Page 73 of Hound Dog
I took a while in the bathroom, giving her the extra time to call Ben while I was gone. When I came out, I noticed her face buried in her phone, a small smile brightening her eyes and creating a small dimple at the corner of her mouth.
I ignored the burning jealousy gnawing at the pit of my stomach and paused by the bar to catch the score of the game before I eventually made my way back out to the patio.
As I opened the door, three women were on their way out. I stepped aside and held the door for them. The third in the group, a pretty blonde shuffled by me and smiled, blinking up at me from beneath heavily lined lashes.
She stopped in the doorway, stepping in close to me and blocking my path back outside to the patio. “I know this probably sounds really presumptuous, but just in case that girl you’re withisn’tyour girlfriend, I wanted to give you this.”
It wasn’t until that moment that I realized she was holding a bar napkin in her hand. She pressed it gently into my palm, gave a shy smile, and ran off into the bar.
I unfolded the napkin to see, unsurprisingly, her phone number written below the nameBrittneyin curly script.
With a quick shove of the napkin into my back pocket, I got back to our table to find our pizzas delivered and Haylee with a broad, albeit forced-looking, smile pasted on her face.
“What was that about?” she asked.
I bent down to pet Tyson and Birdie, who both jumped to their feet to greet me as though I’d been gone for hours.
I shrugged, taking my seat. “Nothing. Just…” How honest was I supposed to be here?
On one hand, it wasn’t like I had anything to hide. A hot girl gave me her number. I didn’t do anything wrong.
On the other hand, Haylee was looking at me, eyes wide and hurt.
But I was pretty sure lying would only make everything worse.
Lifting one cheek up, I reached into my back pocket and pulled the napkin out. “Fine. I got hit on.”
Haylee rolled her eyes. “Well, it’s about time. That chick’s been staring at you for at least twenty minutes.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I can’t believe you didn’t notice her.”
Come to think of it, I couldn’t believe I didn’t notice her either. On a normal day, I would have spotted her immediately. Sent over a drink and gotten her number, or at the very least, I would have made my interest clear.
But I didn’t evenseeher there. Didn’t notice the hot girl checking me out… not while I was with Haylee.
I tugged a slice of my Supreme pizza free from the pie and dropped it on the plate in front of me. “Guess you’re cramping my style, Rogers,” I said, doing my best to keep my tone light.
We were treading in dangerous waters here. Sure, we were friends—orfriendly, at least. But we also had history. And she had a boyfriend. This could get messy with a capital M if we weren’t careful.
She took a slice of her crime against pizza and plopped it onto her plate. “So, are you going to call her?”
Her brows bounced as she took her first bite.
“Eh. Probably not.”
“What?” Haylee shrieked, dropping her pizza to the plate. “Are you crazy? She washot.”
I stared at her curiously over the tower of pizza. “You think I should call this girl?”
“Why not?” she asked. Even though it was an innocent enough question, there was a challenge to her voice. That question was as loaded as a .22 caliber pistol.
Why not? Because I’m here with you. Because I can’t stop thinking of you even when we’re not together. Because a chill day hiking and pizza with no promise of sex sounds better than a naked night with this Brittney girl.
Once more, Haylee’s phone vibrated against the table. This time, she didn’t bother to look. Didn’t check. Didn’t flip it over.
“Maybe I’ll text her later,” I said. Then, I repeated what Haylee said only a few minutes ago. “As a general rule, I don’tmakecalls while I’m out with someone else.”
