AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why would you think I wouldn’t do anything to make you happy?”
I gasp and shoot my eyes up to his face.
His mouth twists. He glances away like he didn’t mean to say what he said. He adds, “I’m trying to be a decent guy.”
“Youarea decent guy.” I reach over and squeeze his upper arm, liking how warm and firm and solid it feels beneath my grip. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” His face clears, relaxes. “Now maybe you can find that wet dog a better place to sleep than my bedroom.”
I giggle and call for the dog to follow me out, part of me wishing we both were allowed to stay.
***
AN HOUR LATER, THEdog and I have settled in on the big, cushy couch in the media room.
The dog is sound asleep, wound in a tight ball on a throw blanket I spread out so his wet fur wouldn’t mess up the couch. I’m idly scanning my phone and slouched on the middle cushion, close enough so I can occasionally pet him, and I’ve got a second blanket spread over my lap and legs.
I’m perfectly comfortable, and even a sleeping dog is good company. But occasionally I wonder where Arthur is. What he’s doing.
He said he didn’t have to work on Saturday, but I guess he’s still too busy to hang out with me.
The visual of him just out of the shower with wet hair and bare feet flickers through my mind occasionally. A bit too often for my comfort.
I spent so many years barely thinking about the man at all. He was just an older guy, someone my dad knew, a piece of background setting. But other than a month or two when I developed that ill-advised crush on him—in itself insignificant since I had a crush on almost everyone back then—he never lingered in my mind in any real way.
Now my heart speeds up whenever he’s around. A warm anticipation lingers in my belly whenever there’s a chance he might be passing by. I imagine scenarios where I could be closer to him. I mentally relive every interaction we have over and over again.
It’s silly. Futile. Surely nothing more than an infatuation and prompted by the fact that I don’t have anyone else in my life and the amnesia has twisted my normal perspectives. Arthur would probably be appalled if he found out the direction my thoughts have been drifting.
He’s being nice, and I’m turning it into something more.
So I give myself yet another mental lecture and try to distract myself on my phone, texting Jenna for a while and then researching the best heartworm and flea preventions.
I must have effectively diverted my attention because I’m completely unprepared when Arthur strolls into the room and lowers himself to the couch cushion on the opposite end from the dog.
“Hey,” I say, my heartbeat accelerating despite my best attempts at reasonable calm. “I thought you might be working.”
He shrugs. “It’s Saturday. Not much going on.”
That’s what he’d said earlier, but I still thought he might do some work. “Oh. That’s good then.”
“If you want to be alone, I can hang out elsewhere.”
“No, I don’t want to be alone.” That sounds kind of needy, so I rephrase. “I mean, I’m happy for you to hang out with me.”
I’m not sure my second try was much better.
His mouth twitches up in that appealing way he has. “That’s good then. How’s the dog doing?”
“He thinks he’s landed in paradise. He can’t believe his luck.” I stroke the animal’s damp head gently. “Thanks for taking him in. Takingusin.”
He doesn’t respond when I would have expected him to, so I glance over to check his face. He’s staring at the blank television screen in front of us, his mouth working very slightly, like he’s mentally composing a reply.
I wait for it, nearly holding my breath.
Finally he says in a low, rough murmur, “You assume taking you in is a burden on me. It’s not.”
On the surface, the words convey nothing significant, but my chest bursts into flutters anyway. “Okay.” I swallow hard until my voice sounds more normal. “But thank you all the same. From both of us.”
