Chapter 16

ShopGuy24:

I sent Tristan our ideas, and he wants to meet up tonight to discuss some marketing plans.

Wash972:

Okay, when? I’ve got to run home after work to feed and walk Bennie.

ShopGuy24:

After that then? I can come with you. Might as well carpool.

Wash972:

Are you angling to see my place? I’m touched.

ShopGuy24:

Nope, but you’ll be meeting some of my friends. I hope you’re ready for a grilling.

Wash972:

Meeting the friends? This is getting serious!

ShopGuy24:

As long as I get to meet Bennie, we can call it even. =)

Wash972:

He’ll love you.

I leftmy office before eight for the first time since the store opened. The staff had the floor covered. I still felt a little like I was playing hooky when I picked up Austin and drove the fifteen minutes to my place.

“972 Washington Drive.” Austin glanced sidelong at me as we approached my building. “You used your address for your screen name?”

I punched in the code on the keyless entrance and led him across the lobby to the elevator. “It’s not very creative, but then is ShopGuy24?”

“No, but it doesn’t give away where I live to all of the Internet.”

“Did you ever guess it was my address?”

“Well, no…”

“There you go then.”

When we got to my condo, Bennie greeted us at the front door, toes clicking over the hardwood floor and tail wagging so hard it wiggled his whole body.

“Aww, he’s so cute.” Austin dropped to a knee and ruffled the hair behind Bennie’s floppy ears. “I’ve been wanting to meet you, Bennie.”

“You weren’t nearly so excited to meet me,” I pointed out.

Austin rose, lips curved in a smirk. “Jealous?”

I slipped my arm around his waist and tugged him into a kiss. “Incredibly jealous.”

Austin smiled, eyes crinkling adorably. “Maybe you should show me how much.”

I dove in for a deeper kiss, happy to comply, but Bennie had other ideas. He jumped up, putting a paw on each of us, and barked sharply.

“He wants to go outside. Sorry.”

“Eh, don’t be. That’s why we’re here.” Austin patted Bennie’s head. “I’d want out too if you kept me locked up all day.”

“Tempting,” I teased as I grabbed Bennie’s leash. “But I pop by on my lunch breaks, and I pay a dog walker to take him out in the late afternoon.”

“Aw, you’re a good dog daddy.”

“If I knew being a pushover for this guy would impress you, I’d have brought you over before now.”

I opened the door and Bennie raced out, straining toward the elevator that would take us to the ground floor. “We’ll just circle the block,” I said. “You can stay here if you want.”

“Tempting. I could snoop through all your things.

“Who’s the spy now?”

To my surprise, Austin reddened and ducked his head as he followed me out of my condo and closed the door.

“I was a jerk when we met.”

Bennie tugged at the leash, yipping, and I relented and started down the stairs with Austin at my heels. When we exited the main entrance, Bennie slowed and sniffed around in the grass to find a spot to do his business.

“I didn’t make the best first impression on you either,” I told Austin. “We both could have handled it better.”

He shrugged. “But you weren’t a dick to me. Truth is, I had a lot of frustration about my business, and I took it out on you because I was afraid you’d be the last nail in my coffin. But that didn’t mean you put me in that box. The pandemic, the poor economy, the changing neighborhood…those all contributed just as much. More, even.”

I smiled. “So, what I hear you saying is that you like me.”

“Shut up.”

“Stop being so forward. You’ll make me blush.”

Austin laughed. “You’re an idiot.”

He looked so damn beautiful when he was happy, and as much as I’d taken a perverse pleasure in provoking him when he’d seemed determined to hate me, this was so much better.

If Austin could see we weren’t enemies—or even rivals—then maybe there was hope for a future with him. Between the online friendship we continued and the hot hookups we couldn’t seem to resist, this was already the most intense, satisfying relationship I’d had in years.

Bennie took off for the sidewalk. I had doggy bags to scoop up his mess, but I’d get it on the way back in. For now, I let him run. Luckily, he wasn’t an overly large dog, so we could take a leisurely stroll while he got the exercise he wanted.

When we got back inside, I unleashed Bennie and followed him to his food bowl in the kitchen. Austin watched quietly while I fed him, a soft smile on his face.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

“You’re all starry-eyed. Do you have a weird pet fetish or something?”

He picked up a spare piece of junk mail on my counter and flicked it at me. “No! Don’t be ridiculous.”

“What is it? Seriously?”

He groaned and averted his gaze to my dog, happily munching on dry kibble. “It’s just…I tried to picture this scene so many times. You and Bennie, living your life somewhere in the same city. You sent me a picture of him, so I knew what he looked like, but…”

“Not me.” I took a step closer and grasped his chin, lifting it so I could press a quick kiss to his lips. “That’s sweet.”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s just human nature. I was curious.”

“Hmm. Is that all this is between us? Curiosity?”

“I…don’t know.”

I nodded, disappointment weighing me down. We hadn’t gotten the best start, but Austin was the person I wanted to talk to morning and night. The guy I wanted to fuck, badly, but also the guy I wanted to finally sleep beside.

Getting past his walls wasn’t easy, but chip by chip, I found openings in his defenses. I didn’t want to force my way in, though. I wanted to be invited.

“Oh god, don’t look like that,” Austin said. “It’s not just curiosity, okay? But being with a guy is new for me.”

“Okay, I understand.”

The silence drew out, and I thought about ending it with a kiss. Maybe dragging him to my bed to show him how much we belonged together.

But Austin’s friends were waiting for us, and it was going to be a tough enough audience without blowing them off.

“Should we go?” I asked.

“Yeah, we should,” Austin said, expelling a big breath.

“Don’t look so relieved,” I said with a chuckle. “I’m not expecting you to confess your love for me, Austin.” I winked. “Not yet, anyway.”

He laughed and shoved me toward the door. “I see the ego is intact. Let’s go see if it can withstand my friends’ questions.”

I glanced back over my shoulder, concerned. “How intense is this going to be?”

“Well, Zach has been trying to pry answers out of me ever since the night we met at Roasted, so…”

“Intense, then.”

“Oh, yeah. They’ll be like sharks smelling blood in the water.”

“As long as you’re the only one who bites me.”

Austin’s eyes heated. “Maybe later, if you’re lucky.”

I grinned, willing to take those odds. If I played my cards right, maybe I could finally get that sleepover I’d been wanting. I reached for Austin’s hand, and he let me entwine our fingers.

Our eyes met, a thousand unsaid words passing between us.

And I knew.

Austin might not be ready to tell me everything I wanted to hear, but he felt it too. The hope, the fear, the swell of growing affection.

I wasn’t alone in this scary place.

We were in it together.