22. Jason
22
I don’t even like dogs.
She knows this.
I’m a cat person, sue me. But before you do, just think about all the benefits a pet cat has compared to a dog? They are small, meaning they don’t take up a whole lot of space. You don’t have to walk them because they have a litter box. They don’t try to eat you. They don’t drool.
Thank fuck, this fur monster didn’t drool in my car.
‘You said you’d do anything for me.’ That little witch. She knew exactly what she was playing at with her gooey eyes and sad voice. Deep down, I know she was messing with me, throwing that sad look my way. But there was this inkling of doubt, wondering if she was serious, that made me cave like an old twig.
“I’m sorry. No chip.” The vet beeps her scanner along the mutt’s neck for the fourth time, but nothing happens.
“So? Now what?” I mean, can I go?
Do I owe her money? Because I’m not a dog person, but I’m not heartless either. If she needs me to sign somewhere and pay some bills for me to be done, I will.
“There’s not much I can do. We can put him on the website to put him up for adoption, but I don’t have the space to house him so it might take a couple of weeks before I can here.”
I glance at the vet, my lashing blinking once or twice too many. She said adoption. That’s good, right? She also said she doesn’t have space. But that doesn’t mean…does it?
Her brown hair sits in a bun on top of her head, matching her brown eyes that are shielded by big glasses. She likes color. A red sweater peeks from underneath her white coat. She smiles. It’s bright, wide, wrinkling her crow’s feet a little more, and for a split second I think she’s messing with me.
She’s gonna call out ‘just kiddin’ any second now. But then I meet her joyful eyes again, seeing the sincerity in her expression.
Ah, fuck.
“Where is he gonna stay in the meantime?” Julie’s big eyes would’ve been adorable if I didn’t already know the answer to that question.
“I can make some calls for a foster family, but that will probably take a day or two.” The vet sets the scanner back on her workstation.
Julie’s pleading gaze snaps to mine.
Here we go.
“Jason, we have to take him.”
I shake my head. I’m not gonna cave. I do not want a dog. I tolerate Hunter’s dog, but I’m not in the business of owning one. Not even for a couple of days.
“We? You mean you.” I fold my arms in front of my chest.
I’m not gonna cave. I’m not gonna do it. If she wants to keep him, she can take him to her place.
But you did say you’d do anything for her. Shut up, traitor.
“My building doesn’t allow pets.”
“I don’t want a dog.” I’m not doing it.
“Just until there is space at the shelter.” If her whiskey eyes could look any more like Puss in Boots, they’d be comical. “I will help you with him.”
No.
She glues her hands together, flashing her lashes at me. “Please.”
I don’t want a dog.
But who am I kidding? Butterflies rumble through my heart, then their noses dive into my stomach at the thought of making her smile.
I scowl. “You owe me one.”
She squeals, and a giddy look sits on her face the entire ride home. Mine alternates between a glare for the mutt on her lap, and a smile when I glance at her beaming expression.
But regardless, there’s one feeling that covers my heart like a warm blanket on a cold winter day. The feeling that she belongs, and all is right in the world.
When we were still in high school, everyone knew about Hunter and Charlotte hanging out. The inevitable couple followed by the inevitable heartbreak, and we were the assumed sidekicks. But no one realized that Julie and I have been friends from the moment we first met. Or that she used to be at my house all the time because of my brother. Having her around me feels… normal.
“What’s a good name for him?” Julie takes his little head in her hands, staring into his coffee-brown eyes that spell victory.
Bet the mutt feels like he hit the jackpot.
“Mutt.”
“Mutt? We can’t name him mutt.”
“Why not? It fully sums him up.”
“Oh, please,” she huffs, followed by a chuckle. “Don’t pretend this little fella isn’t cute as hell.”
“He’s a mutt.”
“And you’re a grump.” She sticks out her tongue, and that gets a laugh out of me.
“What? Remember how Berry’s dog bit me at that pool party? The son of a bitch tried to eat me for lunch because I kicked his ball. Sorry if I’m not as excited to take in a domesticated wolf as you are.”
That dog was a psycho.
“Oh my god! You’re still traumatized from that?” Her eyes are wide, her grin expanding—and yes, I’m still traumatized from that.
I still have the scars to remind me.
“Look at him.” She turns Mutt toward me, two sets of dopey eyes pleading with mine. “He’s not a killer machine. He’s a cuddle machine.”
