Chapter 3
THREE
DAVID
Truthfully, I don’t know where I got the guts to message Josh.
After wrestling with myself about it, agonizing over the decision, picking my phone up and setting it back down no less than a dozen times, I finally caved.
When Wally sneezed, it reminded me that I didn’t need to find a reason to text him. I already had one.
My next agonizing decision was what to wear to the dog park.
And then I realized that I’d look like a fool if I dressed up in any kind of way so I wore the same faded jeans as I usually did.
Shirts were a bigger decision, but in the end I decided to dress like I was going there alone. After all, Josh might not even show up.
But he was there when I arrived. I stopped on the way and grabbed a coffee for each of us.
The drink tray also carried a few creams and sugars to go so he could make his the way he wanted.
When I entered the gated space, I carefully bent, keeping the drinks balanced, and unclipped Wally’s leash.
He wriggled as he made a beeline for his old friend.
“I know the feeling.” I muttered under my breath, taken aback by how gorgeous Josh was.
He clearly spent time on his body, if the definition of his arms was anything to go by.
He’d worn a sleeveless shirt today with an obscure band name on the front and a pair of jeans that hung low on his hips.
The shirt was a little on the short side and it showed off a strip of skin and the dusting of a treasure trail.
“You brought coffee.” Josh’s smile was warm and full of amusement, and then he stepped aside, revealing a bench, where he’d set a nearly identical drink tray. “So did I.”
“Well, shit. Looks like we’re going to have to coordinate this in the future. You been here long?”
“No, we just got here like two minutes ago.” He took the tray from me and set it on the bench. Then he pulled a cup from his tray and handed it to me, and he took a cup from my tray for himself. “There, now we still bought each other a coffee.”
Josh was flirting with me. I think. It had been a while since someone flirted with me. Was this what it was like? I’d have to ask Jax. He’d torment me a bit, as kids often did, but he’d still help me navigate this… whatever it was. Friends? Potential date? Maybe more?
Not that I was old or anything—okay, I was definitely getting there—but sex wasn’t the first thing that came to mind when I thought about having a partner.
Sex was great, sure. Lots of people liked sex.
Hell, I liked sex. But I wanted someone to laugh with.
Someone to share stupid jokes with. Someone to wake up next to.
Someone to make plans with. If some of those plans included sex, that was cool, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. I had two perfectly good hands.
Hell, I hadn’t even made a new friend in years. That was the cost of getting older, I supposed. Forced socialization in public schools, and then college, was how most people formed their friendships. But as an adult, it got increasingly harder to make friends without those systems.
And suddenly it dawned on me that I hadn’t spoken a single word, and an awkward amount of time had passed since Josh had spoken. Heat flashed over my body, starting at my chest and radiating outward. My embarrassment hit me like a bomb.
“Sorry.” I rubbed at the back of my neck. “I’m about as socialized as Wally, I think. I’m a bit rusty at the whole small talk, let’s make a new friend kind of thing.”
“You and me both. My sister rags on me for it, but most of my social life happens at work.”
“And what is work?”
“I mostly edit video footage for small production companies and independent content creators. Kind of got into it by accident, I guess.”
I nodded sagely. “I can see how one would accidentally get into editing video footage. Public places are rife with content creators. There’s this diner I go to sometimes for breakfast, and I walk in this one day, and the place is packed.
Like, not a seat to be had. Turns out, a video of the cook went viral. ”
“That was Bennett’s, right? That little family-run place.”
“You know it?”
“Dude, I’m a waffle lover from way back. Of course, I know Bennett’s. I love it for them that it went viral, but I’m glad the mad dash of people who had to eat there was short-lived. I’d have cried if they stayed that busy forever.”
“Imagine walking in there like, waffle reservation, party of two.”
Josh laughed and my stomach flipped. My blood heated, and my libido thought that maybe sex was something I wanted sooner rather than later.
Particularly sex with this man. God, the way I went back and forth between wanting to broaden my friends’ list and wanting to roll around with Josh, discovering all the secrets of his skin, made me feel like I didn’t even know myself anymore.
Had I been alone too long? Was that my problem? Or was Josh just that alluring? I had to admit that I’d thought about him far too much for my interest to be casual and when I’d thought about him standing me up, it had left me strangely hollow.
Our attention moved to our dogs, who were quietly wrestling around in the grass. They’d stop every so often and collapse into a pile of fur. They never strayed far from us, even though they had the whole park to run in. It was quiet for a Saturday.
“I thought there’d be more people here on the weekend,” Josh said, echoing my thoughts.
“It’s weird, right? I had the same thought.
Oh well, at least our little guys are enjoying themselves.
” Oh to be a dog. Life seemed simpler. Sniff the other dog’s ass, and if they were agreeable, roll around on the ground with them after.
Humans were a little more complex than that and most of them would frown on being greeted with a cold nose up the ass.
“I wish I knew what you were thinking.”
Josh’s gaze clung to me. The interest in his expression was apparent, even to me. I’d have to be blind to not see the way he looked at me.
“You probably don’t, actually.” I cleared my throat. “My son would be horrified if I told you.”
“You have a son?” Something like alarm flashed across Josh’s face.
