Page 65 of Text Me Baby One More Time

“I’ll kiss you back.” She winks. “Now go get us a table.”

I shuffle inside, finding our friends and explaining to them the fact that we need to move this breakfast date outside because Denver is a psycho.

AJ finds it amusing. Allie’s just confused about why we came together.

“What the hell is this?” she says to Denny as we all sit down at the new table outside.

Steve tucks himself into Denny’s lap.

“This is Steve. Steve, meet Allie, your aunt.”

“Oh my gosh, he issocute. When did you get him?”

“He—”

“Just last night,” Denny cuts me off. “Shep gave him to me as a gift. Isn’t he just the sweetest?”

“What! You bought her a puppy?” Allie screeches.

“No, you nut. Your best friend is just insane,” AJ tells her.

I point to my best friend. “What he said.”

Though, if I’m being honest, Ididbuy the pug with Denny in mind.

I don’t even want to admit how many hours I spent trying to find a way to get her that puppy for Christmas all those years ago, but I couldn’t make it happen. I couldn’t make the purse happen either.

So, I settled on sending her one of her favorite comics, signed. And coal, of course.

That pug never left my mind. When I found out I would be on disciplinary probation the rest of the season, I’d figured I’d have a long-ass time off to finally train a puppy, so I bit the bullet and here we are.

Denny covers Steve’s ears. “You don’t listen to a word they’re saying about your new mommy. Meanies.”

“Clinical,” I remark.

Denver shields the dog’s eyes and flips me off.

“Did you two ride here together?” AJ asks.

“We…did,” I answer carefully, looking to Denny to see how she’d like me to answer that.

“I stayed the night after the gala. And no, before it’s brought up again at a later point, Shep did not score a homerun with me. I’m not as clinically insane as he believes me to be.”

Leave it to her to just put it all out there like that, like sex is completely normal breakfast conversation.

“Debatable,” I argue.

“Hey! Be nice to my maid of honor.”

“Tell your maid of honor she needs medical help and I’ll consider it.”

“He might not beentirelywrong, Denver,” Allie admits with a smirk.

“Quit ganging up on me or I’ll take my puppy and leave,” she announces.

“Mypuppy.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “For now.”

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