I look up at him confusedly.
His stubbly face cracked into a grin. “It’s just a lil present.”
I heard a little noise coming from inside the house and immediately knew. I rushed in to see a tiny golden retriever puppy zooming around his livingroom.
“Griff! Are you serious?” I yelled back at him.
“Hundred percent. He’s all yours,” he laughed as he came into the house behind me and crossed his strong forearms over his chest. “I was going back and forth between this lil pupper and a pug… but the teenage girl working at the shelter told me that retrievers are great for kids, so… His name’s Beau, I’m sure you could change it if you wanted.”
“Beau! It’sperfect!”
The puppy began jumping on me as soon as I said his name, and I immediately dropped down to play with him.
“He’s a bit of a spitfire,” he chuckled as he slowly sat down across the empty room.
“He’s so fricken cute. When did you get him?”
“Uh… a couple days ago. Right when I got back from Toledo. Beau! C’mere boy!” he called, and the puppy happily scampered towardhim.
“I can’t believe it. Nick and I talked so many times about getting a puppy, but we never had time,” I said inawe.
“Well, thank Nick for this lil guy. It was his idea. He may have left me a lil note.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and stood up. “Whatnote?”
“It was just between me and him, just asking me to do a couple things if he ever kicked it… Get you a puppy and stuff. Make sure you’re happy.”
I felt my heart all but stop. “Can I seeit?”
He scratched his head and avoided eye-contact with me then. “It was really nothing… It was just some scribbles mixed in with his hockey plays. Maybe I can show ya another time?”
As much as I wanted to force his hand to show me right at that second, I fought the urge to fly off the handle and demand it… I wasn’t sure if doing that was in my right. Griff was his lifelong best friend… and maybe the letter was just meant for his eyesonly…
“Well, if you’re ever comfortable with it, I’d love to see it,” I added before kneeling down to play with Beau again.
Aftergorging ourselveson take-out Chinese food in Griff’s empty house, he drove Beau and I back to mytownhouse.
We had to take a couple trips in because he also bought Beau a leash, a little dog bed, a bunch of food, and some pee-pads.
“I tried to train him a little,” Griff said as he struggled to bring stuff in while pushing my front door open. “Not sure it’s really worked yet… but the first night was brutal. Peed and pooped in the house about ten times,” he laughed.
“Dang, you’re pretty chill about that,” I chuckled. That was part of Griff’s whole demeanor though- he never freaked out.
“Eh, potty problems don’t bug me. Blood on the other hand…” he visibly shivered. “I almost passed out when Nick knocked out my tooth and I saw all that blood on theice.”
“Really?” I pictured the two of them knuckleheads in that scenario and tried to tamper down a laugh. “God. I still can’t believe he did that to you. And I can’t believe I didn’t know that about you, Griff.”
“Well, don’t tell anyone,” he smirked. “That’s one way to get an enforcer targeting and taunting you all game.”
After helping me set up a corner for Beau’s stuff, both of our phones started blaring with an alarm warning us of an incoming winter storm. When we opened the curtains to check outside, it was clear that the problems were already escalating…
After watching a car spin out down the street, I turned to Griff with wide eyes. “Wanna just stay here tonight?”
“Uh… I think I can make it home,” he said hesitantly. “I’m a good driver. Got my trusty truck.”
I eyed him warily. “That’s what I was afraid you’d say… I’m gonna be worried the whole time… Can you just stay? I hate winter.”
He stepped forward and rubbed my arms up and down, offering me comfort.
