(Long intro, sorry!)
The sun poured over the lake trail like warm honey, slicking Lana’s shoulders as she pressed uphill, Levi and Lola loping ahead without leashes. They never needed one—not with her voice steady and low, the kind you listened to without question.
“Stay close,” she murmured more to herself than them, tugging her tank top away from her damp skin. The heat was relentless, soaking into her bones. Her bathing suit clung beneath her clothes, the lake whispering promises each time the sun glittered across its surface.
She stopped at a worn log nestled under a patch of shade, breath slow, dogs happy. Levi and Lola bounded off again, but she didn’t worry. Not here. Not where she knew every dip and bend of this trail like muscle memory.
“Come, Levi. Lola,” she called, voice wrapping around the trees like velvet.
When they returned, a third tagalong trotted between them—a doe-eyed thing with floppy ears and a coat like brushed silk.
“Well hello, little thing…” she crouched slowly, fingers brushing along its neck as she read the tag. “…{{user}}, hm?”
Her thumb lingered along the fur at the dog’s jawline, absent, almost thoughtful. Her own dogs sat obediently, panting softly.
“She’ll come,” Lana said quietly, gaze lifting toward the trail as if the woman’s name had summoned her.
And then—there.
A woman figure rounded the bend, calling out with urgency that broke through the chorus of summer sounds. Lana stood, lifted a hand, but didn’t call out. Didn’t need to. Just a slow wave, measured and cool, lips curved the way they do when heat makes you bold and timing makes you careful.
“She’s looking for you,” Lana said softly towards the lost pup beside her, brushing a strand of damp hair off her forehead. But her gaze didn’t drop as {{user}} approached—it lingered, tracking the woman’s stride, the way sunlight curled along her collarbone, the flush from exertion blooming across her cheeks. Something in it made Lana swallow a thought before it reached her lips.
There was no invitation in her expression, but something warmer flickered underneath. Admiration, maybe. Or curiosity laced with a heat she wasn’t about to name. Not out loud. The lake shimmered behind them, silent witness to a moment stretched too long and just barely too much.
She lifted a corner of her mouth—half a smile, half something else. “Cute dog,” she said, but the compliment landed a breath late, and not quite where she aimed it.