“Oh!” Aspen exclaimed, and Princess flopped over onto her back.
Charlie sighed at the dog, who clearly took after her name. “Please ignore her.”
“Okay,” Aspen said, leaning so that they could feel every inch of Charlie’s side. He definitely had some muscle to him, as well as a soft layer of fat on top that Aspen wanted to curl up against. “It’s honestly pretty stupid, but we took this dog for a walk, and the volunteers didn’t tell us he had really bad diarrhea. We took him pretty far out into the woods, and the dog had pooped all over this pile of leaves—and just to give you context, I was dressed really cute, cause I’m always dressed cute?—”
“Oh no,” Charlie rumbled.
“Oh yes. After he finished doing his business, the dog kicked the leaves, which I guess is a thing they do?” Charlie nodded, his side shaking against Aspen’s side in what they suspected was poorly contained laughter. “Well, he kicked them all over me and my outfit, and one of them…landed in my mouth.”
Charlie’s booming laughter seemed to carry all throughout the yard. Several humans and a bunch of dogs turned their heads to look at him. Princess, naturally, didn’t even bat an eye.
“Oh, pumpkin, I’m so sorry that happened to you,” he said, laughter still ringing in his voice.
“It was traumatizing!”
“I bet.”
“Seriously, I had to throw away everything I was wearing. We couldn’t get the smell out.”
Charlie ran his hand down Aspen’s side until it came to rest right above their hip. They were wearing their winter coat, so he wasn’t touching their skin directly, but their hip was bare under the jacket, and they swore they could feel his warmth.
“I won’t make you walk any dogs, I promise. Everything you’ve already done for me is more than I could ever repay.”
“You don’t have to repay anything. I’m happy to help, and very happy to finally get to meet you and spend some time with you.”
“Me too, pumpkin,” Charlie said, and Aspen tried not to melt onto the dirty sidewalk.
For the rest of the morning and afternoon, Aspen tried to enjoy every interaction they had with the excited visitors. They smiled extra wide at the kids squealing over the new litter of puppies and shook hands with all the adults. Aspen would never have described the sound of barking, yipping, and shrieking children as relaxing, but seeing the shelter so full of life did feel like a bit of a release.
Working with Charlie over the past several weeks had really driven home for Aspen how important this place was. It was more than just a temporary home for dogs. It was a place where volunteers came to connect with each other and with their nurturing sides. It was a haven for both Charlie and Noah, and if the number of new volunteer signups had anything to say about it, it would be a safe place for even more folks moving forward. Aspen wished they’d come to visit sooner, but watching the way Charlie and Noah orbited around each other, maybe it was a good thing they’d waited as long as they had. Noah’s relationship with Charlie was like a beautiful, twinkling star that Aspen couldn’t help but stare at any time he passed by them.
Now they just needed to see if there was potential for the three of them together. Or notnowexactly. Right now, Rachel was collecting the final family’s adoption paperwork, while Aspen received a hug from one of the salon clients who had just adopted a schnauzer-looking dog for her daughter.
“Thank you so much for coming to the salon and for following up with the shelter!” Aspen said as the woman wound the dog’s leash around her wrist.
“Of course, darling. You should really think about making this a more permanent arrangement. I know my Molly would love to get her hair styled like her new dog, and I’m sure youwould have repeat customers as well as new patrons if you extended your marketing year-round.”
The woman pulled her wallet back out, removed a business card, and handed it to Aspen. “I work in the city town hall, and I’d love to help with joint marketing for the salon and the shelter. I feel like we could always use some more creative endeavors like this. Give me a call when you have everything all figured out.”
Aspen held the card like a precious artefact and thanked her profusely, waiting for the family to exit before they locked the front door. Rachel hugged them fiercely and congratulated them on a successful day before gathering her things and going to find Blair.
The rest of the volunteers had been dismissed as their stations closed down and the shelter was almost eerily quiet as Aspen wandered towards the back, passing an impressive number of empty kennels and cages. Earlier that day, Aspen had the honor of meeting the infamous Gordon, and they weren’t ashamed to admit they were glad to see that he was still in his enclosure, happily chewing on a bone. Princess was also in her bed, which for some reason made Aspen’s butterfly flutter. She had witnessed the start of whatever was going to take place between the three of them tonight. That made her special. Or…evenmorespecial.
“If you keep eyeing Princess like that, I’m going to assume you want to take her home with you,” Charlie’s deep voice rumbled as he came up beside Aspen.
Noah approached Charlie’s other side, casting Aspen an overly eager look. “Are you thinking of adopting?”
Aspen crossed their arms over their chest, noting the way both men’s eyes immediately dropped to where their tits pressed into the opening of their shirt. Today was a good tits day, so they basked in the attention for a moment before dropping their arms to gesture at Noah.
“Why haven’tyouadopted her?” they asked, but Noah was already shaking his head.
“I adore her, but I’m pretty sure she hates me. She’s basically in love with Charlie, though.”
“Hm, I noticed that, too,” Aspen said, leisurely dragging their eyes up and down Charlie. They didn’t miss the way Charlie’s hand was resting on Noah’s lower back. “Thankfully, it seems like there’s more than enough Charlie to love.”
Charlie snorted but draped his other arm loosely over Aspen’s shoulders. “Is that what you want, pumpkin? You gonna fall in love with me?”
“Well, that remains to be seen, doesn’t it? Between Rachel and Noah, my record is one-for-two. I’m pretty down to see if you can increase that average.”
