Chapter 7

Luxor

In my time in this world—and hells, even before then—I don't think I'd ever seen anything as fucking adorable as Zoe being mobbed by puppies. She'd ended up lying on the cement pad, and the little beagle mutts were apparently trying to lick her to death as she fended them off with hysterical laughter.

When it comes to the best sounds in the universe, Zoe hysterically laughing was second only to the sound of her screaming my name as I made her come.

But I'm probably getting ahead of myself.

It's not like we showed up at the shelter and I pushed down my girlfriend—no, my roommate —dammit, no, my hookup—no, my friend and let her get eaten by puppies.

I mean, not right away.

No, we were responsible and mature about it.

When we arrived at the kennels, I could tell she was nervous. It took me a little bit of thinking—not my strong suit—to realize she wasn't nervous about dogs . Actually, she kinda melted when she saw their excited little faces, the same way I did.

Nope, she was nervous about officially meeting Mrs. Albee, which was weird as far as I was concerned. The tiny lady couldn't be any kinder.

"Mrs. Albee, this is my friend, Zoe," I announced, tugging my reluctant roommate closer to where the librarian was cuddling one of the puppies. "She wanted to meet the dogs."

The tiny firecracker leapt to her feet, then had to tip her head back to beam up at us. "Well, isn't that wonderful!" She stuck out her hand. "You can call me Anna, dear."

Almost gingerly, Zoe took the librarian's hand. "Hi, Mrs.— Anna . I'm…uh, I know you from the library."

"Yes, I know, dear." Her eyes sparkled. "Historical romance, yoga, non-fiction, and biographies, right?"

Zoe looked stunned, as if surprised the librarian had memorized the books she liked to check out.

Apparently, Mrs. Albee—was I allowed to call her Anna too?—guessed Zoe's question, because she burst into a twinkly sort of laugh. "A good librarian always remembers her patrons' interests! Now, do you want to help me feed these little suckers?"

Wide-eyed, Zoe sort of nodded, like she wasn't certain what was going on. As Anna gave an abbreviated tour of the kennels, cautioning Zoe to stay away from Fishing Creek, which flowed past the rear fence, I got out all the feeding bowls. Then the older woman explained how much of which kind of puppy chow everyone got in their bowls—and how we had to be careful to screw the lids back on after, so the racoons didn't get in.

"Here, dear, hold this pitcher," Anna commanded Zoe, then gestured to me. "Luxor, be a good boy and close the lid, I can't reach it."

Knowing what was expected, I said, "Yes, ma'am," and did as commanded. As Zoe squatted near the puppies' bowls, I continued, "You know, Zoe is a librarian too!"

As the older woman hummed in interest, Zoe twisted to glare up at me in shock, likely at me spilling her secret so nonchalantly. But it was a dumb move, because it meant she was unbalanced when forty pounds of excited puppy slammed into her.

I should probably note it was five separate puppies, not one huge one.

Anyhow, that's how Zoe ended up flat on her back, doing her best to fend off the excited puppy kisses, as we laughed.

"Oh for goodness' sake, boy!" Anna chuckled, slapping my wrist—probably the highest thing she could reach. "Don't just stand there, save her!"

"Save me!" shrieked Zoe around her laughs. "Save m—oh my God, I think this one peed on me!"

I reached down, wrapped my hands around her waist, and lifted her straight up. She shrieked again—this time in surprise, I assume—and threw her arms around my neck, plastering herself against me.

Feeling the wetness soaking through my t-shirt, I looked into her eyes and nodded solemnly. "Yes, Zo, that one did pee on you."

Her teeth flashed as she grinned and shook her head. "Serves you right. Are you going to put me down?"

Despite her brave words, she made no move to loosen her hold on me . I leaned closer until we were nose-to-nose. "And risk you being savagely mauled by those beasts? I promised to protect you, remember?"

Snorting, she smacked my shoulder. "You're a goofball."

Taking this as a command, I slowly lowered her to her feet. "I'm sorry you got peed on on your first day. Usually, it takes three or four visits until the puppies warm up to you enough to pee on you."

"I must be special." Gods, I loved her smile. "But I was probably stupid to get between them and their food."

Anna drew our attention as she finished pouring the kibble into the small bowls. "These babies aren't completely weaned yet. They don't love the dry food enough to attack you."

"See?" I waggled my brows at her. "You're just special."

As Zoe snorted, Anna brushed off her hands. "The three little ones are rescues. The two bigger ones have been with us for a while, and they're almost ready for adoption."

In explanation, I scooped up the pair of beagle mutts she was talking about. "This is Seamus and Hamish." I pronounced them the way Anna had taught me when I'd started, so that their names almost rhymed. "The one with the black nose is Seamus."

Zoe whimpered. Swear to the old gods, Zoe whimpered and thrust out her hands to snatch Seamus from my arms. "Oh my god," she whispered, rubbing her nose against his. "You are the cutest thing ."

I tossed his brother over my shoulder in the way the pup liked. "I agree." Hamish wriggled happily and tried to bite my hair. "You ought to see them all curled up and napping."

