AllFreeNovel
Share Us
So I told her, it’s new. It’s amazing. And maybe we don’t complicate it until we’ve given it a chance to breathe a minute. Maybe we just know it’s her and me and no one else, and we have some fun together while we see where it goes. It doesn’t need to have a name until she’s ready to give it one.
And the smile she gave me in return… well, it was almost as good as seeing her cuddled up in my bed the way she is now.
But then I feel like a fucking creeper still staring at her, and that’s not the look I’m going for with this woman.
I scoop Zamboni up in my arms, slip him into his sport chic harness, and hook his matching leash on.
I swing the apartment door open, and he gives up one of his broken squeak toy barks as Bowie steps back, hand up like he was about to knock.
“What the fuck is that?” he coughs, brows up around his hairline. Then he slips his phone from his pocket and snaps a picture. Probably for my sister.
“His name is Zamboni,” I offer dryly. “He’s my new dog.”
The brows go even higher. “When did you get a dog? And how is it possible there aren’t forty new pictures on the team text string?”
“I got him yesterday. And…” It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him about Lara. Explain I was a little caught up— in the sheets, in conversation, in breathless laughter chasing little Z around the apartment, and in the mind-blowing fact that in that moment, I was living the more life.
The as-yet-unspecified more life.
“Lara okay with the new roommate?”
This is it. The opening to tell my best friend that there’s something happening with my other bestie. I never told him about what happened between us the first time. Didn’t tell anyone but my mom. And this time— “She loves him. Thinks he’s perfect.”
He nods, bends down, and gives Zamboni a little scratch behind his ears. “You bringing him to practice?”
Shit. “Sorry, should have texted. Got to walk him.” At the W-word, Zamboni’s ears perk up. He’s so smart. “Go on, and I’ll meet you there.”
And maybe by then, I’ll be able to use my big-boy words to share that I’ve got a dog and a girl.
Spoiler: I don’t.
I try. But I guess that no-naming thing maybe applies to my teammates too.
* * *
“Dude, I meant a girl. A date. Not a dog. Not that dog.” Static groans, clicking the fob to lock his Rover in the player parking area. He’s staring at my phone wearing a slightly horrified expression that has my back up, if you want the truth.
“Like take her out for dinner. Join a dating app. The kind without DTF in the bios.”
Another prime opportunity. But— “Not actually looking to meet someone new right now.”
I have someone. I think. And she is all that I want.
“But check me out with the commitment, right? This boy is going to love me forever.”
He looks closer. “How old you think Zamboni is?”
I blink. “He’s a baby.”
“They tell you that at the shelter?”
And then I’m in front of him. “What’s with the laugh, asshole. He’s young, okay?”
Hands up in placation, Static nods. “Yeah, man. I see it.”
“That’s right you do.”
We start for the door that leads into the building, and Static bumps me with the back of his hand, grin going wide. “You know people are going to call him Boner.”
