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I have a feeling it’ll only get better.
Chapter Sixteen – Spencer
I park my car in the visitor’s spot nearest to Leila’s apartment.
“Shiloh is going to go crazy, just so you know. I hope you don’t mind paw prints on these clothes.”
I laugh. “I don’t mind at all. Bring it on, buddy.”
“Well, then, here we go.” Leila unlocks the door, and her golden retriever immediately comes bounding over and pounces on her, kissing her face. “Yeah, yeah, I know. You missed me. It’s only been a couple of hours, buddy. And look who’s here!”
Shiloh looks where Leila is pointing, and as I’m closing the door, he jumps on me and licks my cheek. I scratch his ears and laugh.
“Hey, buddy, I’ve missed you, too. Getting into trouble?”
Shiloh jumps back down and finds a stuffed bear that looks worse for the wear that he brings me so we can play tug. He grips it in his teeth while I pull on the other end.
“I swear he goes through toys way too fast. I can’t keep them stocked. I just bought him this bear yesterday.”
“He’s just a dog who loves to have some fun. Can’t fault him for that.”
“Maybe, but my budget doesn’t love it. Also, we should take him out one more time before we watch a movie or whatever.”
I grab his leash from the hook by the door. “I can do it.”
“We’ll go out together.”
I clasp the leash onto Shiloh’s collar. He’s disappointed to end our game of tug but gets excited again the second we step outside. There’s a grassy courtyard between Leila’s apartment and the dog park where I’d gone with them early on in this relationship. We walk Shiloh for a few minutes as he sniffs the ground until he has done his business.
“So this is what a regular night looks like for you?” I ask Leila as she’s cleaning up the present Shiloh left.
“Yeah, I guess. Maybe instead of going to a café, I’d be here working on my computer, but this is pretty much it. Like I told you, I don’t do many exciting things.”
“We all think different things are exciting. This is it for you.”
Leila smiles at me. “You’re finally getting it!”
“Yeah, I guess I am.”
Shiloh would love to stay outside longer, but Leila tells me to drag him inside.
“Alright, buddy, Mom says it’s time to go in,” I tell the dog. He looks at me with his tongue hanging out, but he follows me as I head back to Leila’s door. She drops the poop bag into the trash, and we all head inside.
“Thanks for walking him. He’s having a good time.”
I scratch Shiloh’s ears. “I like him. I’ll walk him whenever I have a chance if you’ll let me.”
“Yeah, he would enjoy that. You’re welcome whenever you want. Now, want to watch a movie? You can pick it. I’ve got every streaming service you could want. I’m going to make some popcorn.”
“Works for me.”
I flop down on the comfortable couch, moving a throw blanket out of the way as I do. The remote is sitting on the coffee table, so I use it to turn on the TV and start scrolling through the first streaming service that pops up while playing tug with Shiloh with my other hand.
“Hey, how about this one,” I suggest, calling Leila in from the kitchen, separated by a wall that makes the apartment feel smaller than it is.
She laughs when she sees my face on the poster. “You want to watch one of your movies?”
“I absolutely do not.”
Leila pouts. “But what if I wanted to?”
“Too bad.”
I keep scrolling until I find a comedy that is older, so I’m sure we’ve both seen it before. Leila returns with a bottle of wine and a bowl of popcorn and sits down on the couch beside me. She’s close, but not close enough for my liking.
“Oh, I like this movie!”
“Good. I figured it was something for background noise so we can keep talking.”
“What did you want to talk about?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. We could get to know each other better.”
“What do you want to know?”
“What’s your favorite sport?”
Leila laughs. “I really like baseball, but I don’t follow it much anymore. I got too busy, and my favorite team is on East Coast time, which makes it harder now that I’m living here.”
“Baseball, huh? I enjoy it. Have you been to a Dodgers game yet?”
“No, not yet.”
“We’ll go to one together. It’s a lot of fun. Once I’m done filming.”
Silence falls between us as we both realize what I said. When I’m done filming, we’re done with our fake relationship, and there won’t be any reason to do anything in public. In fact, if we’re going to break up, it would be best if we weren’t seen together. Instead of acknowledging it, I change the subject.
