But …fear?
There’s no reason she should be afraid of me, and I’m not sure what to make of it.
I sigh.
Maybe I just need to accept that I can’t read her the way I used to anymore. A lot of time has passed. It was probably just nerves.
I sigh once more, rubbing my eyes.
I’m obviously not going to find all the answers sitting here. But sit, I do. We remain there together by that smelly dumpster for a good three hours, the little dog listening patiently as I continue to debate my chances with Steph. I tell him about how the night had ended. How I’d seen her lips move around the word, how it had stung worse than her hand had against my cheek.
Hate.
She’d said ‘I hate you’before slipping away into the crowd. I’d stood there, pinned to the spot by her harsh words, for a long moment, before shoving the rear exit door open and prowling across the lot, a pained, frustrated growl drifting up into the night sky behind me.
By the time I’d made it to my truck, though, I was smiling. Sure, things hadn’t gone according to plan. They certainly hadn’t ended on a very good note, but, bottom line?
She’d kissed me back.
She’d ground her sweet pussy against me until I’d felt the dampness through my jeans.
Her body still responded to mine, whether she liked it or not. And that strengthened my resolve. It meant I had a chance.
The little dog seems to agree with me. So when I finally do leave the back lot of Aroma’s, I do it with a scruffy new black and white sidekick.
And … with hope.
“WhyConnor?”Mymomasks a few days later as she smiles down at the small dog begging by her feet.
She hadn’t been thrilled when I’d shown up with the filthy little ball tucked under my arm like a basketball. He’d snarled and snapped at me while I’d attempted to bathe him, then proceeded to bark at everything that moved while I’d given him a tour of the backyard—I’m not kidding, even bugs were not exempt from his wrath. Later that night, the poor little guy had cowered in the corner of my bedroom with his ears pressed back against his head. His whining had kept us both up. Somehow, though, in the days that followed, and despite first impressions, the little guy had won my mom over. He was still snarly at times, but he’d mellowed.A bit.
I’d actually come home from my first shift shadowing Bobby yesterday to find the pair of them snuggled up together on the couch, and the day before that, my mom had returned from the store with two bags worth of toys and treats. Not that he’d needed any more. I’d done a full shop that first afternoon I’d brought him home—as any good dog dad would. And, after a quick trip to the vet and a call from my mom to Chief Hudson, who also oversees the town animal control office, that was that. He was mine. Well,ours, apparently.
“I knew a guy in upstate New York named Connor,” I answer with a grin and a shrug. “He was small and snarly, too.”
She chuckles, looking down at the little dog again. He’s staring up at her with those wide, hopeful puppy dog eyes that even the rough and tumble stray seems to have quickly mastered. His tailwags furiously in anticipation, causing his entire body to sway from side to side.
“You already had your dinner, mister,” she says, shaking her head and waving a finger in his direction.
Connor just licks his lips.
Her mouth twists to the side as though she’s debating it as she continues to stare down at him, but we all know she’s going to give in. And she does.
“Okay, fine,” she says with an exaggerated sigh, tossing him a handful of French fries from her plate.
“Mom,” I chastise, but it’s teasing. “He’s never going to stop begging if you feed him from the table.”
“What do you want from me, Riley?” she asks, gesturing in his direction. The fries have already vanished, I note with amusement. “Just look at him! How could I say no?”
My shoulders shake with a silent laugh. “Yeah. I guess you can’t,” I concede.
“You did this. You brought this little monkey into our lives.”
“I did. And it sure didn’t take him long to wrap you around his finger, did it?”
She rolls her eyes and shoots me a wry smile, then shrugs. “Gotta take care of my boys.”
Hmm.
