Page 9 of Say You Love Me

“Megan doesn’t want people referring to it as ‘the dog’. Her name is Sookie.”

“But it’s a dog.”

“A dog called Sookie. As she put it, how would you like people referring to you as ‘the human’?”

“Better than a few other words I can think of right now.”

Sookie runs between Liam’s legs, chasing a leaf tumbling along the ground. He stops to untangle her as she growls and barks at the leaf until Liam tugs on the leash to get her to leave it alone.

We start running again and I rephrase my question. “So what inspired Sookie?”

“It’s Megan sister’s dog. They’ve moved into an apartment in the city and because they work all day they felt cruel leaving the little shit inside. Megan fell in love with it when she went to visit so she very kindly offered to take it off their hands.”

“She’s trying to sway you. One day it’s a dog, the next it’s a baby.”

Liam shakes his head firmly. “No way. I told her before we married that was off the table. If she wanted kids she shouldn’t have said yes.”

“She might have been hoping you’d change your mind.”

“I won’t.”

Liam doesn’t ask about Finity. He doesn’t ask how I’m feeling about having her home, or how I feel about anything. It’s why I’ve been going running with him every morning. He’s the only person that just lets me be. That, and the fact that we’ve been best friends since childhood.

Mum is sitting on the front steps when I return to the house. She stands when she sees me and opens her arms.

“I’m covered in sweat,” I say it with added breath to emphasize the point but she just ignores me and pulls me in for a tight embrace.

“Oh, I’ve dealt with worse than your sweat in the past.”

I just stand there and let her hug me. I don’t return the embrace, but I don’t refuse it either. Pulling my keys out of my pocket, I insert them into the lock.

“You have your own key, you know. You could have just let yourself in.”

She rolls her eyes. “And remember how well that turned out last time. Besides, I didn’t want Finity to think I was invading her space.”

“But she must have been the one who invited you over, because I know it wasn’t me.”

Mum rests her hand on my arm, stopping me just as I’m about to open the door. “How are you, dear?”

“I’m fine,” I say quickly. Too quickly.

Mum smiles sadly and squeezes my arm. “You know I’m here if you need to talk.”

“I know, Mum.”

“About anything.”

I take a deep breath. “Yeah, I know.”

“Finity, work, Ca—”

I push open the door and she stops talking. Throwing my keys onto the dresser in the hallway, I give her an apologetic smile. “I’m taking a shower.”

“Don’t you worry about me. I’ll just make myself at home.”

“You always do,” I call out as I bound up the stairs.

For a split second when I walk into the bedroom, I forget that she’s home. I push open the door and it swings into the wall with a loud thud. Finity sits up in bed, her hair skewed at odd angles, and rubs her eyes. For a moment she must forget too because she smiles. And it’s not a forced smile. It’s not a smile laced with sadness. It’s a smile of before. It’s leisurely and seductive and gorgeous. Everything Finity is. She stretches into the air, her nightshirt twisted around her body, and it is when she’s at the full height of her stretch that she remembers.

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