15. Its a Date
Chapter fifteen
It's a Date
Neil
Friday morning, I’d only been at work an hour or so when my phone beeped with an incoming text.
Sawyer: Break time! I’m downstairs [winking face emoji]
Me: Wait, why? You aren’t scheduled today.
Sawyer: I wanted to see your smiling face.
What a goof. I put Bubblegum in her crate and headed downstairs to find Sawyer standing in front of the shelter, cooing at the cats through the bay window.
Sawyer was extra cheerful this morning, almost vibrating out of his flip-flops with the way he bounced up and down on his toes when he saw me.
“Oh my gosh, I took your dishes home to wash, and I haven’t brought them back yet,” I said when I saw him.
“No worries,” Sawyer said, his grin growing. “Like you said, you didn’t expect me today.” He barrelled on ahead before I could say anything. “I had a therapist appointment yesterday. She said I’ve made a lot of progress—”
“That’s great!” I raised my hand to give him a high five. “But you could have texted me instead of coming all the way over here.”
Sawyer clapped my hand with a whoop and ignored my question. “I’m thinking, maybe even enough to pet a dog?”
“That sounded more like a question,” I said, crossing my arms and raising my eyebrows.
“It’s not. I’m ready.” He stood ramrod straight and gave me an authoritative nod, his expression serious. “I’m ready to pet a dog.”
I glanced over to the shelter’s doors and then back to Sawyer. “Oh… oh! Sure, I’ll come in with you. We have a couple of really friendly dogs in the shelter right now. Want me to hold it while you pet it?”
“No, no. Well, yes, but I wasn’t thinking of a shelter dog. I was thinking about your dog. Bubblegum.”
“She’s probably not the best dog to start with,” I told him, thinking about how she’d tried to charge him the day he’d barged into the office. Luckily, the sheepdog had been in the way, and Bubblegum had bounced off her legs, not managing to reach Sawyer.
“But she’s your dog.” Sawyer did a very over-acted pout and batted his eyelashes at me.
I ran my hand through my hair, thinking. Bubblegum was a tiny dog, so she probably seemed less scary to someone like Sawyer.
While I dithered, Sawyer started trying to convince me. “She’s like a bigger, fluffier version of Princess Fluffybutt in there,” he said, gesturing at the window and the cats beyond.
“Not that much bigger,” I said with a laugh.
“Speaking of my Princess, has anyone adopted her yet?” Sawyer headed to the shelter’s door without waiting for an answer.
I fell into step beside him. “Not sure,” I said with a shrug. We both waved to Shane as we passed through the lobby.
As soon as we entered the cat area, Sawyer beelined to Princess Fluffybutt’s kennel. He cooed at her and popped her kennel open. “Such a sweetie,” he said when she head-butted his hand, already purring loudly.
“You know, if you like her, get her,” I told Sawyer. Sawyer had a huge grin on his face and enthusiastically scratched the kitty.
“Her?”
“The cat? I noticed you paying her a lot of attention every time you’re here.” He’d also been lavishing attention on her when I’d seen him with Leon.
“I thought about it that first day. But then I got a little distracted by a hot guy.” Sawyer looked up from petting long enough to wink at me.
My face went red hot. “Yes, well. On that note, I should get back to work. I’ll walk you back out.”
I bit my lip, thinking. Maybe I didn’t need to keep Sawyer at such an arm’s length. I could do with a few friends in town. Sawyer’s positive energy drew me like a magnet, and I wouldn’t mind spending more time with him. Plus, it would give me time to feel him out regarding how he felt about trans people.
Before I could overthink it, I blurted out, “Did you want to come up and pet Bubblegum?”
“Right now?” Sawyer looked startled. “I have a better idea. She’ll be more comfortable at your home, right? I’ll come over to your place tonight. I’ll bring dinner.”
I bit my lip. “My place is a bad idea. I haven’t unpacked yet. Plus, Bubblegum gets very protective of places she considers her territory, like my house or the office. That’s why she tried to charge you when you barged in upstairs.”
“Charged is a strong word for it,” Sawyer said with a laugh. “But that’s fine. Then my place. Tomorrow night, to give me a chance to clean up. Bring the dog.”
“If you’re sure?” I asked, and Sawyer nodded vigorously. “Okay.”
“Yes!” Sawyer pumped his arm in a ka-ching motion. “Then it’s a date.”