Page 18 of Just Another Meet Cute
“There’s only one tiny problem that you left out.” I held both hands up when she tried to hand me the leash again. “I’m allergic to dogs, and I’m pretty sure one whiff of that particular furball will make my face swell up in five seconds flat. And I doubt Ryan has any interest in dating a blowfish.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “I didn’t know that.”
“It was a recent revelation.”Thanks to Dad, I quietly said to myself.
In one of his dozen ploys to win me over six months ago, he brought home an adorable corgi named Melanie. I’ll admit, it actually started to work. Dad and I took her on walks and had a few conversations that weren’t totally awkward. That was until we realized that my burning eyes and itchy face weren’t because of the pollen outside or my new contacts. It was little Melanie.
The next day, she went straight to Mom’s coworker, Heather, and our conversations disappeared right along with her.
Linh’s disappointed face was so long that I stopped trying to get away for a second. “Well, maybe I could take some Benadryl or something. That might help.”
“Won’t it make you sleepy though?” Before I could answer, she snapped her fingers together. “Maybe some coffee will cancel out the effects of the medicine. Come on. We can pick some up from Starbucks on the way to the park.”
“I’m not sure that’s how it works, but we could try.” Even though the thought of drinking coffee again made my stomach turn, I made one last ditch effort to get out of the plan. “Wait, do we even have any allergy medicine? Maybeyoushould take Chrissy—”
“Don’t worry, we should have some Benadryl in the kitchen. Along with a box of Salonpas and a dozen tiny bottles of d?u xanh. You know, the green Eagle Brand oil that Báloved.”
With that decided, Linh tugged the dog down the porch steps, or at least tried to. It was pretty difficult, since Chrissy was gigantic—her head was practically at Linh’s waist—and she clearly didn’t feel like moving yet. “By the way, Chrissy called shotgun so you’ll have to sit in the back. Don’t worry, I cleared out the back seat for you already.”
“Gee, thanks. Are you going to roll down the window for me, too?”
She winked. “Only if you’re good.”
This time I didn’t even try to suppress my groan as I trekked back into the house to search through the medicine cabinet. As I rummaged through the stacks of various bottles, one thought kept looping over and over through my mind.
Ryan better be worth all this trouble.
Out of all the dogs in the world, Linh had to get me the happiest, fluffiest dog thateveryonewanted to pet. On theoneday I did not have time to be friendly.
It took nearly fifteen minutes for me to drag Chrissy across the park to meet Ryan. Not only did she stop to sniff every freaking flower along the way, butalso people kept fawning and stopping to play with her. Kids, teens, adults. It didn’t matter. Everyone loved this dog. Plus, they kept asking me questions about her breed and her age. And they wouldn’t take “I don’t know” for an answer.
At least the Benadryl seemed to be working. Twenty minutes in the car with her and I hadn’t gotten itchy or puffed up yet. Thankfully, Linh wasn’t joking about cracking a window for me, so the fresh air helped.
Finally, after saying goodbye to what felt like the hundredth person that afternoon, I spotted Ryan by the hot dog stand next to the fountain.
“Come on, Chrissy. Time to make him fall in love with us.” I tugged on her leash until we were both practically running. Skidding to a stop about ten feet behind Ryan, I walked the rest of the way and tried not to look too eager.
Chrissy, on the other hand, didn’t care about playing hard to get. I barely said hi before she nuzzled his leg and leaped up until her paws were all over his chest. To my horror, she left a couple of big ol’ brown paw prints on his clean blue polo shirt.
“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” I tugged on her leash. “Down, girl. Come on, down!”
Thankfully, Ryan just laughed, which only encouraged her. Woofing excitedly, she stretched up and licked his face a few more times before finally jumping down.
After I was sure that she wasn’t going to pounce on him again, I rushed to his side. “I’m so, so sorry. Here, let me …”
My hands swept up and down the front of his shirt to get the dirt off. Eventhough I felt terrible, I couldn’t help noticing how firm his chest was. I pressed down a little bit with my fingertips. Yep, definitely all muscle through the thin shirt. Those gym sessions must be REALLY worth it. Damn …
The hot dog guy coughed, and I realized that it looked like I was standing there stroking Ryan’s chest like some kind of perv. I swear, even Chrissy was giving me The Look now. Like she hadn’t been doing the same thing a minute ago.
And yet … I was still feeling him up.
My cheeks exploded with heat, and I yanked my hands back. “So, uh, what do you want to do?”
“We could walk around the park for a bit. There’s a dog park not too far from here.” Chuckling, Ryan nodded at Chrissy. “It looks like she has some pent-up energy to work off.”
“She definitely does.”
“You’re a pretty girl.” He reached down and scratched behind her left ear. She cocked her head to the side for him to get better access. “Although I usually like to get to know someone’s name before I let them go to second base with me, but I think I’ll let her be an exception.”