He does look cute. Especially when she traps him against her chest, and he settles into her body even deeper. I’m not gonna admit that, though.
“Still think his name is Mutt.” I shrug.
“Maybe you’re right. Mutt .” The name rolls off her tongue a few times to get familiar with it, and I park my car in the garage below my building. “Okay, Mutt it is.”
We get out of the car, the dog trailing behind Julie with his new collar while I get all the other shit that we picked up on the way home.
Dog bed, food, and water bowls, the ones with an army green pattern because that was more tough , a leash, a bag of food that doesn’t say ‘here for a couple of nights’ but what do I know? And a toothbrush. A goodman toothbrush for a dog.
Not sure who’s going to be brushing Mutt’s teeth, but we all know it’s not going to be me.
What did I get myself into?
A couple of kisses from the blonde I can’t get out of my mind, and I already have a roommate. And it’s not the one I want.
When we get to my floor, she takes some of the load so I can open the front door, and as soon as I do, Mutt races in, jumping on my soft gray velvet couch.
“No, no, no!” Goddamnit.
Before I have one foot through the door, he’s curled up in a corner of the couch, looking at me like he doesn’t understand why I’m yelling.
“Wow, this is yours?” Jules strides past me, walking into the open space of my living room.
There’s nothing special about how she slogs in, nothing sensual about her moves, so why does my heart feel like it’s about to explode?
The final rays of sunshine glisten above her blonde hair, her blue sundress looking almost purple from the light of my windows cascading at her back.
“Welcome to your temporary home, Mutt.” Her cheeks are rosy, her smile relaxed as she rubs her fingers over his head. “He likes it.”
My breathing turns shaky because, fuck me, her standing so close to my couch is a bad idea. All I can think of, all my dick can think of, is how her hair would look against the gray fabric. How well the stoney color will make her skin look like a milky pink. How gorgeous she would look naked and at my mercy.
Fuck.
I gulp, my gullet feeling harsh and scratchy like gravel. Now that she’s in my condo, we’re treading into risky territory. I want to keep her there.
“What?” Innocence stares back at me.
“This is dangerous.”
“What is?”
“You,” I groan, slowly taking a few steps forward. “In my space.”
Big eyes find mine again for the hundredth times today, but now I wonder if they are that big when she’s on her knees, swallowing me like it’s the best thing that’s ever been in her mouth. I move past the glass coffee table, my feet connecting with the rug underneath it.
She darts to the other side of the couch, using it as a border between us.
“Jules.”
“Slow, Jason. We said slow .” I hear her words, but they become lies when I see the clear desire in her gaze.
I know what we said, and I’m regretting every second of it now.
I don’t want to take shit slow. I want to hit home and make her mine.
Her chest moves up and down in shallow breaths, her cheeks turning the same shade as the peaches she loves.
“Should’ve thought about that before you walked into my condo like you belong.”
Desire courses through my body, my balls turning blue with each step I take.
I’m done waiting. I’m done being patient.
She swallows. I prepare to launch at her, my hands rolling into fists to stay patient.
“I should go.”
“Nah-ah,” I tsk.
There’s a sparkle in her eyes that wants me to chase her; I can feel it in the crisp air circling around us. She wants this. She feels this. But I ain’t playing. If we’re crossing that line, we’re crossing it for good. For real.
I’m ready for it, more than I’ve been ready for anything in my life, but there’s still hesitation in her expression. Even though I can almost hear her body sing to me.
She shuffles sideways, a sassy grin spreading her plump lips. “I’m gonna go.”
I leap, just for the sake of it, and she squeals, the sound one of the best things I’ve heard in my life. With a soft thud, I land on the pillows while my girl darts toward the front door.
Because fuck it. She is my girl. Whatever she had with Jacob, it doesn’t change the fact that she’s mine. She has always been mine.
“I’m going now!” She twirls, never missing a beat, playfully waving at me.
God, she’s sexy when she’s messing with me. That twinkle in her eyes, the flow of her sundress dancing around her thighs, blonde flying through the air.
I settle deeper into the couch, trail every move, resting my head against the back.
“Hey, Jules?” I call out when she reaches the front door.
She turns one final time, and my grin is wolfish when I wink. “You can’t keep running from me.”
And I get one more set of wide eyes and a swallow of her slender throat, before she disappears, and I chuckle into the empty room.
She’s mine.