So fucking grateful she’s letting me comfort her, I wrap her up and press a kiss to the top of her
head, then rest my cheek there.
“Tell me. Tell me all about…”
“Birdie,” she murmurs, a fresh tear falling. I don’t wipe it away, letting it stain the white of my
shirt. Another soon follows it. How can one word, a simple name, carry so much love and pain all at
once?
“Tell me about Birdie.”
Another deep, long sigh. “I got her the day after I moved into my apartment. I…” her voice drifts
off. I have so many questions. I want to know everything about her, but how the hell do you know how
much to push? I never wanted to know a woman like this before, so I have no idea what my right next
move is. Is she hooked enough that I can push and won’t lose her?
“You were living alone? It must have been nice to have company.”
She lifts her head and sniffs. “It was. I don’t think I really understood how lonely I was until I got
her.”
“I get that. We get used to one way of living, so we don’t know what we’re missing. It’s only
when we find something new, something better, that we realize what we have.” Her eyes soften, and
she presses a kiss to my jaw. I have to clear my throat. “You’d never had a dog before?”
“No, my mom wouldn’t allow it. Then I was in the dorms. But…it’s dumb…” she trails off, a
slight blush staining her cheeks.
“Baby, nothing you have to say is dumb. Tell me.” Her eyes search mine, and I make sure she sees
the truth of my words. If I can listen to her talk about superhero capes for an hour, I sure as fuck can
listen to her when her heart’s broken.
She gives me a weak smile. “I didn’t plan it. I had just moved in and had walked down to the
grocery store to get a few things, and there was this little boy and his dad selling puppies out of a
cardboard box. I mean, I’ve seen that in movies, but I didn’t know people did it in real life. I passed
by them on the way into the store, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it.” A little line develops between
her eyebrows, and I can’t resist stroking it with my forefinger. Her eyes cross as she stares at my
finger. She laughs lightly at herself, and I smile. She sounds better, even if just a tiny bit. But I’ll take
it. “Even though I finished college and my mom was gone, in my mind she was still all controlling.
Because she didn’t like dogs, I always just figured I wouldn’t get one. Is that weird? That I let her
