Page 51 of Alex
“There’salways more, though. Look at these cuties.” We stop in front of a cage ofsquirming puppies. “Someone left them in a box outside the back door.”
“Goldenretriever?” I ask, sticking my fingers through the grate so the hyper pups canlick them.
“Mixedwith something, lab maybe? I don’t know. Might be able to tell when they get abit older. Would you like to take them to the gym? It’ll give me time to cleanout their cage.”
“Sure.”The way the pups try to run across the slippery gym floor has me laughing untiltears run down my face. They chase and pounce on each other, their legs slidingout from under them. When the time comes to take them back to the cage, I don’twant to leave. It’s been the only hour of the day I didn’t obsess over Alex andwhat I’m going to say.
Natreturns to help me carry the five wiggly balls of fur back to their cage. Thesmallest of the group licks my neck and face the whole time, no matter how Ihold him. “He likes you,” Nat says fondly.
Imake an impulsive decision. “I want him. I mean…I want to adopt him. I knowit’s a process.”
Natbeams. “Not for you. Just give me a minute to get the paperwork.” Fifteenminutes later I leave the shelter with a new buddy and a bag of supplies,compliments of the shelter.
* * * *
Christon a cracker! Taking care of a puppy is like having a newborn baby. The littlepunk turned his nose up at the soft dog bed I bought him and proceeded to whineuntil I let him sleep with me. He has to go out every few hours to pee if Idon’t want to wake up in a puddle of it. Arthur has been keeping him while I’mat work, so he doesn’t have to be penned up and he seems to be happy to havethe company.
Iknow I am. No matter how much sleep I lose, the little fur ball is worth it. Heburrows under the edge of my thigh while I sit on the couch and play videogames or watch T.V. Something about having him near calms me. It’s been over aweek since Alex left and I haven’t heard a word from him. I miss him more thanI thought I was capable of, more than I’ve ever missed a person. It sucks bigtime.
Whenthe pup—I haven’t thought of a name yet—does something funny, I want to tellhim. Every night I eat alone, I think of Alex cooking for us, coming in theroom with that cocky smile to tell me dinner’s ready and he’s not delivering itlike a damn waitress. I think of how he clung to me after Cooper died, and howI did the same through the cancer treatment.
Everlywas always the person I’d go to if something was wrong. She has a way of layingit all out for me without sugar coating anything. In other words, she kicks mein the ass when I need it, but she has a newborn baby at home and I’m not goingto bother her with my problems. I just need time. Isn’t that what people alwayssay? Time may not heal, but it sure covers up a lot of heartache.
Iswear the girl has instincts from hell. She waltzes through my front door theday before Alex is due to come home. Her arms wrap around me and give me a longsqueeze before she settles on my couch. “Almost forgot what you look like. Youneed a haircut,” she says.
“Goodto see you, pup. You just come to insult me?”
“Amongother things.”
“Where’sthe baby?”
Withan exhausted smile, she flops back against the cushion. “With his dad. Iescaped. He’s just like his dad…stubborn as hell.”
“Yeah,”I scoff, “that totally comes from Mason.”
“Iheard something interesting today.” Her brown eyes scrutinize me.
“Yeah?”
“Doyou want to tell me why Alex is staying at Parker’s when he gets back fromAlabama?”
Shit.Her words slam into me, stealing my breath. It feels like I’ve been kicked inthe stomach. Ev takes one look at my slumped shoulders and her voice softens.“What happened, Ian?”
“Ifucked things up, what do you think happened?”
“Haveyou tried to talk to him?”
“No,this is for the best. I should’ve known better. I fuck women. Lots of women. Idon’t date or maintain relationships. This is who I am.” Never mind the fact Ihaven’t even looked at a woman since he’s been gone.
“Bullshit,”she snaps. “You looked like someone died when I told you he wasn’t coming back.You love him.”
Witha sigh, I sit back, my eyes pointed at the ceiling. “It’ll never work.” Beforeshe can argue, she’s distracted by the puppy that wanders in from the kitchen.He must’ve been asleep or he’d have been all over her the second she camethrough the door.
Scoopinghim up, she cries with delight. “Who’s this little guy?” He licks her face likea madman, and she giggles and coos at him. “You’re just a little sweetheart,aren’t you? Yes, you are.”
“Ihaven’t named him yet.” I don’t want to admit, even to myself, that I’ve beenwaiting on Alex’s input. In case he’s our puppy, not just mine. All hope ofthat flew out the window when she announced he plans to stay with Parker. “DoesAlex want me to get his stuff together, send some things to Parker’s?”
“Hedidn’t say. He sounds tired, but then he’s been cooped up with that guy for twoweeks.”
