Page 10 of Numbers Boy
“Sit, Stacy,” Steve says before opening the door. Just like at the coffee shop, his beauty stops me in my tracks. He’s wearing a thick, fluffy sweater in a dark shade of green that makes his eyes pop, and the hem of it has been cropped just short enough that a strip of his smooth torso is visible above his high-waisted jeans. I drag my gaze back up to his perfect face, and he’s watching me with a heated look in those deep green eyes. He pulls the door open wider and gestures for me to enter. “Thanks for coming.”
“Not a problem,” I say and then finally take a good look at Stacy, who has been sitting like a perfect angel while I try not to eye-fuck her human. Her multicolored eyes are mesmerizing. Ihold out my hand for her to sniff, and she leans closer to me. “I take it this is Stacy?”
“Yep! Go ahead, Stacy, say hello.”
Stacy gives my knuckles a lick, and I reward her politeness with a scratch behind the ears. As soon as I pet her, she presses up against my leg and starts wagging her whole butt in happiness. I laugh and crouch down to give her better pets. Looking up, I catch Steve’s eye as he watches us with a giant grin on his face.
“She’s beautiful,” I say.Just like her human.I keep that thought to myself. Even if Steve and I seemed to connect easily before, that doesn’t mean he’s open to being flirted with. “And well-behaved. I can’t tell you how many pets I meet that can’t wait to see what’s going on with the new person and just bowl right into me.”
“Yeah, we’ve been working on some commands, but she seems to know quite a few already. It makes me even more curious about why she was surrendered.” Steve shrugs, but the motion is stilted, so I think it bothers him more than he’s letting on. From the little bit I’ve seen so far, Stacy being given up doesn’t make sense to me either. But sometimes humans are dumb and don’t know what they have when they have it. “Oh well, their loss is my gain. Should we move this to the living room?”
“For sure.” Since I’m already crouched down, I untie my boots so I can get them off and not track snow into Steve’s apartment. Stacy takes the fact that I’m still at her level as a sign that I want to play and noses her way in, licking my face. I grin and give her more pets while I push her gently away.
“Stacy, give the poor man some space. Go lay down,” Steve admonishes lightly. Stacy immediately takes off into the living room that’s just down the hall off the entryway and curls up on a squashy-looking dog bed next to the small fireplace.
“She’s fine, just being a dog.”
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t hurt for her to have some manners,” Steve says, then turns to follow his pet to the sitting area. I think I hear him mumble something about “besides, she was making me jealous,” but that might just be wishful thinking on my part.
As soon as we both settle on the couch, Stacy perks up her head, and Steve pats the empty cushion between us. Stacy bounds over and plops herself on the couch, her head in Steve’s lap. Talk about being jealous.
“I guess that answers my question about whether she’s allowed on the furniture,” I joke, reaching out to pet her soft fur.
“Yep,” Steve replies, absently stroking her ears and smiling over at me. “It’s her house, too, so I figured she might as well have mostly free rein over it. The only places I like to keep her out of are my office and the bathroom, unless I’m in there with her. I don’t want to risk the electronics or all my makeup.”
“Makes sense. You said you need her walked usually just once a week?” I double-check.
“Yeah, most days, I’m here since I work from home, but every Friday, I have a late appointment, so I won’t be home to do her last walk and dinnertime. And then I might need some weekend help, too, but I’ll let you know if that comes up.”
“Perfect. I’ll plan to start this Friday and let you know how she does.” Part of me is curious about his weekly late-night appointment, but it’s not my place to pry. Sticking to the topic of Stacy is safe though. I glance down at the dog snuggled up between us and grin. “But based on how she is now, I don’t foresee any issues.”
“She is really great.” Steve looks back down at Stacy, and I swear there are hearts in his eyes. It’s clear that he loves her, even if he hasn’t had her very long.
“If you don’t mind me asking, why didn’t you have a pet before now? You said Stacy is a recent addition, but you seem like a pet person.”
Steve stiffens a bit, still focused on Stacy, and I’m about to take back my question when he takes a deep breath and looks up at me again. There’s a shuttered look in his eyes that dampens their usual sparkle.
“I am a pet person. Growing up, my dad and I always had a dog, and I always figured that after graduating college, I would get one, too.” He huffs an approximation of a laugh and rolls his eyes. “But my ex wasnota pet person. There was always a reason to put off getting one, so we just never did. After a while, I stopped asking, and my plan of finding the perfect pup was put on hold.”
“I’m sorry that your ex wasn’t on the same page as you.” I know I’m an animal lover, so this particular difference of opinion doesn’t make sense to me anyways, but I can’t imagine not giving this sweet man whatever he wants. Maybe that’s not the healthiest way to view things, but seriously, it’s a dog. How could you see Steve with Stacy and not do anything in your power to keep them together?
“Thanks. But it all worked out. I’m single but finally have the perfect girl in my life.” He grins and lands a smooch on Stacy’s snout. She lifts a sleepy head and gazes adoringly up at her human. Girl, same. I also can’t help but notice that Steve hasn’t used any pronouns when referencing his ex, and just said that he’s finally got a girl in his life. Was that just in relation to Stacy, or have I made some widely inaccurate assumptions based on how he looks? Lord knows I often get mistaken for a straight dude, even when my bi tattoos are on display. “I’ve already got an Insta set up for her and everything. Want to see?”
“Hell, yeah,” I say enthusiastically. Steve moves to grab his phone out of his pocket, and as he twists, his crop top shiftsso more of his waist is exposed. Before I can get too distracted by the creamy, freckle-flecked patch of skin, Steve straightens himself, and I pull my gaze back to his face.
“So, her handle is SweetAndStacy, if you want to follow her.” He turns his phone toward me, and the first picture I see is him and Stacy, probably still at the shelter. He’s giving her a kiss, and she has a big, goofy dog grin on her face. Under it, the caption reads “Found the love of my life fur real @PawsitivelyPurrfectPR! *heart emoji* #adoptdontshop #pawsitivelypurrfectpetrescue #sweetandstacy”
“That’s awesome,” I say and pull my phone out to find her. “Aaand, followed.”
“Oh, hey, Baxxxter99 just followed you, Stacy!” Steve grins and winks at me. “We should probably give him a follow back.”
My phone pings a notification, and I look down to see that he’s done just that. A few seconds later, it pings again, and I see that LoveMeOrSteveMe has followed me as well. A warm feeling blossoms in the pit of my stomach as I hit the Follow Back button and grin over at Steve. Neither of us seems to want to say anything about it, but I get the feeling both of us wanted a reason to stay in touch other than the sweet pup falling asleep on the couch between us. The moment stretches out, tension mounting, until Stacy lets out a snuffly snore, and we both look away.
“Um.” I clear my suddenly dry throat and start again. “I guess I’ll be here on Friday.”
“Sounds good. I’ll get you the spare key on your way out.”
Steve carefully extricates himself from under his dog, and we head back to the front door. He grabs a key from the small console table there and holds it out with an almost shy expression, his teeth biting into his plump bottom lip. I take it, and just like at the coffee shop, tingles race up my arm when our fingers brush. I remind myself that this is for business purposes.I’ve gotten keys from more people than I can count. So why does this key feel so important?
