Page 69 of Puppy Love

“Can I stay here, at least?” I ask, my tone flat and void. His eyes drop down to the floor, a mournful expression sewn into his face.

“Unfortunately,” he says, regret ringing in his voice. “The lobby is closed. If I could let you stay, I would but...”

I shake my head, still staring at him, yet also staring at nothing at all. I slide the form to him, a corpse-like feeling taking over me.

“Call me,” I say. “When you know something.”

The man nods and hands me a business card before I walk out the door.

twenty-three

Bonds & Burgers

Cam

Hayden hands me the grease-soaked paper bag and tosses himself backward onto my couch.

“They forgot the fry sauce,” I frown, as I pull out two foil-wrapped burgers and a ridiculously large cardboard container of french fries.

“I can try to wave down the driver,” Hayden offers. “But I think he left already.”

I shake my head, melting into the green velvet sofa.

“It’s fine,” I mumble, pointing the remote at the television. “Everything is fine.”

A loud sigh escapes Hayden’s mouth, and he chews his lower lip.

“You know, trauma bonds aren’t permanent,” he says softly. “Unless you want them to be.” My stomach twists as I sit there, staring blankly at the burger in my hand. “You didn’t call him, right?”

I shake my head.

“No. I was able to get a same-day appointment with Dr. Burton, and he talked me out of it.”

Hayden nods, growing quiet. He unwraps his squashed burger, then looks at me earnestly, those pretty blue eyes melting me.

“So, why end it then?”

He asks it almost like he’s scared to, which is funny because, even though he’d never say it out loud, he’s the one who told me this thing with Violet was a bad idea. And he was right.

“Because clearly, it wasn’t doing what it was supposed to,” I answer.

Hayden’s head tilts, his brow quirking. “Which was…”

“Help me move on from Cody?” I sigh, slumping further into the couch. “Trauma bonds are stupid,” I mutter.

Hayden pats my shoulder gently.

“How’d she take it?” he asks.

I toss a cold, un-sauced fry into my mouth, staring at the purple loading screen in front of me. Hayden hangs his head.

“You didn’t tell her?”

I scrunch my nose as I pull the wrapper off my burger and see a slimy red tomato right in the center between the melted cheese and the shredded iceberg lettuce. My eyes dart over to Hayden, and the moment they land on him, I know I have to talk.

“No,” I admit, swapping my burger for the one in his hand. I inspect it closely. “Not exactly. I mean, I didn’t say ‘I’m never having sex with you again.’ But it was impli—this one has tomatoes too!”

I let out a disgusted huff, dropping the burger onto the coffee table in front of me. Hayden picks it up.

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