Page 120 of Hound Dog
Outside Finn’s front door, I inhaled the humid night air and pulled out my mom’s list, smiling down at it.
Uncapping the cupcake pen, I checked off one item from her list that I hadn’t understood until this very moment.
Find your truth.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Finn
I hadn’t seenHaylee in three and a half weeks.
Twenty-five days to be exact.
And shelovedme.
Haylee was a lot of things—talented, smart, beautiful, nerdy in all the best ways—but she hadreallybad taste in men.
I mean, she went from Ben, the asshole, to me, the man who can’t commit.
But her poor taste in men might be the only negative quality she had.
Word got around town pretty damn fast about Haylee’s birthday party. First about Ben showing up, then about me passing out and losing my shit in the middle of the very crowded bar.
Luckily, I wasn’t so insecure in my masculinity that that bothered me.
But here we were. Twenty-five days later, and not a peep from Haylee.
Despite everything that happened, and our history, I still hadn’t fully expected her to go full ghost again on me.
Then again, ghosting was what she did best.
And it’s what you asked for,a little voice whispered in the back of my mind.
I told her I wanted the break. All she did was oblige me.
My heart dropped as I pulled into Meryl’s driveway. Haylee’s car was still gone.
Putting the car in park, I peered back at the salad bowl and cheese plate I’d made for our family potluck tonight sitting on my backseat.
Hopefully they’d be okay for a few minutes in the hot car.
As I approached the front door, my heart sank even more when I wasn’t greeted by the same chorus of barks as when I’d first arrived at her house weeks ago.
Even though I knew it was for the best and that Meryl shouldn’t have that many dogs under one roof, I kind of missed all those little buggers. I smiled as the image of Tyson’s drooly jowls popped into my head.
Luckily,I got the best one.
Adopting that dog was the best decision I’d ever made.
Before I even knocked, Meryl swung the door open, standing there in front of me.
I did my best to grin at her, but it was half-hearted. And based on the pity in Meryl’s returning smile, she knew it.
She leaned on the cane that she had graduated to using for her healing ankle. “What’s going on, Finn?”
My throat felt dryer than if I’d swallowed half a dozen cotton balls, but I managed to answer her. “I just thought I’d check on you and see if you’d decided on which of the remaining dogs you wanted to keep.”
I peered around her at the six dogs left and searched for Freckles. Maybe if Freckles was here, that would mean Haylee was somewhere in town. Avoiding me.
