Page 5 of Love and Leashes
Her smile widens, and it lights up her whole face.She’s pretty.I’ve always known this, but I guess I’m seeing her differently now. And that’s dangerous.
We hang up and I go back to Candy Crush, but my head isn’t in it. I’m on a trip down memory lane, remembering moments from mine and Kelly’s past that I’d pushed away for years. After all, it isn’t exactly appropriate to remember the one kiss you shared with your best friend during study period while you’re still married to a woman who never liked her in the first place.
“Here we are, bud, now you be nice to Kelly, okay? Charm her the way you do everyone else.”
Ollie doesn’t answer from the back seat as I pull in the driveway of Kelly’s small house. It’s cute, with white shutters around the windows, and a small porch that has a rocking chair on it. I park beside her bright red car and shut the engine off as the front door opens, and she steps out with a big smile.
I climb down from the truck, leaving Oliver inside, and close the distance between us before picking her up in a big hug.
“Put me down, I wanna see Ollie!” She laughs, swatting at my back.
“Nope, hug me first, then the dog,” I grumble. Fuck, she smells good. Like peaches. I try to be subtle as I turn my nose to inhale again. This is bad. I put her down and take a step back to regain control. Shit. I can’t go down this road with Kelly. I need her, and our friendship, too much. But there’s no denying the shift in energy between us. We’re adults, and we’re both single at the same time.
But if Kelly feels anything she doesn’t show it, walking quickly around me to open the back door of my truck.
“Hi, boy,” she coos at my dog. “Oh, who’s a handsome dog? You are! Yes, you are!”
Ollie eats up all of her affection, licking her hands and nuzzling into her touch. He’s such a needy dog..
“Alright, alright. Let’s go inside,” I joke, reaching around her to clip his leash on. He’s not one to run away, but he’s also in an unfamiliar place, so better safe than sorry. “Can I let him off his leash in the backyard?”
“Yup, this way.” Kelly leads us around the side of the house and opens a gate. I unclip Ollie’s leash, and he takes off, sniffing all around. We watch him for a second and I’m all too aware of our proximity. Good grief, I should be able to control myself better than this. I’m chalking up my reaction to the fact that I haven’t had sex in way too long. That’s all this is. Hormones, pheromones, whatever you want to call it. My dick is thinking for my brain right now, and I just need to shut it down.
Should be easy enough. I’ve gone close to fifteen years without having a problem being nothing more than friends with Kelly. There’s absolutely no reason that has to change now.
But when I look over at her and see the delighted smile on her face as she watches my dog play in her backyard, I realize something. High school Jensen missed his shot with Kelly, but grown-up Jensen wants another chance.
Now the question is — what the hell do I do about it?
Chapter three
Kelly
“I was looking up rental properties in the area — do you know Mila and Ethan Monroe? I guess they’re the couple to talk to about renting apartments in Dogwood Cove. That’s where you work, right?”
I choke on the laugh that bursts out of me. Jensen stops walking, rubbing my back with a concerned expression. Eventually, I catch my breath and try to figure out how to respond. There are just so many things wrong with what he just said.
“Yes, I know Mila and Ethan. They’re brother and sister, though, not a couple.”
Jensen barks out a laugh. “Shit. Glad you told me that before I called them and put my foot in my mouth.”
“But do you really want to live in Dogwood Cove and commute to Westport every day?” I hurry on, although, in actual fact, the plan makes sense. Rentals in Westport are few and far between, and the cost of rent is going up. I’ve considered moving to Dogwood Cove myself a few times over the past six months.
“I figure you do it in reverse every day, so it can’t be that bad. Although, it would be nice to not commute,” Jensen muses as we continue walking. We left my house earlier to take Oliver out to stretch his legs after the ferry ride over. I was already in love with Jensen’s dog; he’s pretty much the cutest thing I’ve ever met, and his personality is hilarious. But seeing him and Jensen today, without Tatyana putting a damper on everything, he’s just a big bumbling ball of joyful fur. The facial expressions he makes are like nothing I’ve ever seen on an animal, and sometimes I swear it’s like he understands perfectly what Jensen is saying. When I mentioned the word walk, he smiled. Seriously, the darn dog smiled! And it’s a good thing I ignored Jensen and bought all the toys at the store earlier because after a game of tug-of-war, I’m pretty sure I cemented my role as Ollie’s favourite person.
“What are your plans for the rest of the summer?” I ask as Ollie lifts his leg on yet another bush.
“Aside from finding a place to live so I don’t have to crash with you forever?”
His response shouldn’t bother me, but it kind of does. “I’m happy to have you stay as long as you need, Jensen.”
He wraps his free arm around my shoulders. “I know, Kell, but I don’t want to overstay my welcome. That’s all.”
The affectionate gesture feels just a little bit too comfortable. I huff and shrug off his arm, stealing the leash from his other hand, and take off jogging down the street. Ollie lopes along with an excited woof.
“You can’t steal my dog, Kelly,” Jensen yells after us. I ignore him and just keep running. It’s a straight path, so there’s no hope of Jensen getting lost, but I need a little distance from the bizarre feelings mixing around in my head right now. It’s not like being physically attracted to Jensen is new for me, he’s a good-looking guy, always has been. But watching him settle into my home and seeing Ollie curl up on his bed in the living room caused something to click in place inside of me.
“Pizza, sushi, or Chinese tonight?” I pull out the three different menus and drop them on the counter in front of Jensen later that evening.
