followed, hands in his pockets, quiet but calculating. Trey trailed a step behind, gaze locked entirely on Rae, like he couldn’t help it even if he tried.
Before any of them could speak, Aspen exploded out from under the table in a blur of fur.
A single squirrel had dared to scamper across the window ledge outside.
Aspen launched himself toward it like he had been personally challenged to a duel.
“ASPEN—” Rae shouted, twisting in the booth.
He squeezed between tables, skidded across the floor, and shot out the open door Brenda had just walked through.
Outside, the squirrel screamed (probably) and Aspen took off after it like he’d never seen wildlife before.
Rae threw her hands up. “Act like he hasn’t ever seen a damn squirrel before!”
Del snorted. Remi wheezed. The entire diner watched the chase as if it were a live sporting event.
Trey’s lips twitched. “Does he… do that often?”
“No!” Rae said. “Well—yes. But I like to pretend he has self-control.”
Will raised a brow. “Has he ever caught one?”
Rae leveled him with a deadpan stare. “If Aspen ever catches a squirrel, the universe has ended.”
Elijah smirked. “We should check for signs.”
“Of the apocalypse?” Del quipped.
“No,” Elijah said dryly. “Of Aspen completing a thought.”
That earned a round of laughter—even from Trey, who finally stepped closer to the booth.
The laughter was still dying down when a collective gasp rippled through the diner.
Every head turned just in time to see Aspen triumphantly trotting back toward the diner with a very offended, very alive squirrel clamped gently in his mouth.
Rae’s eyes went huge.
“Oh hell no—ASPEN! DROP IT! DON’T YOU DARE BRING THAT IN HERE!”
But Aspen, proud as a king returning from war, pranced straight inside.
The diner screamed.
Brenda hollered, “NOT IN MY RESTAURANT!” from across the counter.
Rae shot out of the booth like a missile. “ASPEN! DROP! DROP IT RIGHT NOW!”
Aspen hesitated—just long enough for the squirrel to wiggle free.
The moment it did, Rae dove forward, reaching for Aspen’s collar.
Aspen, panicking that his precious prize was escaping, spun—
—and slammed directly into Rae’s legs, knocking her flat on her back in the middle of the aisle.
“RAE!” Del and Remi yelled.
Trey vaulted forward so fast he nearly flipped a table.
Elijah cursed under his breath.
Will covered a laugh behind his fist.
On the floor, Rae groaned, hair in her face, dignity long dead. Aspen hovered over her, whining…and still trying to go after the squirrel now hiding beneath a jukebox.
“ASPEN,” Rae hissed from the floor, “I swear on everything holy—I will shave you bald. Don’t test me.”
The threat froze the dog.
Everyone else froze too—partly because Rae looked murderous, partly because imagining Aspen bald was horrifying.
Trey reached her first, offering a hand. “You okay?”
“No,” Rae muttered, getting up. “My dog betrayed me. In public.”
Aspen, tail tucked, inched closer, giving her the world’s most dramatic guilt-ridden puppy eyes.
Rae glared. “Don’t look at me like that. You knocked me down for a damn squirrel.”
Aspen licked her hand.
She sighed. “Fine. But I’m still shaving you.”
Aspen whimpered. Trey laughed under his breath. Elijah shook his head. Will took the empty booth seat again, lips twitching hard.
Del leaned toward Remi and whispered, “That dog gonna sleep with one eye open tonight.”
Remi smothered a laugh. “Honestly? Rae too.”
Rae dusted herself off and pointed at Aspen. “Sit. Stay. Don’t. Move.”
Aspen obeyed instantly.
Brenda peeked over the counter. “Is the wildlife situation contained?”
“For now,” Rae grumbled.
Elijah deadpanned, “So… what, the apocalypse is happening?”
- Writer
