Page 26 of Sweet on You
He stood, checking that Frost’s leash was secure beneath the leg of his chair before he swiped his phone, walking inside. All I heard was, “This is Alexander,” before he was out of range for me to hear anything more.
Biding my time, I pulled out my phone and saw I had another text from Yvonne.
Yvonne: I understand if you need me to come get Copper tonight.
I sighed and glanced down at Penny, now peaceful as could be with his new best friend, Frost. Even as people walked by the pizzeria, he didn’t bark. He didn’t even jump to his feet like I had seen Callie’s dog do a million times. Her dog, Ruckus, truly earned his name. He was a force. Penny wasn’t that. He just had… issues.
I chuckled and leaned down to give him a scratch behind his ears. “Who doesn’t have issues, huh, mister?”
Meow.“Oh really? You don’t, Miss Thang?”
I smiled and scratched Frost beneath her chin before typing a quick text back to Yvonne.
Let me give him one more try. Everyone deserves a second chance, right?
My throat grew tight as Lex’s words from earlier rang in my ears. What if my own family hadn’t given me the help I needed? Sometimes we just need someone to support us… believe in us. And for the sake of finding Penny his new forever family, I had to try to help him. Because with that intense level of separation anxiety, he wasn’t likely to be able to find and keep a new family.
Yvonne: Oh, good! Steve is at your house right now repairing your door!
I groaned.Stevewas repairing it? Great. That just meant Cam and I would have to redo what he attempted. I love my second-oldest brother, but there’s a reason he went to veterinary school and didn’t help Cam take over Dad’s carpentry business.
“Hey,” Lex said, his hand touching my shoulder. “I’m so sorry, I need to cut this short.”
I startled, jumping in my seat, since I hadn’t heard him come back. He reached into his pocket and tossed a twenty-dollar bill onto the table.
“Is everything okay?” I started to get up to help him with the animals, but he waved me off.
“Yeah. Yes, everything’s fine, just… complicated.” He sighed the last word so heavily that I saw his chest concave and his shoulders sag. “Please don’t feel like you have to leave just because I am. Stay and enjoy your drink.” Lex bent and lifted Frost from the ground, placing her gently onto his shoulders. She gave a disgruntled meow, voicing her dislike at being moved around. But just as quickly, she laid down across his shoulders, her head on the left side, her body curled around the back of his neck, and her tail swishing over his right shoulder.
I glanced at the drink and shook my head, standing and grabbing Penny’s leash. “No, drinking alone isn’t fun.” Not worth the calories is what I wanted to say, but thought better of it. I was trying to hide the crazy, not shine a spotlight on it.
With our animal’s leashes clutched in our hands, I gave a wave to Nick, who owned the place, and he waved goodbye as well before we exited the little outdoor seating area.
“Oh, shit,” Lex muttered. “I forgot I left my car parked at your house.”
Since I only lived about half a mile from Nick’s Pizzeria, we had chosen to walk. He sighed and thrust his hand into his hair. “No big deal, I’ll take an Uber and pick it up later tonight.”
I bit my lip and gave him a smile that was truly more of a grimace. “Your backpack is at my house, too.”
He winced. “Shit. That has my keys in it.”
“Is your apartment unlocked?”
“The back door is always unlocked for this very reason. I’m a dolt who forgets his keys constantly. But still.” He took a deep breath, his eyes fluttering closed momentarily. “Okay. Can you leave my backpack with the keys on the floor of my car? That way I can come grab it tonight without bothering you or having to ring the bell and get this guy all worked up over nothing.” He bent and rubbed his hand between Penny’s ears.
“You know,” I said. “I have a much easier solution. Why don’t I just drive your car back to your place?”
His eyes widened, and his mouth dropped into a panicked ‘o.’ “Tonight?”
Well, shit. Not with that reaction, it wasn’t going to be tonight. I cleared my throat. “Or tomorrow.”
Lex scrubbed his hand down his face. “Ronnie, I need to be honest with you.”
My heart dropped into my stomach. Any conversation that starts with “I need to be honest with you” is likely not going to be a good one. I swallowed and carefully answered, “Okay,” drawing out the word to be about eight syllables long.
“That kiss we shared was magical.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Truly, really, fucking magical.”
Huh. Okay. MaybeI need to be honest with youisn’t such a terrible phrase.
