“We can talk about it later.”
“Okay.” She shrugged and the weirdness in the air disappeared. “So this event—could you all help promote it and be there?”
“What would we do?” Bummy asked.
“That’s a great question. Let me call some places and I’ll let Brigham know.” She picked up her phone and moved to the door. “I’m going to make some calls. It was lovely meeting you ladies.”
“Uh, you too. For sure,” Fiona said.
And just as quickly as she came, Sarah left the apartment and I prepared myself for the onslaught of questions. But none came. She was gone for a full five minutes and not one of them brought her up. They talked about the adoptathon and how they could donate money to a shelter when I lost it. “You aren’t even gonna ask about her?”
“What’s there to ask? You like her and she’s literally perfect,” Michelle said, looking real smug. “I adore her and want to keep her in my pocket.”
“Oh my god, me too!” Fiona said. “I couldn’t think of a more wonderful human for you, Brigs, than someone who doesn’t give a fuck that you play baseball.”
“And she believes him about the drug charges,” Gideon added. “It’s incredible.”
“And living across the hall?” Michelle wiggled her eyebrows, and they all burst out laughing.
It was a surreal moment to have my friends, my baseball-world friends, meet the one person outside that part of my life and like her. I knew they would because she was so uniquely weird in the best way, but hearing them say all the things I had been thinking made me stupid happy. “I’m glad you got to meet her.”
They nodded and just like that, we went back to business mode. My two worlds had collided and it was totally fine.Weird.
* * * *
“If you could have any dog, what would you get?” Sarah asked me hours later on a walk with Pico and Cassie. She opted for them to both be in the stroller since the pavement was so damn hot. She was wearing a huge hat again, but had gone sans fanny pack since she could store the stuff on the base of the stroller. It was strange how normal the walk felt. Just me and Blue Bell, and two dogs in a stroller.
“Black Lab. Or a chocolate Lab.”
“Oh yes, I can see that.” She nodded at a couple who cooed at the dogs when they walked by. “You have Lab energy.”
“What in the world does that mean?”
“You’re a sports guy, which means you have lots of energy. Labs are like that. They need to be played with and walked and get lots of action. You are the same way, my friend.”
“Huh. You’re right.” I slowed my pace down to match hers and the evening light burned the back of my neck. In all the time living across from Alexandre, I couldn’t recall seeing him walk his dogs ever. Maybe I’d just ignored him? Maybe Sarah just appeared on my radar more? Either way, the reminder that this was temporary clouded my mood. “Hey, where do you live?”
“Nice transition.” She bumped her hip into mine and looked up at me with a huge smile. She wore the sunglasses I’d given her at the event those weeks ago, and they were just too large for her face. She looked adorable though. “I had a studio apartment in Tempe. Alexandre paid for the lease to be broken, so it is on my list to start searching for a new one next week. I keep thinking, though…if I bought a place for the business, could I have one room that was mine? I could live there. It would make me feel better knowing there was a human there with the animals at all times. Like, what if a fire broke out or something?”
“Could you find a place and buy it that fast?”
“We’ll find out, huh?” She hummed to herself for a few minutes, pushing the stroller and not having an idea of the crazy thoughts in my mind.
Did I want her to live with me? Was it too soon? Would that freak her out?
Why am I thinking like this?I hadn’t had a relationship in…years? I hadn’t hooked up with the same person more than a handful of times in forever. Yet here I was, with Sarah, thinking about her baking in my apartment and wearing her tiny dresses. God, I needed to get a grip.
“You okay, Brigham? You’ve been quiet and have a face like you have to fart.”
“God,” I said, laughing. “I don’t have to fart.”
“It’s okay if you did. Just make sure I’m not behind you.”
“Sarah,” I said, laughing harder. “I don’t.”
“Okay. I’m just saying, it’s okay. It’s natural.”
My lord, I liked this woman. A lot. A whole damn lot. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into me. “Sarah, I fucking like you.”