“Yeah, he’s probably about your age actually. And he’s way better at this whole interacting with people thing than I am.”
Josh’s shoulders dropped in what could only be described as relief.
“Did you think I had like a little kid at home and I was angling to bring him a new daddy?”
Josh hid his smile behind a sip of his coffee. “The thought crossed my mind,” he admitted. “I don’t want kids, and I took steps to ensure that I won't have any. And as attractive as I find you, kids are a dealbreaker.”
“Well, my son is well past the age of needing a parent. He’s all grown up and working a couple of jobs and has a couple of boyfriends.”
“And apparently he’d disagree with your topic of date conversation?”
“Is this a date?” My voice rasped out of me, low and kind of breathless.
Josh shrugged a shoulder. “If you want it to be.”
“I—I wouldn’t hate that.”
He tipped his head back and howled with laughter. Nitro and Wally became concerned and trotted over, then pranced in circles in front of him as they tried to decide if they approved of his outburst or not.
“As long as you don’t mind that I’m old enough to be your father,” I hedged, suddenly nervous in a way I couldn’t describe. But it was the truth. Jax had to be somewhere around Josh’s age.
Josh stared at me while he sipped his coffee. The way his eyes lingered on me felt like a challenge. “As long as you don’t mind that I’m young enough to be your son. Besides, it’s just coffee in a dog park. It’s not like we’re running off and getting married.”
“Both are good points.”
“I don’t mind that you’re older, though. For the record, I probably do have some daddy issues.”
There was a hint of mischief about Josh that made me think that maybe he was walking the line between fact and fiction.
“Everyone has daddy issues. I never knew mine. He took off when I was just a baby. Mom raised me all by herself. Never gave me any siblings. And yeah, she loves me, but growing up I got the impression that she raised me out of duty not love. She’s retired now and lives in Florida with few friends.
We talk every so often, but we’re not exactly close. ”
I wasn’t going to ask him about his parents. I knew from listening to Jax that not everyone had great parents, and sometimes family was a sore subject with people. But Josh offered up his story anyway. Maybe it was a tit for tat kind of thing that made him feel comfortable enough to tell me.
“My parents hate my guts. My sister is probably the only reason I’m still alive, and I think sometimes she knows it too. She can be overbearing, but she means well.”
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I thought better of my words as they left my mouth, but it was too late to snatch them back. Thankfully, for whatever reason, Josh seemed to appreciate the insanity that came out of my mouth and he laughed again.
“Ain’t that the truth. Violet has two main goals in life.
One, to run the best doggy day care she possibly can, and two, to drive me absolutely batshit crazy.
And now that I have little Nitro here, I drop him off there when I can’t have him with me, and then I have to deal with her when I pick him up.
” Josh winced. “That makes it sound bad. And it’s not. I love Vi, but she’s a lot sometimes.”
“Can you leave him home alone? Wally here doesn’t seem to mind much. I was concerned at first, but I bought one of those pet camera things so I could keep an eye on him and he mostly just sleeps.”
Josh shook his head. “Nitro gets separation anxiety. And when he gets anxious, he barks. And barks and barks and barks. I can’t leave him home alone or my neighbors will probably murder us both.”
“I wonder if he’d get anxious if he and Wally were left alone together? If not, you’re always welcome to drop him at my place. I know you love your sister, but family can be tough sometimes.
“And how do you propose we find out if they’d be okay together by themselves?”
“Well, I figured that I could take you out on a proper date. One with dinner and maybe drinks. If you’re a movie buff, we can see a show, or if you’re not, there’s this little museum slash art gallery that I like to go to.
” I ran my hand through my hair, so fucking nervous I bet Josh could see my body tremble.
Was I really doing this? Was I really asking Josh out on a proper date?
“If you say yes, you have to cut me some slack if my dating skills are a bit rusty. It’s been a while.”
“Well, I’ll say yes, but you have to promise me that you’ll cut me slack for my non-existent dating skills.
I haven’t really dated much. When I was younger, I had a bunch of different reasons.
I had a lot going on. And now that I’m older, it’s just not something I’ve entertained the idea of.
But… I’d really like to have dinner with you. ”
“Then it’s a date. Are you free next Friday night? I know that’s a ways away, but I need time to find something to wear.”
“Whatever you choose will be just fine.” Josh raked his gaze over my body, appreciation evident in his expression. “But for the sake of not making an ass of myself, what’s the dress code?”
“Oh, nothing fancy. Casual but nice will be just fine. We’re not going anywhere that’s too particular. Before I get too ahead of myself, though, are you allergic to anything or on any special diets? I don’t want to make, say, seafood reservations and then find out you’re allergic to shellfish.”
“Anything I don’t eat won’t kill me if I do, but I eat just about anything. So whatever you choose is fine.”
It was hard to stop smiling after that, something that Josh didn’t seem to have a problem with himself. And it made me wonder if he was really into this date as much as I was. But I wasn’t about to ask him if he was and jinx the whole thing.
If he was interested, he’d show up on Friday night and we’d test run leaving our dogs alone together. We’d have dinner, and maybe I’d get to kiss him goodnight.
If I was lucky.