I nod eagerly, and take the puppy, holding her up close to my face. She loves licking faces, so I close my eyes and let her go to town. Her little puppy breath is the cutest thing, next to her tiny wagging tail.
“I love her,” I say, as she curls up in my lap and licks my hand.
“She is pretty freaking cute. When my told my mom I got a Golden, she screamed on the phone, she was so excited.” He laughs. “I never even thought to check shelters that were that far away.”
“Luckily, you have me,” I say, bumping into his shoulder. “When my friend wants something, I make sure it happens.”
We sit out here until it’s nearly midnight, playing with the puppy and chatting about safe topics. We never go back to the subject of dating, or liking each other, and that sucks because it’s all I want to talk about. But for now, we’re friends. And that’s better than what we were yesterday.
Chapter 10
Two Weeks Later
Jacie laughs at something Marcus says. What makes me look over at her is the way she laughs—all giggly and overexcited and not at all like her normal laugh. I haven’t asked her yet, but I’m pretty sure she’s crushing on Marcus, who is Jaxon’s best friend.
I reach over and steal one of Jaxon’s fries. “I should buy two lunches since you eat half of mine,” he says with a grin as he takes a bite of his burger.
“That’s a great idea,” I say, stealing another fry. Jaxon and Marcus have been sitting with us at lunch almost every day lately. It’s been fun sharing our table with the guys and having different things to talk about. I think Jacie is especially appreciative of the new company because she can’t keep her eyes off Marcus, who is tall and athletic but also a genius in all advanced classes.
When Jaxon smiles at me from across the cafeteria table, my chest aches. He is so unbelievably cute. But ever since we agreed to be friends a couple weeks ago, that’s all we are. Friends.
We text and hang out and hit up Taco Bell for lunch every few days, but that’s all it ever is. I am grateful for his friendship because he’s an awesome guy, but there’s always this part of me that wishes we had something more.
I long for another date with him, where it’s just the two of us. Not like how he and Marcus joined me and Jacie at the movies last Friday. That was as friendly as it gets. No one held hands, no one flirted at all. We were just a group of friends.
I wonder if this is all it’ll ever be for us. If someday I’ll meet a new guy to date and Jaxon will still just be my friend. I hate that idea. I wish I could go back in time and meet him before I ever made that stupid bet. I wish the anonymous car vandal had slashed my tire just a week or so before. That way I’d have a clean slate with Jaxon from the beginning.
When lunch is over, Marcus and Jacie split their separate ways because they both have gym next period. Jaxon walks with me halfway to my next class before turning to his, and sometimes this is the only alone time we get each day. I love every second of it.
“I’m thinking of taking Maxie to the park today,” Jaxon says. Maxie is what his little brother decided to name the dog. He’d originally wanted the name Max, but then changed it to Maxie upon learning that the dog was a girl.
“I think she would love that,” I say.
Jaxon grins. “Do you want to come with me?”
He almost seems a little nervous, which is silly. We’re friends now.
“Sounds fun.”
#
This is the first time we’re hanging out with just the two of us. After that night on my porch when Jaxon forgave me, he’d called me the next day to invite me to dinner with a couple of his friends. I’d brought Jacie, and we’ve all hung out as a group ever since. But this is different.
He picks me up after school and I scoop Maxie off the floor of the front seat and cuddle her in my lap. He’s bought a bright pink leash for her, saying it’s more fitting than the old leash he uses on his neighbor’s dogs.
We chat about random things on the short drive to the park, and then when we get there, it’s oddly empty. Usually there’s a ton of parents bringing their kids here after school, but today I only see one woman jogging around the perimeter of the park on the walking trail.
“Looks like Maxie won’t make any friends today,” I say as I set her on the ground and attach her leash.
“I think she’ll still have fun,” Jaxon says. He lets me hold her leash as we walk her around, but eventually we take it off because there’s no people here and she’s still so small she can’t run very fast. If she tries to take off, we’ll easily catch her.
