Myla
Seven was sleepingat the foot of my bed and snoring softly as I pet her fluffy head with my big toe. I could hear Brayden’s shower running, which thankfully meant it was getting close to breakfast time—the noises my stomach was making sounded like a swamp thing had taken up residence in my gut.
Right as I was about to roll out of bed, my phone dinged with a text.
Adam: Good morning, beautiful.
Seeing a man, I thought was way out of my league call me beautiful first thing in the morning was a thrilling feeling that I, sadly, had never felt before.
Me: Morning. How’re you?
Adam: Doing well. Just wondering when I am going to get to see you again.
Me: My schedule is pretty wide open.
Adam: Perfect. Dinner tomorrow night?
Me: Sounds like a plan.
Adam: Great. I’ll make reservations and give you the details later.
Me: Awesome! Can’t wait.
Adam: Neither can I.
Seven started to whimper that the door. “Ok girl, let’s get you outside before you have another accident in the house and Brayden decides to make good on his threats to take you back to the shelter.”
I threw my robe on and shuffled into my fluffy slippers, picking my new puppy up into my arms. The first week with her had been a learning experience for all of us—to say the least—but we were getting the hang of it. She was finally starting to listen to her name and picking up on my routine. Crate training wasn’t going well, but slow and steady was going to win that race for sure.
Setting Seven down on the back steps that led to our small fenced yard, I heard Brayden tinkering in the kitchen.
“Bray? Can you start the coffee?” I called through the screen door as Seven hopped down the wooden steps, rushing into the yard for her morning pee.
“Way ahead of you!” Brayden replied, coming out to join me with two cups of steaming coffee in hand.
The smell of pumpkin spice wafted into my nostrils. “You’re the fucking best, bro.”
“Oh trust me, I know. Egg whites?”
I licked the sweet coffee from my lips before responding. “Yes, please.”
* * *
The restof my Sunday was spent lazily reading on our back deck, letting Seven get all her crazy puppy energy out frolicking around the backyard. The crisp fall air caressed my body as I flipped the pages faster and faster. I needed to know if Nutter was actually as crazy as he seemed and if Bender was really going to be the hero he didn’t think he could be. I swooned at M. Stratton’s words as the hours ticked by. Right before I was about to hit the big climax that had been building for the last few chapters, my phone started vibrating in my pocket.
I cleared my throat before answering the call. “Hey, Simon. How’re you?”
His flamboyant personality rang in his voice through the phone. “I’m great. Want to grab a bite after work tomorrow? I feel like we haven’t had a date night in forever.”
“It’s been too long! But I have an actual date tomorrow night with Adam. Rain check?”
His voice hit an entirely new octave as he shrilled. “You what? That is so fantastic!”
I bit my lip; I was starting to get nervous about the entire thing. “Simon, I just don’t know if I should go out with Adam.”
I heard a heavy sigh come from the other end of the line. “I thought you liked him. I could tell he was totally into you.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to, I’m just nervous.” I got up from my chair, starting to pace around the backyard as Seven trotted behind me.
