Chapter Seven

Bec

I ’m running late. Of course I’m running late.

I could lie to myself and say it was because I lost track of time, but I can admit to myself that I’ve been a bit of a wreck this morning thinking about seeing Aiden for his one-on-one makeup class. Well, one-on-one, plus an overzealous puppy.

I changed my outfit three times before finally throwing on leggings and a T-shirt with the Center’s logo. It’s my usual look for class, so I’m keeping it simple and comfortable since I’m up and moving all day and eventually covered in dog hair anyway. Do I normally wear this much makeup and curl my hair for class? No, but what the fuck ever. I need a confidence boost to walk into work today. Well, to run in, since all the fuss made me late.

“Morning, Abby!” I call over my shoulder, hearing our newest trainer return the greeting. I jog past the front desk into the employee office where I drop my bag and grab my clipboard and treat pouch, clipping it to my leggings above my hip. All the trainers share a small office, since we never spend much time there anyway. It’s mostly used for storage.

“Uh, Bec? There’s a beautiful man with an adorable lab asking for you. I’m assuming you have a makeup class this morning? I let him into Training Room Four to wait,” Abby says while tucking her braids behind her ear and leaning against the door to the office.

“Shit. Yeah, I’m running late this morning. Has he been here long?”

“Not too long. He didn’t seem bothered, so I wouldn’t worry,” Abby says.

“Awesome, thanks for getting them set up. Oh, and remind me to send you the name of the book the girls and I are reading next month. That is, if you still want to join us and dirty up your pristine book collection with some certified filth.”

“After seeing your face while you were reading at the front desk yesterday, I absolutely need to know what I’m missing. Consider me ready and waiting to be scandalized.”

“Please…I kept my cool. I’m a professional smut reader. My poker face is unshakable.”

“Bec, you sat with your jaw on the floor for two minutes straight, followed by a fit of nervous giggling and borderline squealing. Not even the phone ringing snapped you out of it. I don’t even think you were blinking.”

“It’s not my fault! That was my first monster romance. I’m not sure how to recover from it. The main character had…let’s just say they had some anatomy enhancements that were…intriguing.” That book had me questioning things about myself, mostly how I can find myself my own monster. Thank god for my e-reader. The cover was anything but discrete and I fucking loved it. But I don’t need our clients at the Center knowing anything about my books.

“Okay, well maybe don’t start me off with monster romance,” Abby says with a laugh. “Let me dip my toe in the water before you throw me into the deep end.”

“I promise, I won’t start you with monsters. But I’m not taking it easy on you. The mouth on this next guy is sure to be downright sinful.”

Abby shakes her head. “I don’t know why I agreed to this, but I’m in. Oh, and I’m heading over to New Hope this afternoon for a meeting on the adoption fair if you want to join. We have a new sponsor, and we’re running through updates on other potential donors.”

New Hope is the animal shelter where a lot of the Center’s employees volunteer. We’ve had a close working partnership between our organizations for years. I try to make it there a few times each month to work with the dogs waiting to find families, especially those with more difficult behaviors that could potentially ward off an adoption. There’s a ton of work to do before the adoption fair in February. It takes months of preparation, so we all try to help out when we can.

“Of course I’ll be there,” I say.

Abby nods and returns to the front desk. I smooth my clammy hands over my waist and walk down the hall to room four, where I find Aiden waiting with Hop. The mischievous lab is biting and tugging on his leash, shaking his head back and forth with vigor.

“Hey, I’m so sorry I’m late. I’m normally early, I swear,” I rush out, trying to catch my breath. He turns toward me and, ugh, it’s painful how handsome I find his seemingly effortless self-assurance to be. He doesn’t even seem real. He must think I’m a mess.

“Don’t worry about it. Hop and I were just getting a jump start on things.” Hop looks up at him at that moment, wags his tail, and tugs hard on his leash. Aiden sighs and looks up at me with pleading eyes. “We may be a tough case, so I thought I’d try my hand at some bribery to make sure we don’t get kicked out of class.” He gestures to the table underneath the windows where two to-go cups sit. “I didn’t know what you like, so I got a dark roast with sugar and cream and a pumpkin spice latte. Figured you could pick, and I’ll take the other.”

“You…brought me coffee?” He nods, looking shy and uncertain. “Well, that was really sweet of you. You sure you don’t mind me choosing? Because I would love the dark roast.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. I’m not ashamed to say I look forward to the pumpkin flavors coming out in the fall. The woman at the coffee shop said she was surprised to learn that I’m basic . Whatever that means. Here.” He hands me the cup with a smile so genuine, my stomach gives a little flip. “So, what do you think? Can we stay or should Hopper and I give up now?”

“Nah, Hop seems like way too much fun to kick out of class before we teach him how to give you more trouble.”

“See, I had a feeling you’d use your powers for evil.” He smirks and takes a sip of his drink, and I can’t hold back my laugh.

