Page 88 of Lucky Penny
At brunch, all I could think about was how badly I wanted her all to myself, just us on a date. But I’m beginning to wonder if that’s just selfish.
Maybe I’m meant to have a taste but never the whole thing.
Maybe that’s karma for breaking her heart.
“Thanks again for lunch.” She breaks my spiraling thoughts and smiles up at me.
“Don’t mention it.”
Tank shoves his nose in the bundle of logs leaning on the shed, but something startles him and he jolts. He glances sideways at me, stiff-bodied, waiting for permission.
“Go on, boy!” I holler, and he leaps into action, running in circles like a Tasmanian devil.
“We only had parks in LA, and I think he’s still in disbelief about this yard,” I tell Penny, but she’s doubled over, laughing.
Her eyes are pinched shut as she clutches her stomach, watching my dog put on a show. He does an insane parkour move off the back steps, leaping through the yard, darting around like something invisible is chasing him.
My smile spreads.
“What the hell is happening?” Penny asks, trying to catch her breath.
“Zoomies?” I chuckle, gazing down at Pen. “You've never seen a dog do this?”
Penny shakes her head. “Not like this!”
Tank stops a moment later, catching his breath, his thick muscular chest heaving.
“Now he’ll be ready to go inside and conk out on the edge of Fia’s bed like he just got off a twelve-hour factory shift,” I say, and Penny’s just staring at me. The winter sun casts a soft light over her face.
A face I’ve dreamt about looking at in person for so long.
A face I’ve had to see on social media over the last ten years, hating myself for even looking.
“Why do dogs do that?” she asks innocently, snapping me back to the moment.
I run a hand through my hair, chuckling. “Uhm… It’s their way of showing joy, I guess. They run around in bursts when they’re excited and feel safe.”
Penny bites her lips. “Huh.” Her amber eyes lock on mine as I nod toward Tank.
“That’s why I love working with them. They don’t hold grudges. Even the dogs who were completely let down by people know when they’re with someone safe.”
Tank walks over to me, leaning on my legs as I squat down to scratch his ears. He closes his eyes, pointing his snout toward the sunlight.
“It took some time for me to convince him I wasn’t going to hurt him. But then I became his safe person. He trusts me.”
Penny shoves her hands in her pockets. “You’ve always had that effect, you know.”
I crinkle my eyebrows at her.
“You become people’s safety, Jesse,” she says.
Those words squeeze the air from my lungs.“Oh.”
She rocks back and forth, sucking her lips in before her words burst from her, straight at me. “So…when were you going to tell me that you and Danny werebuddiesagain?”
Inod slowly, kinda shocked it took her this long to ask.“To be honest, I didn’t think you’d be interested in knowing that.”
“What? That everyone has forgiven and forgotten around here but me?” Her tone is sharp, but there’s an undercurrent there.
