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We climb from her car and close the doors. I look over my home as if I’m seeing it from her perspective. I take in the thick wooden beams supporting the open porch. Stacked stone covers the bottom quarter of the beams and the bottom half of the front portion of the house. Dark green vertical siding covers the rest of the house, and the roof is covered in black tin. Altogether it’s a very masculine feel, like a ski lodge and bungalow combined together.
“The mix of wood, stone, and vertical siding looks great. And whoever does your landscaping deserves a raise,” she says.
“I pay him a small fortune already.”
Brutus barks from inside the house, and Evie laughs. “Looks like someone wants us to hurry up.”
“No doubt. He thinks you’re here to see him.”
“Well, who’s to say he’s wrong?”
“I get it. You love me for my dog.”
“I didn’t want to mention it but…” She shrugs.
“Brutus and I are a package deal, agápi mou. Love my dog, love me.”
“Okay, fine. Now let me go see my boy Brutus.”
I catch hold of her and lead her up the path and onto the open concrete porch.
“Wow, Darius. This is huge. Do you sit out here all the time?”
“Yeah, I do. When I have a day off, I have my morning coffee out here, and most nights when I’m home, I come out to watch the sun set.”
“It’s so quiet and peaceful.” She closes her eyes and drags in a deep breath. “Mmm, it smells wonderful too.”
I barely have the door open when Brutus pushes past me to get to Evie.
Laughing at his sneaky maneuver, she bends down to lavish him with hugs and kisses. Brutus’s big tongue slicks from her chin to her forehead.
Evie shrieks and swipes at her eye. “Eww, he licked my eyeball and he’s got one of my fake lashes.”
I quickly get him to drop the spidery-looking object.
“Good boy, Brutus,” she says. “Maybe I should let him lick my other eye and get this annoying fucker off.”
“You’re adorable,” I say, urging her inside my home.
She plops down onto the entryway bench and unfastens her shoes. When they’re both off, she wiggles her bare toes.
“Oh my God. I hate wearing heels. Why did I let Wendy talk me into it? And these stupid lashes too. Ugh.” She picks at her eyelashes until her fingers come away with the other spidery lashes. She drops it into her purse and tugs out her phone.
“I’m texting Wendy to let her know I’m staying here tonight.” She finishes typing and sending her message.
“Is Tillie with her?”
“Yeah, at my house.”
“Ryan couldn’t be with her?”
She grins, looking excited. “Ryan went out tonight. I’m hoping he’s getting lucky.”
“You two have such a strange relationship, and I mean that in the best of ways.”
“I get that it’ll take some getting used to,” she says.
I slip off my wingtips and pull Evie to her feet. “Let’s go get out of these clothes. I’ll give you something more comfortable to wear.”
