The Ex Who Wouldn't Stop Texting About The Dog

Synopsis

Three weeks after our breakup, Stanley Crane, my ex-boyfriend, who never posts anything on social media, had unexpectedly begun sharing a series of heartwarming golden retriever pictures every day for the past few days. I stared at the round little furball on my screen. I almost crushed my phone. That puppy was the one Stanley's nephew gave him. We called it Sunny. I'd practically begged for it when we split, but no luck. My precious little Sunny, the one I'd coddled like a baby, had been turned into a tool for Stanley to impress his new crush less than a month after we broke up. Down in the comments, his first love was liking and spamming away. She texted: [So cute! Post more.] It made me mad. He broke up with me and immediately used Sunny to win over someone new? No way! The more I thought about it, the madder I got. Right t[1]hen and there, I made a decision. There was no way my Sunny was going to be reduced to some pick-up prop. I had to steal him back. I timed it perfectly. He had a two-hour class every Wednesday afternoon. I bundled up with a hat, mask, and sunglasses. Crouching like a total creep outside his door, I held up Sunny's favorite chicken treats and tried every trick in the book to get him to crack the door open for me. To my surprise, while I was squatting by the door, barking and waving treats to engage with the Sunny retriever inside, the door clicked open from the inside. Standing in the doorway was Stanley, the guy who was supposed to be standing in front of a lecture hall right now, teaching a class. Leaning against the doorframe, he looked at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes, clearly seeing every bit of my embarrassed and frazzled state. "Stealing my dog?" His voice had that usual lazy drawl. "Need help?"