I glance up the street, but Gavin is long gone. I really don’t want to ask this, but knowing that Vann saw through my previous relationship years before I did, I need his input.
“If a guy says he doesn’t think you’re a good fit, but then texts less than a day later saying he’s changed his mind and you should get together again, what would you do?”
He shakes his head. “Run the fuck away. No one’s worth that kind of bullshit. You especially should steer clear.”
My gaze drops. “Thanks.”
“When did you decide to start dating again?” Vann says.
“What?” I nearly tip my coffee onto my laptop in shock.
“I mean, it’s great, but if you’re ready to meet someone, I can help you. There’s a demo at the shop tomorrow night, you could—”
“No,” I say, waving him off. “Thanks but...I’m not dating again. Not yet, I mean. I...This is...the guy I’m talking about is my dog trainer.”
“You’re dating your dog trainer?”
Why are we friends again? Vann can be so dense sometimes.
“No. I’m dating no one. But we did our training session yesterday. I thought it went pretty good. Better than anything I’ve tried on my own anyway. But when I asked about scheduling more, he said we weren’t a good fit and left. Then he texted last night to say his schedule had freed up if I wanted to book more time after all.”
“So which is it?” Vann arches an eyebrow.
“Which is what?”
“Was he too busy, or did you not work well together?”
“I don’t know!” I say, throwing my hands up in the air. Athena barks excitedly. “I thought it went well. I managed to walk more than ten feet without getting tangled. She even gotdownright the first time on a couple tries.”
“Well, yeah. Because she’s a genius.”
“So I thought we did well.” I hunch a bit lower in my chair. “I thought we connected.”
Vann grins. “You connected? Or youconnected?”
“I told you, I’m not dating.”
“Who are you dating?” Jess walks up to us. She’s one of the owners at Bold Brew. She intimidates me, but I can’t really complain—she lets me work in her shop so I don’t get too twitchy from the isolation that comes with freelancing.
“Charlie’s hot for his dog trainer,” Vann says.
“I’m not!”
“Who’s his dog trainer?” Jess asks.
“No one.”
“Guy who was in here a few days ago. He put an ad up on the board.” Vann jerks a thumb over his shoulder.
“Oh, Mason?” Jess grins.
“Oh my god.” I bury my face in my hands.
“Is that his name? He was a good-looking guy. Sort of a beary, silver fox kind of guy? Might do Charlie some good.”
I’m going to murder my best friend and get Athena to help me bury the evidence.
“He comes into the store from time to time,” Jess says.
