Page 23 of Road to a Cowboy

Outside the car, the sky was blue. The residential street was quiet. A couple of butterflies landed on the flowers in the neighbor’s garden.

It was peaceful.

Inside the car, Cal’s roiling emotions felt like a hovering storm cloud. He was about to disappoint Austin and he hated himself for it.

Even as he hated himself, though, he also couldn’t help feeling... fuck, he didn’t have a word.

Austin wanted to date him. That must mean that Austin had feelings for him.

Being the person Austin had feelings for... Having someone like Austin see him as potential partner material...

It was like getting a raise, a promotion, a ten out of ten on his performance review, and a bonus pay day, all at the same time.

And Cal was about to turn him down? Despite his own feelings?

But that was better, though, wasn’t it? If they didn’t date, they didn’t risk messing up their friendship. Austin was the most important person in Cal’s life. If dating didn’t work out and Cal lost him as a friend, it wouldn’t just leave him bleeding—it would leave him adrift in an ocean of loneliness forever.

“Jesus,” he muttered to himself. He was going around in circles with no clear way forward, and he was half tempted to take his dinner for two to his own house and devour both bowls of spaghetti Bolognese until he passed out.

He really needed to get his shit together.

Stepping out of the car, he gulped down a breath of fresh air, letting it center him. He grabbed the takeout bag from his passenger seat and followed the sound of voices to Austin’s backyard.

A chain-link fence separated Austin’s property from his neighbor’s. Austin stood in his own yard, all tall and sexy in ripped jeans and a white T-shirt that showed off his biceps, while his neighbor stood on the other side of the fence, a dog of indeterminate breed at her feet. Some kind of border collie mix?

“I don’t know what I was thinking,” the neighbor said darkly, glaring down at the dog, who paced back and forth along the fence. “Who gets a puppy at sixty-three years old? I don’t have the energy for this.”

“He just needs some training and he’ll settle down,” Austin said. He crouched and poked a finger through the fence. “Hey, little guy.”

The dog sniffed his finger, then tried to bite him.

“Sullivan!” His neighbor pulled the dog away by the collar. “Sorry, Austin.”

Sullivan noticed Cal and started barking his fool head off.

“Hey, Judy,” Cal said, loud enough to be heard over the puppy’s yips.

The smile on Austin’s face froze in a way Cal refused to read into.

“Hi, Cal. Don’t suppose you’re in the market for a puppy?”

“No, ma’am.”

Judy sighed so hard her cheeks ballooned. “I’m tempted to send him back to the breeder.”

“It’s only been two days.” Austin squeezed her shoulder. “Give it time. Besides, I’m happy to puppy-sit when you need some time to yourself.”

“I may take you up on that sooner than you think.” She whistled at the dog. “Come on, Sully. Let’s go inside.”

The puppy didn’t listen—or, more likely, had no idea what inside was—and he shot off to the other side of the yard. Judy followed more slowly, her shoulders slumped.

Hands shoved in his pockets, Austin turned and faced Cal, his expression guarded. It pinched Cal’s chest tight to see Austin so closed off when he was normally so expressive.

“Hey.” Austin gave him another of those flat-lipped smiles Cal was quickly coming to loathe.

“Hey.” Cal lifted the takeout bag. “I brought dinner.”

Surprise and pleasure flitted across Austin’s face, and the smile kicked up a notch, becoming more genuine. “Thanks. I was going to make a frozen pizza, but spaghetti from The Mountain Peak Diner is way better. Did you remember the ciabatta this time?”

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