You're Always in the Last Place You Look by T.N. Gates

dog.
    “What a good boy...you missed me...yes you did... grrr ... grrr ...” Zane rolled around with him, continuing to growl into the dog’s neck and face.
    “Um, maybe I should leave you two alone?”
    Zane looked up at my voice while Ruger glanced at me upside down, his wide tongue lolling out the side of his foamy mouth.
    “I think Ruger would love for you to join instead?”
    “Yeah, not into threesomes...” My voice shook, unsurprisingly.
    Zane stood, brushing off his jeans. “You know, people see this”—he wiggled Ruger’s studded collar—“and this”—Zane clutched a handful of Ruger’s loose skin—“and assume he’s mean.”
    “I know he’s mean. He’s bitten—”
    “Nipped. He nips. When a person runs, he thinks it’s a game and lays chase. Then when he gets your pants leg, he shakes it. And that scares people. But if they’d only stop, they’d realize he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. Do you Ruger?” Zane ruffled the dog’s neck.
    “I’ll take your word on it. But I’m not about to make friends with him.”
    He shrugged. “Your loss.” Clasping Ruger’s big jowls, Zane kissed the top of his head. “Now go home.” He pointed, and the dog trotted off towards the house, then hesitated. “ Go ,” came the command again, accompanied by a stiff wave of his finger, and Ruger loped off.
    “How do you know so much about dogs, and how do you know that particular one?”
    “Keith and I used to volunteer twice a month at an animal shelter, and I met Smitty the first time I walked through here. He sicced Ruger on me, and when there wasn’t screaming, he came out and talked to me. He’s pretty lonely actually. Smitty, not the dog.” Taking my hand again, we continued across the field towards the edge of the state forest land that butted up to Mr. Smitt’s property.
    “Who’s Keith?”
    His hand all but fell away. He shook his head as his face twisted. How could I be so dense? Keith was probably his brother.
    I gently squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry.”
    “Sometimes I forget they’re gone, and mention them, not realizing I’ve done it. But then I remember...”
    “You can’t just forget them, Zane. You have to keep them in your heart.” My dad’s words, not mine, but they seemed apropos right now.
    He leaned against my shoulder, and I leaned back. “It’s really hard, but I’m trying,” he admitted quietly.
    Damn, I was really beginning to like him. I knew he was hurting, probably angry, maybe even slightly askew, but underneath all that, Zane was honest, kind, and remarkably brave. And that made him a really decent human being.
    A hundred feet into the forest the outside world ceased to exist. No longer could you hear the traffic on the state route through town, or the tractors working the surrounding fields. It even smelled different here; Mother Nature’s musky perfume tamping out even the most stringent of civilization’s aromas. Leaning towards Zane, I cautiously breathed in, unable to keep the smile off my face when I found I could still smell the wondrousness of him.
    “What was that for?”
    “What?” I asked innocently, embarrassed to have been caught.
    “You know what,” he accused, a teasing lilt to his voice.
    “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    He released my hand, a shaft of sunlight making his eyes glitter. “Mmm.” Retrieving his pack of cigarettes, he headed towards the creek. “It’s not the first time I’ve caught you smelling me, cowboy.” His lighter flared as he lit a smoke. “I like how you smell too.” He called over his shoulder as he sashayed around the crook in the trail, and was swallowed by huckleberry bushes.
    Okay, yep, devastated over my indiscretion. I pressed my hands to my warm cheeks, positive I was blushing like a fool. And why the heck did I seem to only blush around him? Well, maybe a little around Tye too. Wait , he said he liked the way...
    I scrambled after him, and found him leaning