Page 15 of Numbers Boy
“He’s so pretty, Mom,” Isabella chimes in, eyes lighting up. “His makeup literally slays in all his pictures.”
I give in to the inevitable, pulling Stacy’s page back up and handing over my phone. “He’s also a nice person. I don’t just like him for his makeup skills.”
“Dang, he is really cute though,” Amy says. “Those eyes are something else. You going to ask him out? I’m assuming that he’s a client since this is his pet’s account. How does that work with you being interested?”
I rub my hand over the back of my neck. “Not sure. Neither of us has ever had to think about how dating a client would work. But that’s a way off. I don’t even know if he would be interested in me.” Although the lingering, heated looks he sends me make me think I might have a chance, and yeah, okay, the texts are a little flirtier than with anyone else I walk dogs for.
“We’ll figure it out, Noah,” Blake assures me. “Take some baby steps with him and see how it goes.”
Baby steps. That’s doable.
As the girls are packing up to head home, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out, and a grin splits my face when I see who it is.
“I take it from that goofy look, Steve just texted you,” Blake teases. “Now’s your first chance for a baby step.”
Steve: Hey, what are some good dog parks I should take Stacy to?
Steve: I think we’re both getting bored of the same one every day and I figured you’d have some insight for us.
How can I turn this into baby steps? I send him the details of a few that I go to most often because they’re easy to access from most of the city.
Me: Those are ones I go to a lot.
Steve: Perfect, thank you!
Me: Not a problem
I can see Steve typing for a while, and I wonder if he’s trying to find a way to keep this conversation going, too.
Steve: So, say you had to pick your favorite one. Like, the one you plan to go to tomorrow?
My chest fills with hope as I reread his words. Is he saying he wants to meet up tomorrow?
Me: I would have to say Bark Avenue is one that I go to most days. Usually around 1?
Steve: Huh, that’s usually when Stacy and I take our afternoon walk
Me: What a coincidence *squinty laugh emoji*
Steve: What are the chances? *winky face emoji*
I think we just set up a doggy date.
CHAPTER NINE
Steve
I STOP JUSToutside of the Doghouse, an indoor dog park that Noah has suggested this week, and stomp off my boots. There’s not much on them because it’s been too cold for more snow to fall, but it gives me a chance to take a deep breath before we go in. We’ve seen each other at least twice a week on our mid-day walks since I first asked for dog park recommendations, and that moment before we see him still never fails to make me nervous.
“Alright, Stace, you ready, girl?”
She looks at me and gives a quiet huff like, “Duh, now get me out of this cold.”
I pull open the door, and we head to the cubbies so I can take off her booties and hang up her leash. We’ve only been here a few times, but it’s been amazing when Stacy needs to get out some zoomies, and we can’t be outside for more than ten minutes without freezing our tails off.
Just as I’m telling Stacy to go play, she lets out a happy yip and runs over to where Noah is standing by a ramp. When he sees her, his stoic face lights up, and he bends over to give her pats. I decide to give myself a minute to enjoy the view of his strong, inked hands being gentle with her, but he looks up to glance around before I’m ready to stop ogling him. When he seesme, his grin gets impossibly wider, and he waves. I happily wave back and head over.
“Fancy meeting you here,” I quip as he pulls me into a hug. While it’s been a few weeks since we started meeting up, the hugging started about a week ago. I sink into his warm embrace, enjoying the feel of being surrounded by his big arms. I don’t know what it is about Noah’s touch that makes me melt since it’s not like I never hug my friends. Hell, Stu and I almost always have some sort of physical contact when we’re together, but this is different. Noah’s hugs are one of my new favorite things. How long could I make this last before it gets weird? I bet if I said I was still cold from being outside, Noah wouldn’t mind.
