Page 18 of Except You

“I don’t think that I do.”

“Like a cute little puppy. A golden retriever or a Lab. Someone to cuddle with you at night.”

“Bow-tie, get that out of your head.”

“I think I can’t. I think it’s stuck there now.”

I huff a laugh and hand him some more bacon, which he shoves into his mouth, looking thoughtful.

“You seem lonely to me, and I think a dog would make you really happy.”

That thought, that realization, hits me somewhere in my chest, and I find it hard to breathe. I am lonely. I have been for so long.

Beau is the first person in a while that I’ve let in. Even the women I’ve dated haven’t been this close to me. They never got to know me—the real me.

“I’ll consider it,” I reply because I want him to drop it. It only makes him look pleased with himself.

“How about after you get off work, we can go to the shelter across town. Happy Paws, you know the place? And we can just look, just browse.”

“That sounds like a terrible idea,” I say, and Beau waggles his eyebrows at me.

Fuck, I’m fucked.

“Oh, Max, but I think it sounds divine.”

The guy working at Happy Paws looks a little too happy, if you ask me. He can’t quite seem to keep his human paws off Beau. It’s starting to make my jaw ache. The tie I’m wearing around my neck is starting to strangle me, so I reach up and loosen it.

Damn work meeting I had today. I hate dressing up like this and going into the office. I much prefer the days I can work from home. I can just lounge around in my sweatpants and ratty t-shirt, can even hit the gym if I want to.

Office days kill my soul. And happy man here with his Velcro paws is making it worse.

“God, did I tell you how good you look?” Chet says to Beau, his eyes sliding over his body. Beau is still wearing my flannel shirt from earlier and it makes the red in his cheeks and lips pop. I, the straight man, notice this. Chet sure as hell does too.

“You did. Five times now,” I grumble, and Beau nudges me with his elbow.

“Thank you, Chet. I try to look presentable, but I think we should really focus on the dogs.”

Chet should look slightly disappointed or even a bit embarrassed for the way he’s been acting toward Beau, but he only seems encouraged. Perhaps he likes that Beau is talking to him at all, perhaps he thinks that anything Beau says aimed in his direction is a come-on.

Maybe Chet is a stalker.

My hand slips from my pocket and my fingers flex.

This is really only to save Beau’s life. We’re friends and Chet is taking everything the wrong way.

“Oh god, Beau, remember that one night we went out? You got so wasted and you got on your knees?—”

Beau shifts nervously next to me, looking kind of embarrassed, and that’s when my arm snakes around his waist and pulls him into my side.

He falls into me with a shocked gasp, and Chet’s eyes widen as they take me and Beau in. He’s pressed against me, his hand landing on my stomach, fingers clenched against my abdomen. I can feel the warmth of his palm through my shirt and something possessive unfurls within me.

“I’d rather not hear about this,” I say grumpily, my eye starting to twitch.

Chet’s cheeks flame and he bobs his head, wetting his nervous lips.

“Of course. I didn’t…I mean, I didn’t know that you two…” Chet shakes his head and then leans toward Beau. “He looks straight. I didn’t know.”

“Oh, he is,” Beau says with a laugh, my fingers tightening against his side. He huffs an amused sound and glances up at me, his blue eyes dancing. “We can take it from here, Chet. Thanks so much.”

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