Donna Joy Usher - Chanel 01 - Cocoa and Chanel by Donna Joy Usher Read Free Book Online Page A

predicament.
    ‘I might be able to help you out,’ he said when I’d finished.
    ‘Really?’
    ‘I know the guy who runs the Police Dog Training School. We might be able to get him a cage there.’
    ‘Not with a Police Dog?’
    ‘No, they often have empty cages.’
    ‘You have no idea how grateful I’d be,’ I said, hoping he might ask for a totally inappropriate form of payment.
    ‘Let me take him with me. If he can’t I’ll keep him at my room until we can find somewhere for him.’
    I kissed Cocoa goodbye and put him in the back pack. ‘Oh,’ I said as Rick was leaving, ‘he might need to go to the toilet.’
    ‘You think?’ Rick said, wrinkling up his nose.
    A sense of humour as well? The guy was one in a million.

    ***

    Rick was waiting for me outside our last class for that day – NSW Policy and Law.
    ‘All good,’ he informed me, holding up his hand for a high five.
    I gladly claimed the high five, wishing I could also do a chest bump.
    ‘Seven thirty tonight?’ he asked as Susie joined us. I saw some of the other girls in our class look in our direction.
    ‘Sounds good,’ I said. I know I should have asked them if they wanted to join us, but I was loath to share him.
    Susie and I checked on Cocoa at the dog kennels before we went to dinner. We walked down the aisle between the cages, clutching each other and squealing as Alsatians lunged from both sides.
    A man approached us from the other end of the cages. He was holding a long shovel and I had a sudden feeling we had wandered into a horror movie. I tried to be brave, but with the barking and shaking of the fencing wire combined with a slight claustrophobia, by the time the man reached us I was ready to bolt in the opposite direction. Susie was making small squeaky noises in time with her rapid breathing so I was guessing she was feeling the same way.
    He stopped a couple of metres from us and held up his hands. ‘I come in peace,’ he said, a huge grin on his face.
    Susie and I relaxed our grip on each other and straightened up.
    ‘Chanel?’ he said.
    ‘Hi, umm…’ I realised Rick hadn’t mentioned his name.
    ‘Andy.’ He held his hand out for us to shake. ‘Sly dog Rick didn’t tell me you were a total babe,’ he said, looking me up and down.
    I could feel myself blushing.
    ‘Of course,’ he said, ‘being gay and everything he probably didn’t notice.’
    ‘He’s gay?’ I said.
    ‘Gay as a large group of really happy people.’
    ‘Oh.’ I tried to hide my bitter disappointment by introducing Susie.
    Andy winked at her, soliciting a bout of nervous giggles, and then he led us further down the aisle to the cage closest to the Dog Squad Headquarters. Cocoa was very happy to see us, jumping up and down against the wire of the cage.
    ‘Sit,’ Andy said in a deep booming voice.
    Susie and I dropped to squatting positions behind him before we realised he was talking to Cocoa not us. Cocoa also stopped his jumping and sat.
    ‘Good boy,’ Andy said. He thankfully hadn’t seen us sit. He opened the cage and handed Cocoa a treat, and then said, ‘Down,’ while he lowered his hand.
    Cocoa obediently lay down and stayed there.
    ‘Shit,’ I said, as I helped Susie stand. She was giggling too hard to get up by herself. ‘I tried to train him to sit, but I never succeeded.’
    ‘You have to mean it,’ Andy said, handing Cocoa another reward. ‘Up,’ he said, at which point Cocoa jumped up.
    ‘Can I pat him?’ I asked.
    ‘He’s your dog.’
    ‘Not that you’d know it,’ I mumbled as I pulled Cocoa into my arms. He responded enthusiastically enough to make me feel better about myself.
    ‘I can help you train him while he’s here,’ Andy said. ‘It would be my pleasure.’ I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or to my boobs.
    ‘What else is there for him to learn?’
    Andy’s laugh was earthy and honest. I decided I liked him, even if he was still staring at my chest. ‘Stay, come, roll over, attack.’
    I