Page 27 of When Our Stars Aligned

“I donow. Jess broke the news to me a few years ago, but I still like my version better.”

“Your version doesn’t make sense.”

“Yes, it does.” She sits a little straighter in her seat and I know I’m about to get a little more insight on whatever goes on in that beautiful mind of hers.

“The original song became popular in the ’70s,” she continues. “And that’s when Tony Danza’s career began to take off. Coincidence? I think not.”

“You’ve really thought about this, haven’t you?”

She nods proudly as we pull curbside of my latest project.

“Whose house is this?” Aly asks as she stares out the window at the white ranch-style home with teal shutters. I can already tell that the wraparound porch is catching her eye. The house has been a bear to work on, but it’s going to be my best flip yet. I’d move into it myself…if I had a family.

“Mine.” I wink.

“Oh! Are you planning on moving out of your condo?” she asks, confused.

“Nope.” I shake my head. “This one is only mine for another few months. As long as nothing crazy pops up, we’ll have it done and on the market by early next year.”

“So…you flip houses?”

“Yup. That’s why I was near the college. I was at the title company signing papers for my last completed house.”

I tell Aly to have a look around while I go hunt for Travis. His SUV is parked outside, so I know he’s around here somewhere. I hope he is okay with me bringing Aly along. He’s not usually up for meeting new people.

A short yelp takes me out of my thoughts and has me running down the hallway. I’m assuming Aly found Travis, and if she outwardly yelped about his appearance, I will instantly lose all the respect I have for her. I’ve seen the looks, stares, andcomments Travis gets when he’s in public. People are downright ruthless.

I follow inaudible sounds to a bedroom we have yet to work on and grab the doorframe. There in the middle of the room stands Travis with his arms around Aly’s waist and they’re…laughing?

“Parker! You gotta tell me when you’re bringing someone over. I thought she was breaking into the house.” Travis lets go of Aly, but they are still laughing wholeheartedly.

“We scared each other,” Aly adds as she tries to catch her breath. “This room is like a funhouse. Please tell me this was here when you bought it because if this is what you do to flipped houses, my opinion of you is going to greatly change.”

I rub my hand over the back of my neck and chuckle. “Yeah, we call this the Hotel California Room and it was most definitely here before we bought it.”

“I can see where the name comes from,” she says as she looks up at the mirrors lining the ceiling. “I wonder what the people who used to live here were like.”

“We’ve wondered that too.” Travis chuckles, seemingly at ease with our new visitor. We don’t know who lived in the house beforehand. It had been foreclosed and abandoned for a few years prior to us purchasing it from the bank. That hasn’t stopped us from making up crazy scenarios for the former owners.

The sound of panting has me turning around and grinning. “It’s about time you showed up,” I shame Gus, the laziest dog in the world. Gus pays me no attention; he rarely ever does unless I have food in my hand. “Hey, Aly! Are you okay with dogs?” I ask.

“Of course,” she replies. A sunny smile crosses her face.I figured she was a dog person, but you never know. Gus won’t hurt a fly, mainly because they move and would take too much energy to catch. I shift to the side, allowing Gus to pass through the doorway, and I witness love at first sight.

Gus takes one look at Aly and hops over to her as she kneels down on the floor with open arms for him.

“Oh! My! God! Who is this?” She plays with Gus’s ears as he happily licks her cheek. A pang of jealousy hits me. Why am I becoming so jealous of the dog?

“This is my buddy, Gus.” Travis bends over to give the mutt a scratch on the head. He happily accepts the affection but quickly turns his attention back to Aly.

“What is he? He looks like a beagle, but his hair is longer.” Gus flips over onto his back for tummy rubs and Aly happily obliges. “Are you a hairy beagle, Mr. Floofy Bottom? Who’s a good boy?”

“Aw, come on, Aly, that’s emasculating,” I whine.

“He doesn’t seem to mind it at all. Do you, Mr. Floofy McFloofster?” Gus turns his head towards me and I swear he winks—WINKS—at me. Asshole.

“He’s just a mutt I picked up at the shelter a few years ago. They were going to put him down since he only has three legs. It pissed me off because…” Travis lifts his pant leg a bit to reveal his own prosthetic. I hold my breath. Aly has already seen the scars marring Travis’s face and arms, but the prosthetic might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Aly’s eyes widen, but her face remains soft. “Looks like you two are a perfect match.”

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