My brother’s best friend.
The one who had spent so much time at my house growing up that he was practically an honorary member of the family.
Please don’t let him look over here and see me. Please. Please. Please.
Oh, fuck.
This night couldn’t possibly get any worse.
He saw me, and a dangerous smile landed on his lips. Then he started walking right over.
I hastily wiped my eyes, trying to pretend I wasn’t having a public meltdown.
Chapter 2
Sawyer
I groaned when I got the text.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
It was almost eight p.m. on Valentine’s night. I’d just gotten home, and all I wanted to do was sink into my couch with a warm beer in my hand and my mutt by my side.
Josie had been my Valentine’s date of choice this year. And a better date had never been had. She was one of those rescue dogs with a few unfortunate quirks that had made her largely unadoptable. She was lucky I found her, and… so was I. That mutt had saved my life. The world had been a lonely place until I got my dog.
Josie didn’t play well with others, so I had to keep her separated from other dogs. And cats, too. She thought they looked like Scooby snacks.
And she had a weird hang-up about walking on a leash. She’d spend half the walk trying to slip out of her collar and the other half lunging at other people walking by.
She didn’t want to eat them. It was her way of playing, but they had no way of knowing that, so she came across as kind of intimidating.
That’s why I mostly kept Josie at home now, and that made her feel more comfortable. Some dogs just need a quiet environment without a lot of stimulation. And I had that to offer in spades.
But other than those few little things, she was my gal. And I didn’t need another one in my life.
Valentine’s Day was a stupid, commercialized love fest, and I wished I could sleep through it every year. Which is why I was so annoyed to get called out to On The Rocks for a service call this late at night. I was an early to bed, early to rise kind of guy. It went with the job description.
The building that held the bar was owned by Mick Harrington, and I maintained his properties along with my buddy Easton, who’d recently started working for the company.
But it was my week to be on call, and Easton had just gotten married this year so he probably had bigger plans than sitting at home alone with a dog tonight.
Which meant I was the one dealing with the leaky faucet tonight. And unfortunately that meant I’d have to seeallthe happy Valentine’s couples at the bar out kissing it up with each other.
Women had no place in my life.
Since I couldn’t be with the one I wanted, I’d decided all I was good for was the occasional hookup session whenever my dick got angsty enough to stage a revolt.
“Fucking fuck.” I sighed and dumped the warm burger I’d just bought from the Hungry Rooster into Josie’s bowl.
“Here you go, girl. Enjoy it.” It would have been my dinner, but I knew it would be too cold by the time I got back from the service call.
I never liked a soggy burger. A man has to have standards in life.
Josie inhaled it within moments, wagging her tail in appreciation as I grabbed my baseball cap and headed right back out the door.
“I’ll be back soon, girl.”
***
