Page 62 of Hold Me Instead
She locked their door, gave him another glance, then shrugged, leading him out.
“So…is Toothless missing all her teeth?” he asked.
“A fair amount, yes. She actually reminded me of the dragon though, that’s where her name came from.”
“What dragon?” The only dragons that came to mind were fromGame ofThrones.
“You haven’t been introduced to the world ofHow to Train Your Dragon?”
“Definitely not.”
She sighed dramatically as she held the door for him and Maple, and he grinned.
“You’ll score major uncle points with the kids if you ask to watch it with them. Vivi couldn’t stop talking about it after she saw the movies. Asked me if anyone's brought in their pet dragons for me to take care of.”
He thought of the kids and their play earlier.
“Thanks for the tip.” They moved quietly toward her car. “You only have the one cat then?” he asked.
“Yeah. I foster from time to time too.”
“Ah, making up for lost time?” She spun toward him, brow furrowed. “I, uh, remember your mom not being an animal person?” He phrased it like a question because he didn’t realize he’d stored that detail.
She was quiet a moment, and he leaned closer to Maple to keep from saying more.
“Yeah. It still overwhelms her, even though she doesn’t live with me.” She opened her car door and tossed in her purse, then stared at her keys. “Toothless would love Maple. She’s a great snuggle buddy. Recognizes a good soul.”
Zachary looked down at the old pup who gazed back with her happy frosted face. “Maple too. I uh, I didn’t see Toothless last night.”
Charlie cleared her throat. “Yeah, I’m not sure where she ran off to. She was out when Levi came by.”
“Ah.” Seeing another man in Charlie’s apartment wasn’t on the list of things he’d been hoping for when he stopped by. Knowing that man had watched her drag chocolate all over her mouth made some weird jealous thoughts kick into gear.
She didn’t let the silence last for long. “I really should get going.”
He scrambled for something else to say, realizing that hearing her voice, seeing her, had been what he needed.
The admission was too much to process.
“Right, well, let me know if there’s anything else I can take off your hands.”
“Alright.” She paused a moment. “A lot has changed, but I think you’ll really enjoy it. I’m glad you’ll be here.”
“Me too. Wow, another Charlie Harris event. The first one I attended was your graduation.”
“Oh, going way back, are we?”
He shrugged. “I remember a lot of really detailed decorations and multiple stations to keep people entertained.”
“Mmm, well, the decorations were courtesy of my cousins.”
“They put cutouts of your face everywhere. Even on the bathroom door.”
She winced. “I blocked those from memory. It’s all just a perfectly bright color scheme with pretty signage in my mind. The stations were my idea, mostly as a way to distract people from any embarrassing activities my mom had in mind. She managed to pull some off anyway.”
“I remember the large poster board she made everyone sign with a memory of you growing up. Then she picked her favorites to read out loud.”
Charlie groaned. “You were still there for that, huh?”
