Constructive criticism is always welcome; however, telling me I'm stupid is not constructive, unless you tell me WHY I'm stupid...
Enjoy and vote!!
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"Looks like we'll be here for awhile, Jess," he said, as he watched the rain pour down. He turned to look at Jess and she looked up at him, shivering and frightened as the thunder made another loud crash. Jess whimpered and tried to find a place to hide, but found nothing other than benches like the one under which she was curled. He smiled and reached down to pat her head. She looked up at him and wagged her tail slightly, then curled under the bench again, shivering.
He stood up, watching the rain pour down and was glad he had grabbed his windbreaker before they left for their walk. Not much protection, but kept the whipping wind off him. He turned slightly, seeing the sudden motion with his peripheral vision, and watched another dog walker running to the pavilion.
She entered the small kiosk at a run, almost tripping over one of the benches lining the wall. She didn't notice him, but turned to her dog.
"Guess we picked a bad time for a walk, huh, Sweets?" she said, as the dog shook and sprayed her. "Oh, yuch, Sweets, that's nasty."
Sweets noticed Jess, and Jess noticed Sweets. They both moved to the other and did the patented dog sniffing. She looked up and noticed she was not alone.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't see you," she said.
He smiled. "It's ok, not offended. I'm Rick." He offered his hand.
Smiling, she took it. "Karen. Nice to meet you." They both glanced at the dogs, who seemed to like each other, if the wagging tails meant anything.
"Seems Jess likes your dog," Rick said.
"Well, Sweets is a pretty even tempered girl," said Karen, patting Sweets on the head.
"Like her owner?" asked Rick, realizing as he said it how stupid it sounded.
She smiled, and tried to wrap her arms around herself. "Should have grabbed a jacket before we left, but who knew it would rain like this?"
"Summer storms happen in a hurry around here. Here," he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, trying not to look at her hard nipples.
She pulled his jacket tightly around her, murmuring "Thanks" and trying not to look at how his wet shorts molded so nicely to his crotch.
Another bolt of lightening lit the sky and thunder boomed. She jerked slightly, and he, still behind her, put his hands on her shoulders.
"You ok?" he asked.
"Oh, yes, just startled me. And it appears it scared them, too," she said, nodding to the two dogs, now both huddled together under a bench.