Page 4 of Bond Strength

“I’m afraid to ask.” I scrubbed my face with my palms. In conversations like this, I couldn’t offer much. I could be there as a shoulder to cry on, but my sum collected time as a boyfriend could fit into a season of baseball. Even though I was ten years older, dating had never quite worked out for me.

“The yam I’d bought from the grocery store the day we met. I planned on saving it.”

I blinked. “You know they rot, right?”

“Your relationship was the lifespan of a yam?” Olivia said.

Oh lord.

“Speaking of relationships, when are you bringing someone home, Noah?” Mom swept into the living room, where we congregated. She had her pale blonde hair back in the obligatory bun, her appearance always tidy, even in her own house.

My least favorite question. Hurray.

“When I start dating, you’ll all be the first to hear of it,” I said. “Who has time for dating when Emily’s got relationship yams?”

Olivia snorted, and we shared a look. Em shot me daggers.

Mom shook her head. She was an attentive mother, but she’d poured her whole self into being a mom and had been grasping at straws ever since we left. Probably why she called me so often to come over and fix things. Seb had the right idea of moving an hour away. Granted, he’d always been good at saying no, something I was garbage at. Thirty-two years old and I got tongue-tied, and the anxiety cranked up the volume whenever I might be disappointing someone.

“Em, you all could help me with my bridesmaid dress conundrum.” Olivia tossed the catalog she’d been sorting through onto the table and mouthed “escape while you can” at me.

Emily got up from the couch and pointed at the thick catalog, her nose wrinkled. “What kind of war crimes are in here?”

Mom plunked down next to Olivia. Her focus was locked in.

My cue to leave. “If you guys have this under control, I’m heading out.” Hopefully, home to carve some time for myself. I’d been pulled in so many directions that I rarely got the chance to decompress, and after long hours at the job, I needed space to breathe, to assemble my thoughts from the chaos in my mind.

Mom gave me a hug. “Thanks for fixing things.”

Guilt flushed through me that I’d been itching to escape so much. My folks weren’t bad at all. My mom was a social butterflywho probably would thrive in a badminton club, and my dad was the quieter sort who was off fishing most days. A lot like Seb. However, because Seb and Dad had perfected the art of disappearing, I was the guy who got roped in by the women of the family. “Love you.” I walked out the door and set off to my car, relief thudding through my veins.

As I approached my car, a streak of gold caught my attention from the street.

“Catch that dog,” Ollie Brannon hollered.

I moved before my brain registered what he’d said. I burst onto the asphalt right as the little blur was about to sail by.

“Come here.” I snagged the leash rattling on the ground behind the dog rather than make an attempt for the bolt of fluff. The tug sent me lunging forward, but I managed to keep hold of the leash. The blur morphed into a golden retriever who turned around and yapped at me in complaint. “I know, little dude. You were getting your run on, and I stepped in and ruined it.”

I led us out of the middle of the road to the grass of my parents’ front yard and dropped to my knees. The golden retriever was small enough to still be a pup, even if he wasn’t teeny anymore, and he pushed up on my knees and licked my face. A laugh escaped me as I ran my hands down his soft fur, which was fluffed out in every direction.

“Thank fuck.” Ollie reached us, huffing and puffing. He lived right up the street from my folks, along with his boyfriend, Liam, and his parents lived a few streets over. Growing up, we’d been close to the Brannons, two big families that ran together. Except the Brannon I’d been closest to when we were younger avoided me like I’d rolled around in smallpox blankets now.

Declan was a puzzle I’d never solved, and I couldn’t help being drawn into his orbit every few months or so when we ran into each other.

Myunrequited crush in high school hadn’t abated. He wastheguy. The one who made me realize I was into men. But no attempts of flirting had ever gone anywhere with him. He’d been dating women since senior year, so clearly, the crush wasn’t returned.

“When did you guys get a puppy?” I didn’t stop petting the cutie, who looked up at me with soulful brown eyes and needed all the pets. My gut tugged. I wanted a dog so damn bad, but with the way I always got yanked in different directions, I would never be able to give a pup the love and time it deserved.

“A month ago.” Ollie crouched next to me. “Subzero’s got so much energy. We only had one puppy growing up, so I’m not used to it. Plus, after Brandysnaps, Mom and Dad said we didn’t need any more pets, since we were their wild and crazy animals.”

I snorted. I’d met the Brannons, and his parents weren’t wrong.

“I’m surprised the lot of you didn’t all go out and get pets the second you moved out,” I teased.

Ollie shrugged. “Josie wasn’t a pet person, but Liam caved when I suggested a dog.”

Envy thudded through me fast and fierce. Liam had won the golden ticket there—his best friend fell for him after his divorce. If only it would happen to me. Granted, Declan and I were a far cry from best friends. I’d been pining from afar, ever since we went on different paths.

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