The Rider

Chapter 15

"And this," Dylan introduced, pointing at the back of a Whack A Mole booth, "is where I got into my first fight."

"Wow, I never knew you were such a tough guy," I laughed, giving him a cheeky grin.

"And I never knew you were such a smart-"

"Don't," I giggled, smacking his arm before he could finish his sentence.

For the past twenty minutes, Dylan had been giving me a tour of his favorite spots, mostly where he had either had his first kiss or places he had fights etc., and in return I had opened up and shared some of my favorite memories with him.

"Alright random question," he said, adjusting his grey long-sleeved shirt and running a hand through his hair," are you a dog person or a cat person?"

"Ooh, that's a tough one." I answered, wrinkling my face into a look of concentration. "I don't think I can pick."

"You have to pick!" he exclaimed. "I'll answer first. I'm a dog person."

"Do you have a dog?"

"I do, actually. I have an Irish Setter, Maggie, a flat-coated retriever, his name is Caesar, and lastly a German Shepard, Hunter."

"Wow," I laughed, "that's a lot."

"Yeah. Oh! I forgot about my Mom's annoying little dog, Buster."

"What kind of dog is he?"

"He's this annoying Boston Terrier that thinks he rules the world," Dylan informed, rolling his eyes at the end.

"Which one's the oldest?"

"Technically, that's Buster because he's eleven, but he doesn't count since he's not my dog. Out of my dogs, Hunter is the oldest and he's only seven. The life span of a German Shepard is typically nine through thirteen, so he's still young. Then it's Maggie, she's five, and lastly Caesar, who I just recently purchased as a gundog. He's only four months but he's already got these monster paws that look like snowshoes! I'm training him to fetch game so you have to start early. He's just mastered fetching, but we've got to work on his distraction issues.

"But anyways, Hunter is mostly a companion since I don't exactly own sheep. He's an amazing guard dog, but unfortunately because of that he has a few aggression issues. Sometimes he'll nip some of my friends if they're being really loud, which causes him stress and he doesn't like it. But can you blame him? Also, I didn't raise him from a puppy and I think his previous owners didn't socialize him correctly as they were supposed to. He was a year and a half when I responded to their ad. He's incredibly protective of the house and it's really funny to watch him try to attack the salespeople from across the glass! They look so scared when they see this monster dog come flying from across the hallway and into the door!"

"I would be too!" I agreed, laughing as he described Hunter. It was easy to see that Dylan absolutely adored dogs and had a real talent in taking care of them.

"And definitely not least, last is my baby, Maggie. She's the only female and keeps the other boys in line. She's like their second mother! She's also a bird dog and enjoys showing the ropes to Caesar, since I'm teaching him to fetch birds. Oh my gosh, when she was younger, she liked to, "play deaf," when I let her off-leash and I had to save this poor lady from the wrath of Maggie's tongue. See, I got her when she was only eight months, and her previous owners didn't work on recall with her," he explained enthusiastically.

Nodding, I smiled as I tried to hide my confusion because honestly, I had no idea what the heck he was talking about. I've only owned one dog and that was in Kindergarten.