As if he could understand, Toby let out a pitiful whine. Zoe tried not to look down at the dog, knowing that she was so damn close to doing something stupid.
“Isn’t there any way that you could give him another week or two?” she asked, already dreading the answer.
“I wish I could,” Tom said, gesturing for her to follow him back out to the front.
She threw one last look at the pitiful dog before she followed Tom. It was sad, but this kind of thing happened every single day, she told herself. Besides, she didn’t have a choice in the matter. Trevor had been very clear about the rules when she moved in. Granted, she hadn’t known that he owned the house at the time, but there was still a long list of rules that she’d agreed to and one of them had been no pets.
She didn’t know anything about dogs other than they needed to be fed and walked. Puppies needed to be housetrained and she didn’t have a clue about how to go about that. There really was no choice in the matter, Zoe decided as she said goodbye to Tom and headed for the door.
Just as she placed her hand on the doorknob, Toby let out a pitiful howl. It was one of the hardest things she’d ever done, and she knew she’d probably have to cry herself to sleep tonight, but she left, trying to ignore Toby’s pleas for her return.
“Where the hell is the food? I’m starving,” Jason complained again.
Trevor shot his cousin a glare. “Stop bitching.”
“Just as soon as you feed me,” Jason said with a sniff.
“I’m still trying to figure out who invited you,” Trevor said, glaring at his three uninvited guests. Jason ignored him as he searched through the empty bags of chips, mostly relying on his right hand for the job since three of the fingers on his left hand were still in braces. Brad shrugged and Mitch snagged a fresh beer as he tried to discreetly text his wife.
Trevor was still trying to figure out how a man as corrupt as Mitch ended up a happily married man. He hadn’t seen that one coming. Not to mention the fact that the man’s wife left Trevor a little confused. She was nothing like the women Mitch usually went for. Instead of the curvy, hot, little numbers Mitch used to screw around with, Mary was tall, a bit thin and kind of pretty, but plainer than anything, but Mitch couldn’t seem to get enough of her.
Thank God he had absolutely no plans on marrying for love. There was no way he was going to allow himself to become as pathetic as these three.
“Well?” Trevor asked, snagging the beer away from Mitch. The man paused in mid-text to send Trevor a glare, but smartly kept his mouth shut and grabbed another beer only to have it stolen away from him by Jason.
“Thanks,” Jason said, also ignoring Mitch’s sad little glare. After a few seconds, the man gave up and returned his attention to his phone. When he smiled like a lovesick bastard, Trevor had to look away. It was either that or lose his lunch.
“Since when do I need an invite?” Jason asked, sounding truly confused as he popped the top off his beer.
“Whatever,” Trevor said, in no mood to argue. He was fucking starving. The three bags of chips he’d devoured had barely taken the edge off his hunger. He would have had more if his cousin hadn’t eaten him out of house and home.
“Maybe we should order some food,” Zack, one of the new guys from work, suggested.
Jason snorted at that. “No one will deliver here.”
“Why not?” Henry, another guy from work, asked as he looked inside an empty chip bag and frowned.
“Because we’re banned,” Trevor snapped, wishing they’d all shut the hell up so he could watch the game.
“How-” Zack started to ask only to get cut off by Brad.
“You really don’t want to know,” Brad stressed.
“But-”
“I’m serious.”
“I’ve never heard-”
“Just let it go,” Brad said.
“But I don’t understand how-”
“And you really never will. Trust me,” Brad stressed.
After a short pause, Zack shrugged off his curiosity, which Trevor appreciated. He was starving and in no mood to explain how the fast-food industry had shunned them over a few minor misunderstandings.
“Hey, I thought you said that fat chick that works in the office lived next-door and was going to order us some food,” Henry said, sounding irritated.
