"Yes," I said.
He scanned my face and then gave me a shrug. "Do you have any questions to ask me or anything?"
I shook my head. "No, not really."
He grinned, leaned in, and put his sweet mouth on mine.
Epilogue
Six months later
I moved to California with Alex. I rented an apartment from someone who gave me an unbelievable deal. I knew Alex was taking care of most of it, but he never told me that. He just said he knew of a place, and he told me the price. I sent my rent check to a place with some initials every month, and I was relatively certain that Alex covered the rest of it.
I went to work part-time in the children's department at a church in Monterey. So far, I loved it and had been making easy friends with everyone there. I had a text from Alex when I finished the last bit of work that day.
Alex:
Come over when you get off work.
I texted him back right away.
Me:
Just getting off. I'm on my way.
It was fifteen minutes later when I walked into his house.
"Hello?" I said, calling out for him.
Alex had a nice house with mid-century modern furniture and design elements. It had been done by a professional. It was full of whites and tans, and it felt welcoming.
"Hello?" I called again.
And then I saw him. He came running down the hallway, and I grinned as I saw him barreling toward me at full speed. I laughed and braced myself as he approached. He was about ten feet in front of me when he started sliding in his socks. He crashed into me, holding me tightly to make sure I didn't get hurt when he barreled into me.
"Hey," he said, me still laughing. "Hey, hey, hey…" He leaned down and kissed me on the mouth. It was a quick one. He only let his mouth touch mine for a soft second, and then he pulled back and stared at me with a wild-eyed expression.
"What the heck is this, Alex? What's going on?"
"Oh, nothing much," he said, looking around out of breath and obviously hiding something.
Movement caught my eye from the hallway, and I looked that way. I watched as a fluffy little furball wobbled down the hall toward us.
"Rocky, uhhh!"
"Wh-who's Rocky? What's this?"
Alex let go of me and we both stooped down to pet the little black and white ball of fur that had just run into the room with us.
"I built a wall with a chair in my office, and he escaped. I don't know how he did that. I was going to surprise you."
"Is he yours?" I asked, holding that precious little puppy close to my chest when Alex handed him to me. I stood with him in my arms.
"Ours," he said.
"What kind is he?"
"They said a hound mix. They weren't sure. He's only like eight weeks old. He already went to pee outside three times. I bought a kennel. I got everything. I spent way more at Pet Land on my way home than I did on the dog."
