“On one condition,” I said, reaching for the picture of Hubert on my desk and turning it toward her. “You’ll have to babysit for the weekend.”
Her eyes lit up. “This just keeps getting better and better. I’d be honored to watch him for you.”
“Then it’s done.” I smiled down at the picture for a beat myself, exhaling slowly as I imagined leaving him again, but at least it would only be for a couple days. “I’ll bring him over to your place before I head for the airport.”
“I can’t wait.” She stood up, giving me a softer smile as she paused in my doorway. “This is going to be good for you, Jacqueline. I can feel it in my bones.”
I snorted trying to hold back a laugh. “Alright, that’s quite enough of that. You and your bones need to get back to work.”
She let out a long-suffering sigh. “Isn’t that just the story of my life?”
Sweeping out of my office with her hand pressed to her forehead like a damsel in distress, she pulled the door shut behind her and I chuckled, shaking my head at her theatrics.Gosh, she’s got to be the best boss in the whole bloody world, I swear.
The rest of the day felt lighter after my exchange with her, the promise of a trip to New York City giving me something incredible to look forward to. When I got home that evening, I was planning on getting a head start on packing, but Hubert came barreling toward me the second I opened the door.
“Hi,” I said, laughing softly as I crouched down to greet him. “Did you miss me or are you just ready for your walk?”
He licked my chin in response and I laughed again before I stood. “I’ll take that as a yes. On both counts. Let me just go change, alright?”
Sticking close to my side as I headed down the hall, he kept letting out these happy, excited little yaps that made me move just a bit faster. Once I was done changing, I grabbed his leash by the door and clipped it onto his collar.
“Come on, then,” I said. “Let’s go for a walk, big boy. I was actually wondering if you’d be up for it after our run this morning, but I suppose I’ve got my answer.”
He perked up immediately when I opened the door, practically dragging me down the hall. I tightened my grip on his leash and kept up, but I was going to have to look into finding a new place now that he was here. Something with a yard would be ideal, even if I would probably have to move to a different neighborhood to be able to afford it.
Hubert trotted happily beside me once we reached the street, completely content now that we were outside. I turned toward the park, grateful for all the green spaces within easy walking distance of my apartment. They were really saving my behind with Hubert. He kept his nose plastered to the ground the entire way there, evidently fascinated by every smell in this new city.
It took us a few minutes to get to the park, but as soon as we walked into it, my entire world tilted. I stopped so abruptly thatHubert took another two steps before he even realized I wasn’t moving anymore.
Jesse and Alex were right there, only just ahead of me, with Cameron racing around in front of them. Both men were watching him, but their heads were bent together, clearly talking to one another even as they kept an eye on the joyful toddler.
My heart slammed against my ribs.No. No, no, no.
I ducked back behind the corner so fast that I nearly tripped over my own feet, pressing myself against the brick wall like that would somehow make me invisible. Hubert looked up at me, clearly confused and straining to go back the other way. Fun was happening without him in the park and Hubert was not having it.
“Shh,” I whispered, afraid he might announce our presence to the entire world while all I really wanted was to disappear.
I knew how ridiculous it was that I was hiding. I shouldn’t be. I wasn’t doing anything wrong and we all lived in the same neighborhood in the same city. Naturally, we were going to run into each other from time to time, but I felt like I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t.
Finally convincing myself to risk a glance around the corner, I let out a quiet groan when I saw they were still there. Jesse’s hands were in his pockets, his posture relaxed in that effortless way he had, like nothing in the world could really shake him. I pulled back again, pressing my head lightly against the wall.
What is wrong with me? Seriously. What the actual hell is wrong with me? I mean, look at him.
Why couldn’t I just accept him? Why couldn’t I just believe what he’d told me and accept that my feelings—ourfeelings—were good?
I so, so badly wanted to do just that, but no. Instead, I’d dissected everything between us into oblivion, overanalyzingwhat could go wrong and putting so much stock into every possible scenario where this ended badly that I’d ended it. Badly.
All that despite the fact that his actions had very much spoken otherwise. He’d literally flown across the world and risked arrest to get my dog back, and I’dstillgone ahead and questioned his feelings for me.
“This is insane,” I muttered under my breath. “I should not be hiding.”
Frankly, I needed either a therapist or a breakdown, the latter being the option that felt more likely at this point. It was probably imminent if I didn’t get my shit together, so I exhaled slowly and forced myself to move, turning away from the corner and heading in the opposite direction.
“Come on,” I said quietly to Hubert. “We’ll take the long way home.”
He whined but followed without question. In the end, we went for a jog, winding up at another park and spending some time there before we went back to the apartment. As soon as I’d unclipped his leash and kicked off my shoes, I headed straight for my bedroom to start packing.
At least that would give me something productive to do. Something other than think about Jesse and start spiraling all over again.
