Crazy In Love (Secrets of Suburbia #3) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,78

let the contents fall to the floor.

Pictures? Huh. I peered over the bed. No, not just any pictures. Only a handful of them were turned right side up. But all the pictures that I could see were of me.

I was at some sort of café in one. Walking toward an office building in another. There was even one picture of me eating in a dining room. It looked like it had been taken through a window.

There was just one problem. I had no recollection of that café. Or that office building. Or of the dining room. How had Noah gotten so many pictures of me doing things I didn't remember doing?

Wait. I squinted down at the pictures again. There was only one logical conclusion. They weren't of me. At first glance I would have thought they were, but... Oh my God. They were of Sophia Tremblay. They had to be. It's not like I went around town not recognizing cafes and buildings I went into.

Was it possible that Noah wasn't having an affair? Sophia Tremblay's testimony was seeming more and more accurate. It really looked like Noah was stalking her. But why? I was still missing something. I looked back at my tied hands. I was running out of time. Honestly, I didn't care what my no-good husband was up to at this point. I just needed to get out of here.

I looked back down at the drawer but there was nothing at all useful. Shit. I looked at the nightstand itself. The bedside lamp was metal, but the light was glass. If I could somehow...

A bark made me turn my head.

"Snuggle Muffins?"

He ran over to the pictures and sat down on top of them.

It felt like I was dreaming. "Snuggle Muffins, you did it! You climbed the stairs. Jump up here."

He looked at me like I was crazy.

"Come on boy, you made it all the way up those stairs. One more little leap."

He lay down on top of the pictures.

"Please, Snuggle Muffins. One last hop. I realize that I promised no more climbing after the stairs, but clearly this was included. You need to use your sharp little teeth to help me get out of these ropes. You're my only hope."

He sighed.

"No more jumping after this. I swear to...whatever god dogs believe in. I'm going to lean down like this." I created a kind of ramp with my back, that led perfectly to the ropes. "And you're going to climb up and bite these ropes, okay?"

No response.

"I'm going to be so good to you. I'm going to buy you a Santa hat. And never make you go up stairs again. And feed you all your favorite foods. You liked bacon. Do you want more bacon?"

I felt the bed sag behind me.

"Snuggle Muffins, you did it!"

He was looking at my back leading up to my tied hands.

"You're such a good boy. Now, free Mommy. You got this."

He started climbing up my back.

If I got my money back and ever figured out who owned Snuggle Muffins before me, I made a silent promise that I'd give them half of it. They had trained this little dude so well and I loved him so freaking much.

He put his dirty little butt on the back of my head as he sniffed the ropes.

Gross, Snuggle Muffins. Maybe I just tolerated him.

He started biting at the ropes.

No, I loved him. I was right before. Screw Noah, this dog was the only man I needed in my life. "Good job, Snuggle Muffins. Just like that. Good boy."

I stayed in that awkward position until my knees started shaking, my back ached, and I'm pretty sure my head smelled like dog ass. But finally I felt my hands fall loose.

"Oh my God, you dog genius!" I collapsed on the bed. I thought Snuggle Muffins would get off the back of my head, but he just kept sitting there.

"I promised you a whole lot, Snuggles, but I did not promise that you could be my permanent crown." I lifted him off the back of my head. "You're amazing. You're wonderful. I love you."

He licked the side of my face and I only kinda grimaced.

"Okay. Now we just need to pack everything really quick.” Hopefully I’d remember everything, since stupid Noah had stolen my phone and with it all of my reminder alarms. I jumped off the bed and tried not to cry from how much my back hurt.

I started throwing random clothes into my suitcase. All I could hear