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Petra agrees and locates a leash for me, and Gus and I set out to take care of his business. Dave and Goliath look at me like a traitor when I leave the house with this interloper. “I’ll be back soon, guys,” I tell them. “Go keep Petra company while she’s unpacking.”
Two
Petra
I am sohappy to be moving away from my previous situation. I never should have moved into that apartment, but I had to find something quickly—not unlike this time, unfortunately. I hope I haven’t been too hasty. I have to wonder what it will be like to live withtwomen—two gorgeous men, if I’m honest—but it’s a done deal now.
Seriously, though—wow are they attractive. One of them has already offered to do the grocery shopping and cooking, and the other is stepping up to run errands for me. I’ll need to keep a lid on my heart—or libido—with these guys around all the time. I need to be focused on work. I’m a little behind with a major deadline looming, but I had to get my living situation under control. At least Gus seems to adapt well to new situations, and he seems happy to be here. I’m so relieved to have that dog for company.
I’m just putting my last things away when I hear Weston and Gus barreling up the stairs. Weston lets out a great booming laugh, so I take that to mean that he and Gus have been hittingit off. I’m not surprised. Gus is a great dog, despite what my previous roommate had to say about him.
My door is open, and Gus bounds in and jumps onto my bed where he nearly crashes into Dave and Goliath. They’d already taken up residence after I’d made the bed up with fresh sheets. Someone whodidn’tlove dogs would be miserable in this house, for sure.
Weston laughs and says, “He sure has a lot of energy. He’s a good boy, though.” He hands me a receipt for the collar and the key to the house.
“Thank you so much for doing that for us, Weston. Can I treat you to dinner later?”
“Um, well, sure. Take-out or go out?”
“Let’s do take-out. I’m a little too frazzled to go out.” So we discuss menus and discover we both have a huge craving for Mexican food. Apparently, there are fixings for margaritas and plenty of beer in the house already.
I hope this guy isn’t too good to be true. Loves dogs, has a trusting and kind heart, and enjoys tacos. My kind of guy. And did I mention handsome? Lordy. His wavy brown hair almost reaches his shoulders and looks like silk. And those eyes of his! I could dive into them. Bright and intelligent, they’re the color of rich coffee, sparkling with happiness most of the time. Sometimes, though, I detect a melancholy he might be trying to disguise. It’s not my business to pry, I remind myself.
He has a muscular—but not bulky—build, and is pretty tall, though not quite as tall as Callum. But everyone looks tall to me—I’m such a shrimp. It’s his smile, though, that really knocks me out. He smiles like he has a secret or a joke playing in his head, and his expression is just the right mix of cocky and amused. With dimples. Gah! I’m already almost a goner, and I barely know this guy.
And then there’s Callum… ye gods! A blond Adonis who looks like a cute nerd and cooks? I hope to hell he doesn’t turn out to be gay. Oh, who am I kidding? That might be the best thing. I don’t need to be falling for my new housemateormy landlord. In fact, the gay thing might really be on the table. I thought I detected some kind of spark between the two of them when they were shaking hands…
None of my business, I scold myself. Anyway… we’ll see.
“I’ll call for the delivery,” Weston tells me, pulling me out of my lust-filled and very inappropriate reverie. “Then I’ll get started on a pitcher of margaritas as soon as the dogs are fed.” Did he just wink at me? Oh my. There go those dimples again. Where’s that margarita?
After he makes the call, I follow him downstairs, and we take care of the dogs. When they’re done, we put a spiffy new green collar on Gus and head outside with them. The dogs do a lot of sniffing around, and Gus seems delighted to be off his leash for once. He stays with the other two and never once tries to bolt, although they all three get close to the apparent fence and return inward immediately.
“He’s already been trained to an electric fence, I see,” Weston says with a thoughtful nod. “I hope there isn’t some family with little kids who are missing the heck out of him right now. He’s a great dog, just like you said.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve done everything I can think of to find them if they exist, and I came up with a big, fat nothing. All the people at the shelter knew was that a man dropped him off saying he found the dog in his yard, and he hadn’t been wearing any kind of collar.”
I’m so attached to Gus at this point, it might break my heart to have to give him back to anyone. The idea makes my stomach hurt.
We lead the dogs inside again where they flop down with each other to sleep off their dinner.
Soon we hear the doorbell, so we go grab our dinner and bring it into the kitchen nook to eat. “This is the life,” I sigh. “I think I’m going to love it here.” We arrange ourselves so that we’re side-by-side facing the view of the property and pond. It’s a beautiful evening.
Weston gives me a dimpled smile and a wink, and I feel flutters.
We then proceed to stuff ourselves with an assortment of carne asada and pollo asado tacos and a generous portion of guacamole and chips. Weston politely keeps my glass filled from the pitcher of margaritas he made. I’m getting a definite buzz from the tequila, and it makes me feel mellow. “I haven’t felt this relaxed in days,” I sigh. “Maybe weeks, if I’m honest.”
“Feel like watching a movie when we’re done?” Weston asks. “I forgot to show you the setup downstairs. We can get something from Netflix if you like.”
“Sure. Sounds great.” I wonder what kind of movies he likes. “Just nothing scary, please.”
Weston gives me a look that says he’s about to call me a chicken and then thinks better of it. I don’t want to get into why I avoid scary stuff, but it would not be my first—or fiftieth—choice for entertainment. We then have a discussion about our favorite movies and decide to watchForrest Gumpafter a spirited debate about the pros and cons of the book vs. the movie. I’m privately impressed that Weston seems to be an enthusiastic reader of a variety of genres. I’d love to ask him if he’s read any of the novels I’ve worked on, but I’m sworn to secrecy about what I’ve ghostwritten, and the corporate work wouldn’t be anything he’d seen. Maybe I can work it into the conversation without being obvious. Or not. I’m possibly looking for trouble if I do that.
Three
Callum
I’m soglad to be moving to Carmel. My new job isn’t far from Weston’s house, which is a heck of a lot better than my current hour-long commute from my parents’ house in Crawfordsville. Besides, it’s high time to move out now that my job is squared away. What a relief. I won’t be sharing with my little brother Declan in a half-messy room that smells like gym socks all the time. I keep telling him to do his damn laundry, but he ignores me. I hope he figures it out before he heads to college next fall. Anyway, it was nice of my parents to let me move back in after graduation for a while until I found a steady job. And I love my job! I cook and teach classes three days a week and sell kitchen supplies the rest of the time. I have a lot of freedom with what I teach, as long as I stick to their general plan. I won’t get rich this way, but it’s giving me great experience, and it’ll help me eventually move up to something more lucrative. I hope to eventually have my own restaurant, but that’s years away.