I perch against the table’s edge, hugging my clipboard to my chest. “I’ve worked with dogs much more challenging than him. To get started, I want to learn more about your history. I mean…not your history. Your history with Hop.” I feel my cheeks heat and I look down at my clipboard, avoiding eye contact. “What kind of training you’ve tried, if any. What his usual routine is. Who else is involved in day-to-day training. We’ll want to use consistent techniques with him moving forward. Anyone you live with, or you know…anyone who is over at your place regularly will need to use the same commands.”

“It’s just me that’ll be training him. I acted a little impulsively and adopted Hopper right as my last season started. I was away pretty often, traveling for work. I tried to train him while I was home, but given how often I was on the road, I had to piece together help from a few friends and hire local dog sitters to watch him. There was next to no consistency as far as training. I was scrambling to find anyone who could take him for a few days at a time. I didn’t want to be any more of an inconvenience by asking them to take on training too. As far as a routine, we haven’t had one. I guess that’s probably part of our problem.”

It strikes me that maybe Hopper isn’t the only one struggling with all of the changes over the last few months. It’s understandable, anyone would be expected to have a tough time having to relocate their entire life for work while attempting to train a puppy.

“All things considered, you’re not as far behind as you think. One benefit to all the changes you’ve had is that Hop seems really well socialized. Based on what I’ve observed so far, he’s friendly with both dogs and people, which is great. Let’s focus on using cues. We’ll introduce a few today, and I’ll show you how to apply them consistently. You’ll also want to work on establishing a routine for him, including plenty of exercise. He’s gotta get that puppy energy out, otherwise it won’t matter what you say, he won’t hear you over the sound of his zoomies. How does that sound?”

He seems to take a moment to ponder what I’ve shared. “I think finding a new routine could be good for both of us. A little shake-up might be exactly what we need.”

It might just be my imagination, or call it wishful thinking, but a small voice in my mind reminds me that I wouldn’t mind being a part of a little shake-up with Aiden. I push the thought away immediately. There’s no point going down that road again. He doesn’t need me gawking at him and mulling over missed opportunities. No, we’ll keep this professional, friendly at most, given our joined social circles. I’m sure that’s all he’s looking for from me anyway.

I take a peek at Hop, who is sprawled out on his side, his eyes wide and staring up at me. The dog is completely still, except his wild tail, giving away how excited he is.

When I glance up at Aiden, I find his eyes locked on me. His posture is tense, hesitancy radiating off him. “Bec,” he starts, then sighs, briefly closing his eyes before looking back at me. “Can I be honest with you?”

“Uh…sure, what’s up?” I say cautiously.

Please don’t bring up the baby shit again. This might be the time humiliation actually kills me.

“I wasn’t sure if you wanted to talk about, you know, the wedding and us? I know we were in really different places back then, and I…” he trails off, pulling his hand over the back of his neck. I wish I could say the movement didn’t immediately draw my attention to the muscles twitching in his powerful arms and shoulders, but that’d be a huge fucking lie. His damn T-shirt is too tight. His arms are undeniable eye candy. I can’t help but stare.

“Um, sure, it’s probably not a bad idea to clear the air, I guess.” I wrap my arms around my clipboard, holding it to my chest like a shield. Maybe the barricade will quiet the butterflies fluttering around my insides, making my heart race.

Are we really talking about this? I figured, given some time, we’d make a few jokes and just let it lie. But nope, we are doing this. Half of me is dying to hear what he has to say, while the other part of me is dreading it.

He takes a step closer to me. Hopper eyes his movement, then winds his way between us. He rolls over dramatically, taking his shot that one of us will lean down to reward him with belly scratches. But I’m paralyzed, the breath knocked out of me, waiting to see where this goes and hear where Aiden’s head is at. I’ve wondered ever since he stumbled back into my orbit.

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I know it was a long time ago, but I wanted to make sure you are all right with me being around. Since the season is over, I hope to hang out with Dom and everyone more often, but I didn’t know if that would be weird for you.”

I can’t help the wave of disappointment that washes over me. He doesn’t want to talk about us, not really. Just enough to make sure that he can be around, hang with his friends without me making it awkward. It was dumb to think he might still think about me that way.

Stupid, Bec. You’re being stupid .

That weekend was nothing.

I can feel my face flush, recalling how often I’d mull over memories of that weekend in the past few years. Especially when I needed a reminder of who I am or who I used to be before Josh and I broke up. Before I started questioning myself. Have I wondered if Aiden ever thought about that weekend too? Of course. But obviously we were just a fleeting moment. I need to recognize it for what it was and let it go.

“Of course not. Nope. No weirdness here.” I shake my head quickly, pursing my lips, and I can’t seem to stop. Looking back down at my notes, I huff a laugh. “Zero weirdness. In fact,” I say, shoving my hand out between us. “Friends?”

Wow, smooth, Bec.

I’m doing a wonderful job making this weird as shit and it hasn’t even been two seconds.

He slowly reaches for my hand and gently shakes it, like he’s afraid any firm contact might break me. His confused expression morphs into a polite smile. “Sure. Yeah, okay. Friends,” he agrees.

I feel my heart sink. I don’t know what exactly I want from Aiden, but when the word leaves his mouth, I know being his friend isn’t it. None of this sits well with me. I tell myself the discomfort settling over me will fade, and I really hope I’m right.