Page 81 of Hound Dog
Enzo muttered out the side of her mouth, “Methinks she protests too much.”
“And am I not allowed to have afriendwho’s a guy? Just because I have a vagina and he has a penis—”
“Okay,” Addy held her hands up. “Can we not bring my brother’s penis into this conversation, please?”
“Haylee,relax,” Enzo snapped, pulling me out of my confrontation. “No one is saying you’re cheating. But you have to admit, from an outsider’s perspective, it looks like the two of you are spending a lot of time together.”
“He’s helping you with the dogs out of the goodness of his heart,” Addy interjected despite being mid-sip of her bloody mary. “Which isn’t like my brother. At all.”
Ugh, I couldn’t exactly argue that point. I’d almost outed Enzo and Finn’s business once already this brunch.
But no one other than Enzo understood that Finn wasn’t being all altruistic by helping me find homes for these dogs. It helped his business, too. But to every other person in Maple Grove, it looked like he was just trying to get close to me.
“And let’s not forget that he ended a date early last night to come see you.” Enzo chimed in.
I rolled my eyes. “He didn’t end that date to see me. He just wasn’t feeling it.”
Another shared eye-roll passed between Addy and Enzo.
Okay, fine. That excuse sounded lame even to me. The table grew silent as our server came out with our plates of food. Our first few bites were so quiet, monks would have been comfortable dining with us.
The truth was, I’d been questioning my relationship with Ben for a while. And in the weeks we’d been apart, the little voice in my head that had been whispering,this isn’t working, was now full-on shouting.
But as usual, when confronted, I went into full combat mode. Protect. Preserve. Defend. It wasn’t one of my better qualities, but it almost always happened before I even realized it.
When I was ten, my mom signed me up for the summer softball league. I hated it. I was so terrible; they almost always threw me out into the right outfield just so I would never have to do much. Every time I had to go to practice or a game, I’d cry.
Finally, after a few weeks, Mom gave me the option to quit, telling me that I “clearly wasn’t having fun.”
Well, even back then, I hated to be “clearly” anything to anyone. Thanks to that little statement, I stayed on the team. Then, I joined again the next summer. And the summer after that. All through high school, I continued to play softball—I worked my ass off to get better. And I hated every second of it.
Even as I became the varsity star shortstop.
Why did I do this to myself? Was I doomed to spend a lifetime with Ben just to prove a point?
I sighed and drained the last of my coffee. “Okay, fine,” I admitted, slamming my mug down a little too hard against the table. “Ben and I have been having problems. I admit it, okay? But he’s coming to visit next weekend, so I really just need everyone here to give him a chance.”
“We’re not going to be mean to him,” Enzo said.
“Yeah,” Addy chimed in. “We’re not a couple of dicks.”
Enzo and Addy weren’t who I was worried about. I had no idea how Finn or Meryl would handle him being here.
“What kind of problems are you guys having?” Enzo asked.
“Nothing specific.” I pushed around some potatoes on my plate. “I just don’t know if we're compatible. He wants me to sell my mom’s house and I don’t think I’m ready. I’ve told him that, but he still pushes the matter. Plus, he’s really into social events and networking. And he works all the time. I like my work, but I want a life outside of that, too, you know? He’s not a bad guy…”
“But?” Addy prodded.
“ButI just don’t know if I love him enough to want to deal with all the other stuff. He works until ten p.m. sometimes. Every now and then, I’d just like for him to chooseme.” I paused for a breath, unsure if I should continue or not.
Enzo leaned in, lowering her voice as though anyone in our vicinity had any clue who Ben was. Or whoIwas, for that matter. “Are you going to break up with Ben?”
“No.” Not yet, at least. “I do love Ben. And things are tense right now because I’m here and he’s there. There’s been some growing pains these last couple of years since I graduated college, but I think that’s normal, right?”
Addy shrugged. “I didn’t go to college.”
“I think… I think I just need to be back home and living together for a while to give us a fair chance. I owe him that.”
