Page 19 of It Should Have Been Me

“He’s adorable.”

Cat kneels beside me and pets him on the head. I notice my ring is still on her finger. I’m not even going to try to analyze why she wears it. It’s either going to confuse me or piss me the fuck off. Instead, I focus on the little pup in my hands.

Rocky gives a small yelp as he yawns, then licks my nose. “I love the smell of puppy breath.”

Cat nods. “Me too. And his fur is so soft. I just want to cuddle him all day. We never had a dog growing up.”

“Same. My mom hates pets.”

“Your mom hates everything,” she agrees with a giggle.

We spend about fifteen minutes playing with Rocky before Megan comes back in.

“Sorry, so sorry, Mr. Carter, but we, uh, we need to clean the cages and feed them now.”

“Alright.” I stand up and help Cat up as well.

We walk back to the reception area and Kaitlin’s green eyes slowly appraise me again. I try not to take notice of it, but it’s a little hard when she’s looking at me like she wants to drag me into the nearest storage closet and have her way with me.

“I’ll come back next week,” I say, using Cat as a shield as we walk toward the door.

She winks at me. “See you next week, Scott.”

I exit as quickly as I can and walk back to my car.

“Wow!” Cat says as I open the door for her. “You were getting some seriouscome-hithereyes there.”

After she climbs in, I jog around to get in as well. “Holy shit! That was so awkward. I should be used to it because she does it all the time, but her persistence still shocks me.” My stomach grumbles, and I realize I’ve only had a protein shake today. “Hey, I’m starving. You wanna get something to eat?”

She gives it a moment’s thought, then nods with only the slightest hint of uncertainty. “Sure.” After another second of silence, she turns to give me a curious glance. “Can you explain this conundrum to me? How are you single when you have girls like that so desperately wanting to bang you?”

Just those words make me cringe. “Aah...I don’t want to think about her in that way.”

“Your younger self would’ve been all up in that.”

“I know. It’s quite disappointing how level-headed and responsible I am now.” I switch on the car and back out of the parking bay. “You see, the women who want to...bangme, as you so eloquently put it, generally fit into two distinct demographics. College girls who are too young and I could lose my job, and divorced moms at the high school who are too old...and I could lose my job. It kinda narrows down my options.”

“So, you just don’t date...at all?”

“No, I date alot. My dad keeps setting me up on these blind dates, but shit, some of these women...they just see the dollar signs.”

Confusion wrinkles her forehead. “Have your parents changed their mind about your inheritance?”

“C’mon, Cat. You know better than that. Both my parents need to sign to change the clause of the trust fund and my mother still refuses. But my dad doesn’t mention that to them. No, he just leaves me to walk unsuspectingly into these marriage traps. He’s agreatfather.”

I park the car outside a small bistro and unstrap my seatbelt. Cat gets out and meets me on the sidewalk. It’s a beautiful day so we choose the outdoor dining area. A waitress comes to take our order. I decide on the chicken cordon bleu while Cat orders grilled hake with a side salad. As soon as the waitress leaves, she resumes our conversation.

“Any of those relationships blossom into anything?”

“The longest I’ve dated a girl...since you...was eight months,” I reply. “And this is gonna shock you. Do you remember Courtney?”

Her eyebrows crease as she tries to recall. “That shy, nerdy girl who used to sit in front of me in math?”

“Yep. That’s the one. She’s hot as fuck now...and not so shy anymore. We dated, and it was great...and then it was over. We broke up about a year and a half ago.”

“Courtney? Please tell me you didn’t break her heart.”

“That’s a bit judgy. If you must know,sheended it.”

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