Page 15 of Sweet on You
6
Ronnie
Irolled my eyes and opened the menu, studying it hard even though I had just about every item on here memorized. Ugh, why did I choose an Italian place when I was trying so hard to stay away from carbs? Maple Grove needed a healthy dining place. Somewhere that was farm to table.
“I need a dog like I need a hole in the head.”
Yvonne hid her smirk behind the menu, but I could see it all the same. “Except that you’re supposed to go hiking with a cat-friendly, hypo-allergenic, male dog named Penny tomorrow.”
I dropped the menu and put a finger into the air. “I never claimed he was cat-friendly. If anything, I made it clear I didn’tknowif he was cat-friendly!”
“This ‘he’ is the hypothetical, non-existent dog of yours?”
Yvonne’s smirk grew wider and I dropped my forehead to the table, sending the silverware clattering. “What was I thinking?”
“Whatwereyou thinking?”
I pushed myself back up and threw my hands up dramatically. “I wasn’t! He surprised me, asking me out for pre-dinner drinks, and I panicked. I said the first thing to come to mind, which was that I needed to go home and walk my non-existent dog. Which, of course, he didn’t believe and only made my stubborn ass dig in even further to the lie.” I sighed. “I just need to tell him the truth.”
“Eventually, yeah.” Yvonne pulled out her phone from her purse and swiped a few times with her thumb before handing it over to me. “Or you could foster this little guy for me. He’s at the shelter right now and I was going to go over there to let him and the others go pee one last time before I went home after dinner. I’m sure he’d be much more comfortable in a foster home like yours.”
Yvonne ran the Maple Grove Animal Shelter and was constantly saving any creature in need. If I had a chip on my shoulder the size of China, then she had aheartthe size of China.
I took the phone, examining the picture. He had wiry looking hair, a coppery red color and deep, soulful brown eyes. I swallowed hard. I’d never owned a dog before—outside of the family dog growing up. But even he was more Cam and Steve’s dog than mine. “I don’t know. I keep crazy hours with the gym.”
I tried to hand her the phone back, but she didn’t take it from me.
“It’s up to you. It can be as temporary as you like, of course. Heishypo-allergenic. And he’s the color of a Penny so your stupid name for him even makes sense. He’s on the smaller side, only about 30 lbs. But he’s an active dog, so he’d be a good running and hiking buddy for you, too.”
I sighed, staring at the image. Hewasawfully cute.
“And he gets along with cats,” she added.
I jerked my gaze back to hers. “Why would that matter?”
She shrugged one ear to her shoulder. “Just for the hike tomorrow.”
I could just take him for the day? Take him hiking, let him enjoy the fresh air and get some energy out before he goes back to the shelter. “Okay, fine. I’ll take him for the night and just for the hike tomorrow. But I’mnotkeeping him.”
Yvonne smiled, putting her phone away. “Of course. Like I said, you can foster him. And then… it’s not even a lie to Lex. Tell him the truth. You’re fostering one of my dogs until he finds hisfurever home.”
I rolled my eyes, taking a sip of my water. “You aresucha dork.”
She grinned wider. “A dork you love.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” I winked at my friend. “I just wishyoucould take Lex on this hike tomorrow, instead of me,” I grumbled.
Yvonne pressed her lips together and smoothed a hand down her silky ponytail. “Can I ask you… why are you avoiding Lex? I thought you liked him.”
“Idid,” I said, running my fingertip over the edge of the water glass. “But I told you what happened the day you got engaged. Up on Mount Washington—” Yvonne was literally the only person I told and even that was humiliating enough. Her reaction to the story was the exact reason I didn’t tell anyone else.
She waved away what I was saying. “No, no, I know that. But you never asked him why, right? There could be any number of reasons he said no that day. And you still really like him, don’t you?”
I felt my cheeks warm. Was I that obvious? “Yeah, I do. But I put my feelings out there. I made it known, asked him out… and he rejected me.” My gaze dipped to the table and I twisted the cloth napkin between my hands. Boy, did I know about rejection. Public rejection. At least this thing with Lex was private. Not like my fiancé dumping me the day before our wedding only to go running back to his ex-wife. But regardless of whether the rejection is quiet or on public display, it’s just not something you forget and get over immediately. Or at least, I didn’t. “The ball’s in his court now.”
Yvonne nibbled her lip, but nodded. “Right. And it seems like he’s trying to make a shot, but you’re ignoring his advances.”
I shook my head. “See that? That is what got me in trouble in the first place. For two years, I thought Lex and I were flirting. Two years I wasted, waiting for him to ask me out. I read into every smile, every joke, every free cup of coffee he gave me.” I hated how this made me feel. I hated how embarrassed I was at that. I prided myself on being different than most women who fawn all over a guy—but the truth was, I was exactly the same. I was still that girl who got dumped the day before her wedding when she was twenty-three. I cleared my throat and shook my head. “And I was wrong to read into all that. Flat out wrong. All those nice things he did weren’t some sort of quiet declarations of love. I refuse to get drawn in by him again. The truth is, he’s a nice guy. And I think he’s flirty by nature… but he’s notflirtingwith me.”
