Page 13 of Noah

"Sure." I waved her in. "Come in and shut the door."

Alesia shut the door, dropped into one of the plush, brown leather chairs in front of my desk, crossed her legs, leaned back, and sighed dramatically. "My life sucks."

"I thought things were going well. How's Lucy?"

"I'm sure she's fine. She's not the one who had their heart broken."

"She broke up with you?"

I honestly hadn't seen that coming. Alesia and Lucy had been inseparable for the past six months. Maybe that was the problem. Not enough personal space.

"Over text, Brody." She tossed up her hands. "Who does that?"

"An asshole?"

"An assholette."

"Right, well she doesn't know what she threw away."

"Damn straight." Alesia groaned and leaned forward. "I am a catch, aren't I?"

"I might be biased … plus, I'm gay, but I think you're worthy of love."

"Not a glowing recommendation but I'll take it."

I touched my chest. "Not into women, remember? I'm not qualified to determine whether you're appealing to other people." Not that I hadn't tried to make a go of it with women. My father had made it quite clear while I was growing up that queers weren't to be tolerated. It must have slipped his mind that he had no room to judge when it came to healthy relationships. I'd tried to date in high school, but I had still been overly awkward when it came to personal relationships at the time. Most girls wanted nothing to do with me when there were better catches among my peers.

"Distract me," Alesia said. "What did you do this weekend?"

"Did my best to maintain order around the house. Who knew four cats could cause so much chaos and mess. Glad I bought that second litter box."

"You and your cats."

"And Bentley … and the rest."

"I can't believe that dog is still alive. What is he now … seventeen?"

"That's what the vet figures." I'd found Bentley hunkered down near a construction site five years ago. Emaciated and missing most of his fur. I had never rescued a dog before, but this poor mutt had looked at me with such desperation and sadness that I hadn't hesitated to take him home.

He'd been added to my menagerie of three cats, two parrots, a hedgehog, and a gecko. It had taken him months to fully trust me, but now he was a full-on cuddle monster. Last month, I added another cat to my family. An old, crotchety feline from the shelter that no one wanted.

I wasn't ashamed to admit, I might have a problem. I hadn't been allowed to have animals as a child and now I wanted to rescue every single stray I encountered.

"And your love life?" Alesia tipped her head. "Hook up with any hot guys?"

"No, but I had an interesting pseudo-date."

"What on earth is a pseudo-date?"

"It wasn't a date, but it felt like one."

"Is that a thing?"

"It felt like it. I had intended it to be a hook-up, but it didn't turn out that way."

"The guy from the pub?"

I had told Alesia about Noah. How I was attracted to him and how he seemed to be a nice guy. People always smiled at him as he spoke to them. And he was close to his friend Liam. They were always touching each other. Affectionate but it didn't appear to be sexual. They never got that look in their eyes that signified they were attracted to one another. Just smiling eyes.

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