Tyler gave Rachel a thumbs up and said with feigned seriousness, "Very good. Don’t ever be a pick-me girl.”

Rachel thought he said it in all seriousness, but the deep chuckle he couldn’t suppress dumbfounded her. Was he praising her or insulting her? She couldn’t be sure.

With feigned casualness, she waved her hand and said, “I’m heading back.”

Rachel took a step forward, but suddenly felt something tugging her back. For a while, she stood stunned. She tried to take another step forward, but the tugging sensation remained. When she looked around to see what was going on, she found the dog biting the hem of her dress.

Rachel looked at Tyler doubtfully. “What does he want?”

“Perhaps… he can’t bear to see you leave?” Tyler said with a smirk. The dog was very sensible indeed, glistening with tender affection.

Rachel noticed that the dog’s eyes weren’t as fierce as before. Rather, they were... She didn’t have the guts to clash head-on with a beast. She tried many times to pull away, only for her efforts to be in vain. In the end, she had no choice but to ask Tyler for help.

“Can you please pull him away?”

Tyler crossed his arms across his chest and stood at the side, with no intention whatsoever to interfere.

“I can’t,” he said helplessly. “He has a rebellious streak. The more you force him to let go, the tighter he’ll bite. You have to negotiate with him.”

“Negotiate with him…” Rachel froze for a second before snapping back to attention. “What on earth is there to negotiate over with a dog?”

“Tell him to let you go, and that you’ll bring some snacks next time,” Tyler advised, patiently teaching her how to coax a dog.

Rachel knew clearly that this was her first and last time coming to Tyler’s place. How could there be a next time, and for her to bring snacks for the dog at that? In truth, Tyler was the dog he was talking about.

To leave this place as soon as she could, Rachel reluctantly bent over and started to negotiate with the dog.

“Can you please let me go? I’ll bring some meat for you next time. Pork, or grilled sausages, okay?”

She wasn’t sure if the dog understood her or not, but it wagged its tail and peered at her with glistening eyes. At that moment, Rachel had a feeling that the dog didn’t actually care about food, but treated her as food instead.

She received no response from the dog, and it continued biting her dress. She started doubting whether her words had any effect on it.

Rachel instinctively turned to Tyler. “He’s not responding.”

“Perhaps he thinks you’re just making empty promises.”

Rachel was taken aback. “Seriously? How can he tell?”

Tyler suddenly called out to the dog, “Ray, let her go.”

The dog immediately released Rachel’s dress.

Rachel’s brows knitted when realization hit her. She stood, looking somewhat annoyed. “Tyler Hunt…”

Tyler patted the space next to him, and Ray the dog hopped onto the couch and sat down obediently.

Rachel’s flushed cheeks made her look more adorable than usual.

“You have no clue. I’m treating him with courtesy before resorting to aggression,” Tyler said casually.

Rachel clenched her fists and took a deep breath to calm herself down. It was fine–she was going to leave very soon, and she wouldn’t have any interactions with Tyler anymore. He was born with a wicked streak, and it wasn’t targeted at anyone in particular. He treated everyone around him equally.

When Rachel finally managed to compose herself, she slowly unclenched her fists and forced a smile on her face.

“What did you call the dog?”

“Ray.”

“Ray…” Rachel was rendered speechless once more–that sounded like her name. In disbelief, she asked, “Your dog is really called Ray?”

“Yeah. Ray, pull Rachel over.”

The dog obediently latched onto the hem of Rachel’s dress again and pulled her in Tyler’s direction. Unable to resist the strength of such a huge dog, Rachel was forced to move toward Tyler.

“Alright, alright,” she said helplessly, “call it Ray if you like.”

Tyler probably didn’t name the dog Ray on the spot just to tease her. It was probably just a coincidence.