He dropped another armful of toys in the dog bed and turned. “No, it’s not any worse, and when they go—” His eyes widened. “No, don’t sit there!”
I paused with my ass hovering over the couch. “What?”
“That’s the dog couch.”
I turned, noticing now that it was covered in hair. Lady jumped up and sprawled over the cushions, claiming her furniture.
“My mistake,” I said. “I’ll just…”
Jamie pointed me toward the smaller, two-seater couch. “This one is for humans.”
I laughed. “Okay. Wow. They really do have you where they want you, huh?”
He rolled his eyes. “I know. I’m a total pushover.”
I grinned as I took a seat. “Well, you loving dogs is half the reason I like you, so…” I shrugged. “Whatever works.”
Jamie averted his gaze. “I’m going to let the dogs into the backyard. They’ll never let us eat in peace. Are you okay with Bruno playing out there with them?”
“Sure. It’s enclosed, right?”
“Yeah. Six-foot privacy fence, or Tramp would never stay in.”
“Right. Should be good, then.”
Jamie hurried off, whistling for the dogs. I gave Bruno’s butt a little nudge when he stayed seated by my foot. He got up with a little grunt and trotted after the two Labs, who’d gone eagerly for the back door.
Once they were outside, Jamie grabbed plates and silverwarefrom the kitchen, then returned to take a seat beside me. The couch was small enough our knees brushed.
He scooted over an inch. “Sorry.”
“I don’t have cooties,” I said. “I assume you don’t either.”
He smiled reluctantly. “Hope not. I haven’t been checked lately.” He frowned. “Not like I’ve really had any reason to catch them lately.”
I pulled a bottle of Michelob Ultra from the six-pack and handed it to him. “Me either, friend. Feels more like a dry season than a dry spell.”
Jamie laughed. “Same, but…” His brows drew together. “Why?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I mean, I know why I haven’t been dating. There’s limited options in Granville, and I got tired of app hookups that weren’t going anywhere. But you…” He waved a hand at me. “You have a lot more options.”
I reached forward to unpack the bag, withdrawing the container of meat, the buns, the sides of spicy beans and coleslaw.
“Sorry,” Jamie blurted. “Guess I was being pushy that time.”
“No, it’s just hard to explain.” I shrugged. “I guess at the end of the day, my reasons aren’t that different from yours.”
Jamie started assembling a sandwich, keeping his eyes on his plate. “How so?”
I remembered what he’d said at the park when we’d met for our first date. That I could meet someone much more easily as a straight guy.
“You weren’t wrong. I have more options. I could go to the bar and meet a woman, take her home, but it’s just like with the app hookups. It doesn’t go anywhere.”
“I’m sure some of these women want more than sex,” Jamie said.
“Yeah, and sometimes we end up dating after hooking up. Like with my ex. We were all wrong for each other, but we dated for almost a year. Made each other miserable, too. I guess that’s why I went along with the Matchmaking Mamas. Thought maybe they’d at least help me meet someone I could connect with outside of physical attraction.”
