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“Yeah, it’s looking good. He’s actually celebrating a kickball game win tonight, too.”
“You didn’t go to cheer him on?” Jonah said, noting my scrubs.
“Duty called.” I lifted my arm and showed Jonah the pink scratches and teeth marks, already disappearing. “And Duty happened to be a fifty-seven-pound Great Dane puppy who decided my arm would make a good teething toy.”
Jonah started to laugh before making his expression seem remorseful.
“Anyways, I’m going to try and catch him and his friends at the bar. Thanks for picking up my rando FaceTime call!”
“Anytime.”
“Unless you’re in the shower or with Fox, or in the shower with Fox, then please,please, for the love of Tia and Tamara, don’t ever pick up my FaceTime call.”
Jonah barked out a laugh and was about to say something, but I cut him off with a loud and extended “byeeeee” and hung up the call.
I loved my brother to bits.
What I didn’t love? Having to go up to my apartment.
Fuck it. I’ll just go to the pet store.
I put my car in reverse and was about to pull out of my parking spot when someone caught my eye. A girl, her hair falling in bright red locks down over the spaghetti straps that clung to her shoulders, one hand waving at me and the other holding the leash of a drooling bulldog.
It was Janet, Will’s ex. And she seemed to be waiting for me to get out of the car.
I sighed and put my car back in park. I grabbed the bags I’d brought to carry the cans of food in and stepped out of the car.
“Hey, Oliver! Glad I caught you.”
Janet lived in my apartment complex and normally let her dog poop wherever he wanted without ever picking it up.
Today, her bulldog was pooping right in front of my building. There wasn’t a poop bag in sight.
I tried not to stare pointedly at her dog’s mountain of manure as I walked toward her. Mainly because I would have thrown up, but also because I hated confrontation, even if it involved telling someone they were being an obnoxious walking dog turd by leaving their dog turds out to bake in the sun.
“Hey, Janet.” I faked the fakest smile of my goddamn life.
“Have you seen Will?”
“Huh? No, why?”
“I really need to give him back his video games, but he won’t pick up my calls.”
I shrugged. “I can give them to him. Just leave them with the office manager and I’ll pick them up this afternoo—”
“Is he upset at me?” Her question surprised me.
“I, uhm, what? Didn’t you two break up?”
“Yeah, but it was mutual. We agreed we wanted to stay good friends. He was clearly not into me, so whatever. But I won’t lie that I consider him a really close friend.”
“Will seemed pretty shaken when you guys broke up. He never said it was mutual.”
“Of course it was. I figured he wasn’t into me, or into girls, probably, after like the tenth time we tried having sex and we couldn’t. I offered going to a doctor with him and—shit, sorry. I’m talking too much. Just, you know, tell him I’ve got his games.”
“Uh, sure.”
Just then, another dog rounded the corner with its owner following. This set off Janet’s bulldog, who started barking and lunging, throwing its drool all over the place. I managed to dodge a few globs as if I were in the Matrix. I didn’t want to press my luck, and I hurried up the stairs while my work scrubs were still dry.
