Page 20 of I Hate Myself for Loving You
If he would just go away, she could rifle his bedroom. But Lassiter had other ideas.
Stroking her spine, letting his fingers tangle in her coat, he asked, “So what’s your story, Princess? You lost? A stray?”
Father God, he wanted to bond. What else could she do but listen? Sitting back on her haunches, Avery let him ramble, watching his delicious mouth move.
He looked deeply into her eyes, almost making her cringe for fear of discovery. “Do you need a home? You could always stay here with Bud and me. We don’t have a lot of room, but we can make adjustments. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a pet. Whaddya say? Wanna hang out with us?”
I’d rather walk over an acre of broken glass using only my lips.
Lassiter smiled, pale and perfect, booping her nose with a light finger. “You don’t have to decide right away. I have plenty to keep me busy right now. Believe me, I got trouble and it comes in the way of another female that has nothing to do with the canine persuasion. In fact, it might be nice to have a female around these parts who isn’t always such a pain in the ass and can’t talk back.”
She gave a low hum of a growl in disapproval.
He ran a hand over his thick hair and chuckled. “Her name is Avery; in case you’re wondering who I mean. She’s got a mouth the size of Canada and a cause just as big. She calls me a murderer. Can you believe that?” he asked her, looking into her eyes and chucking her under the chin. “She says I murder small animals. Me, an animal lover. If she only knew.”
Only knew what, you oversized hunk of meat loving studliness? Damn, spit it out already. What don’t I know?
He sighed, long and raspy. “I would never hurt an animal, Princess. Avery should know that by now. We knew each other when we were kids. If she’d just remember the kid I was, the one who worked at an animal shelter with her, she’d remember how much I love all creatures.”
Yes, Avery, all knowing and all seeing, clairvoyant, should just know what the fuck you mean. God, men could be such simpletons, but Avery found his words touching the fringes of her heart. Much in the way the bunny hut had.
And she didn’t like it. He was on the bad side. She was on the good. And she wasn’t going to let him blur the lines with his memories of someone who was long gone.
Stupidhead.
“We were good friends back then,” he interrupted her thoughts. “She was skinny as hell and awkward, but to me, she was perfect. She was smart and funny and kind to me when no one else was. But she isn’t skinny and awkward anymore…” Lassiter trailed off with a hitch in his voice
Avery couldn’t say in the past she’d ever heard his voice change like that when he referred to her. Now, this strange new feeling lingered between them, and he smiled at her in the way he once had when he was her friend so long ago. When he’d talked about where and who he’d wanted to be after high school.
“You know what, puppy? Avery and I aren’t friends anymore. No matter how I feel about her.”
Lassiter went silent then, pulling her to his side, leaving her to ponder what to do next.
Snuggle up to him and enjoy this brief argument free respite or tell him she was a liarpants and reveal herself.
* * * * *
Psst, Lassiter! Hey, cuckoo-coo-kachoo. You’re talking to a dog like it’s your therapist. That can’t be healthy. Why don’t you talk to Avery instead?
Lassiter frowned up at Bud, sitting on top of the old dresser and mentally sent him a shut up in the way they’d been communicating for years now. Via some sort of weird telepathy.
No, no, I won’t shut up. You’re talking to a dog about the person you care most about in the world instead of talking to the person you care most about in the world, dummy. Get a grip on your emotions, my man.
Yeah? Well, I talk to a bird, too.
I’m offended. I’m much smarter than a dog.
If you’re so smart, why the hell can’t you figure this out?
If I had a pair of legs, I just might. Now quit bitching and just talk to Avery. Ever since you ran into her again, you’ve been an ass.
Yeah, well Avery can do that to a guy, he shot back.
Avery was your friend once, Lassiter, and don’t give me shit about it. I was there, numbnuts. All those nights you talked about her, all those nights when you said you wished she were just a little older. You liked Avery, Lassiter. She liked you. Now you won’t even talk to her. You won’t even tell her what’s really going on here. It’s bullshit and it’s bullshit of your own making.
Lassiter sighed in resignation. Looking down at the dog, reminded himself, he was talking to a dog…
His world had narrowed to not much more than Bud and the mission to find what he was looking for these last years. Companionship, especially of the animal variety, seemed to suit him best. If he didn’t have to do much else but feed them and throw them the occasional bone, things worked out just fine.
