Page 32 of Wayward

“That can’t be right.”

“Oh yes it can,” she said with a grunt. “He’s been a handful.”

“Him?”

“Yes, him. Don’t be fooled. He’s a demon.”

I shot her a look. “Are you trying to find him a home or not?”

“Oh, right.” She gave me a winning smile. “I meant demon in the best possible way.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Also, for your information, he’s a Morkie, and his name is Baby.”

I scoffed. “He looks like a Misha to me.”

He rolled over and offered me his belly.

“Oh dear God, he’s making a whore of himself. Take him out already.”

I couldn’t help it, he was too cute, and when I opened the cage, he leaped at me and I had to scramble to catch him. Once I had him secured, he rubbed his nose on my stubble and then licked my nose again.

“Holy crap, that is love at first sight,” she said with a sigh. “You need to take him with you or you’ll break his little heart.”

But I had no idea what my place looked like or— “Wait, what the hell is a Morkie?”

She laughed. “He’s part Yorkie—Yorkshire terrier—and part Maltese.”

“Huh.”

More chuckling. “We’ll give you everything you need for him.”

“I don’t have—”

“He clearly adores you, and that’s as large as he’s gonna get, so how much trouble could he be?” She made her eyes big.

“You said he was a demon.”

“Again, I meant as in little angel demon.”

“No such thing.”

“Oh please, you didn’t even know what a Morkie was.”

That was true. “Who are you?”

“Linda.” She crossed her arms.

“Well, I’m not buying the innocent act there, Linda. I can tell from looking at you that he’s a demon dog.”

Her smile lit up her whole face. “And you are?”

“Maks,” I replied, shaking my head at her. “He’s gonna get as big as a cow, right?”

She snorted. “No. Not at all. That’s the top stop, I swear. He’ll probably end up weighing maybe thirteen pounds total. Maybe less.”

I went back to giving him scratches. “I can’t have a dog.”