"Oh my God," Zoe whimpered again, crushing the puppy to her chest, and making a happy little squeal. " So cute ." Was this really the same serious roommate who lectured me two nights ago on mutual funds?

It seemed like Anna was amused by Zoe's reaction as well, because she was grinning when she announced, "I'm planning on debuting them at October's Community Fair, and I expect them to be adopted in the first hour."

Zoe looked up, suddenly horrified. "But you'll adopt them together, right? I mean, Seamus and Hamish have to be together!"

Anna shrugged. "If there are two separate families that want one, and they both pass our background tests, we'll split them up. We name them as puppies so we can keep them straight…most of our adoptive families rename them. They learn their new names easily enough."

Since my roommate was still looking stricken, I stepped closer. "It's okay, Zo. It's totally normal for dogs. This way, they get to be the only dog in the family, with all the love and attention focused on each one. And to be fair, Seamus and Hamish are kinda dumb names."

"Hey!" blurted Anna, who'd named them.

Zoe's lips reluctantly twitched. "I suppose you'd name them Larry and Moe?"

"I was thinking Ragnar?k—Rocky for short—and Cobra." I winced theatrically as Hamish stuck his tongue in my ear. "Or something else with a long, forked tongue."

Slowly, Zoe seemed to relax, but she didn't stop cuddling Seamus. "I guess that makes sense. I'm just…I hate the thought of them being unwanted."

"Oh, honey," clucked Anna, reaching up to take Hamish from me. Or rather, demanding I give her Hamish, since she couldn't reach him. "They're going to be popular, and we'll get enough in donations, thanks to these cuties, to pay the price to spay and neuter the next batch."

I nodded as I explained. "Mrs. Albee says by making sure they're snipped, the pups are more likely to be adopted, and we cut down on future unwanted puppies."

"So, dear," Anna prompted, setting Hamish down and nudging him toward his dry food. "What's this I hear about you being a librarian?"

"Oh, I'm not!" Zoe blurted, curling her arms protectively around Seamus. Or perhaps around herself. "I'm a waitress. At The Waterfront."

As Hamish stepped into his bowl and lowered his nose to investigate the kibble, I explained, "Zoe's getting her mlis . Lims? Slam?"

Anna frowned at me. "Are you having a stroke, boy?"

Zoe snorted. "He means my MLS. I'm doing an online program and should have it finished up in a few months."

"I see." Anna tapped her chin thoughtfully as she studied Zoe. "And do you have a lot of experience?"

When my roommate began to frantically shake her head, I wanted to growl. Why was she belittling herself like this?

"Oh, no. Well, I mean, a bit. I worked in my university library throughout undergrad and my first master's degree."

"That sounds like more than a bit , dear."

"But none of it's recent."

Suddenly, Anna smiled. "Well, that's alright, Zoe, sometimes it takes us all a while to figure out where we belong. Do you like Eastshore?"

I could tell by the way Zoe's brows drew in that she was as confused by the question as I was. "Oh…yes. Very much. But I'm ready to move back to the mainland. There are more libraries there."

I was certain my expression was horrified as I snapped my gaze up to her face.

The mainland?

Zoe was leaving ?

But Anna hummed non-committedly and patted Zoe's arm, right above Seamus's butt. "Perhaps. Now, clearly you have a way with this little fellow, seeing as how he's fallen asleep on you. Why not sit in the shade there while I put this big friend of yours to work?" She didn't give either of us a chance to respond before turning to me. "Luxor, I need you to help me tack up the waterproofing, in case the winds are too strong later this week."

I couldn't speak, but I mumbled something and stumbled toward where she was pointing.

Zoe was leaving ?

She wants a job at a library, and Eastshore is a small town.

Yeah, but maybe there were online librarian jobs or something? I swallowed, uncertain, and hating the way my chest suddenly felt too tight.

In fact, everything suddenly felt too tight.

Earlier, on the beach, I'd described this weird tickling feeling I'd been experiencing as an itch . It was as if my Kteer had thoughts and was trying to get me to notice them.

But what in the hells did it want?

My Kteer was just biology, trying to get me to rut with a female. So it should've calmed down after I started making love to Zoe, right?

But if anything, over the last week, my Kteer had become…stronger somehow. It was trying to get me to feel a certain way about something, but all I felt was itchy.

And now, at the thought of Zoe leaving, there was a hole in my stomach I couldn't blame entirely on biology.

At least, I didn't think I could.

Anna was hovering near Zoe. "Tomorrow afternoon, dear, would you mind helping me at the library? I've already lined up your towering friend, and a few others, to set up the hurricane shutters. But I'd like some help moving the books."

The look on Zoe's face? The look of joy? It reached right down into that hole in my stomach and filled it right up.

I blew out a breath and turned away, hoping neither of them could see whatever was on my face right then.

I wanted Zoe to be happy—to find a career that made her happy and proud and feel like she was doing good for the world, as she always said she wanted. But I also didn't want to lose her.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

This isn't about you.

If Zoe needed to leave Eastshore in order to be happy, then I should support her being happy, dammit.

Even if it meant I'd be dying inside.