Page 1 of Hazel and Elijah Find Out: First They F*cked Around

Chapter 1

Hazel

IhadthefeelingI should be upset. Dennis seemed to think I would be. With his apology sketched in every line of his handsomely boyish face at the tail end of his,It’s Not You Breakup Speech.

“I think you’re great, and if things were different…” Atop the table between us, he rubbed the calloused pad of his thumb across the back of my hand.

Blinking, I glanced through the window into the dining area. Bettie’s Pour House was one of the more popular places to eat in town—which had more to do with the lack of options than the quality of the food—and it was beginning to fill up. Dennis and I were the only people seated on the patio. The temperature had dropped overnight, and apparently, no one else wanted to weather the cold.

So, while everyone inside was likely just eating their meal and spending time with their friends and family, I felt like I was in a fishbowl—being watched.

The white receipt from our meal flapped in the breeze.

I glanced down at Dennis’ beagle, Banjo, who tilted his head at me. He didn’t seem to understand any more than I did.

My hands slipped easily from between Dennis’ fingers and I folded them in my lap. I leaned forward with my mouth slightly open, trying to decide exactly how to say what needed to be said.

He waited. His face was trapped somewhere between hope and apprehension.

“Are we,” I began, then started again, “I think, maybe, we’re on two different pages.”

“How so?”

“I thought we were casual.”

Wrinkles folded into his forehead.

I drummed a nervous beat on my thighs. “That we weren’t dating exclusively. That we could have dated other people the whole time.”

His dark eyebrows shot up, and his blue eyes widened. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah.”

The feet of his metal chair scraped against the concrete as he leaned back. “Huh, I’ve never done that before.”

“I’m sorry.” My cheeks warmed, a blush rising up my neck. “I haven’t been dating anyone else, but I just…I thought we weren’t serious.”

He picked up his beer, then set it back down.

Gesturing between us, I said, “But we’re good, this is good. You thought you had to breakup with me, and now you don’t.”

“Okay.”

A sliver of relief seeped through the less comfortable feelings I was dealing with. “I just thought, we’re both busy, and this is convenient”—I held my hands out—“not that you’re aconvenience, or a hardship for that matter, it’s just like…”

I’m making a mess of this.

My hands continued in their random movements. “I thought we weren’t… I just didn’t think that we were like athing.”

“We see each other a couple of times a week.”

Pointing at his dog attached to the leash draped over his thigh, I said, “I’m Banjo’s vet.”

The beagle was a special pup, and between his diabetes and the random things he ate constantly, I saw him almost weekly. Dennis also brought wounded wild animals from Sleepy Pines State Park to my vet clinic for treatment and rehabilitation. Our paths crossed regularly. It was mutually beneficial that we were of similar age, single, and I found him attractive. But a serious relationship with him hadn’t crossed my mind, and especially not when I was still in the first year of owning the clinic. My available free time was almost impossible to come by. And I definitely didn’t have the emotional bandwidth to date anyone seriously, not with the demand to pay off my business loans and numerous daily choices taxing my brain.

Dennis was a nice man, but I wasn’t interested in him for anything long-term.

“Yeah.” Dennis nodded, his mouth still hanging open slightly. He looked shocked, but not angry, and I decided that was a good thing.

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