Pawsitively in Love (13 page)

But it didn’t.

Evan found himself grinning at the spectacle like he hadn’t smiled in years. He laughed when Dexter got too excited and tripped over his own feet, and clapped when Scout escaped from Austin’s teasing grasp. It was one of those perfect moments—the kind Evan usually saw on television shows. The ones he’d always assumed couldn’t be real.

By the time Peggy got back, the dogs and Scout had worn themselves out. They were all lying on the grass sunning while Austin and Evan watched from Evan’s deck chairs. Peggy took one look at her happy daughter in the sun with two dogs and burst into laughter.

“I should send her over here more often,” she joked.

“She was perfectly fine,” Evan said. “Gave Dexter some exercise, if nothing else.”

“Maggie too. It was great for her to work off some of her energy.”

Peggy grinned at Austin. “I didn’t get a chance to ask how you are today.”

“I’m good.” Austin gave Peggy one of those smiles that Evan couldn’t resist. “Closed up shop about an hour ago.”

“What are you two up to tonight?”

Evan caught her tone of voice. Just like he’d caught all of the questioning glances that Austin’s sister and Cole had shot them the other night. He wished he had an answer to the question none of them were really asking. Especially Austin. He felt it. They both felt it. Evan just didn’t know what to do about it.

“We were going to take the dogs on a walk, although I doubt they’ll need it after the derby they just finished,” Austin said. “Then I’m not sure.”

Evan shrugged. “Austin still hasn’t beaten me in Donkey Kong. There might be a rematch.” He didn’t have a lot of practice hanging out with just Austin. Or hanging out with a friend period. It wasn’t something Evan had ever done. He still felt that odd, sweet combination of nerves and happiness every time Austin rang the doorbell.

“I wanted to check out the new ice cream shop down on sixth too. Maybe we can do that.”

They both gave Peggy rueful grins. “There wasn’t really a plan,” Austin said.

He’d just… come over. And Evan had been uncomfortably happy to see him. And the weirdest part was, even if they didn’t have a plan, he was still okay with that. Before, with Derek he’d always wanted reservations, or something concrete. They didn’t just hang out. Evan couldn’t have
imagined
just hanging out with him. But he could imagine it with Austin. Easily.

“Well, have a great night, boys.”

“Thanks,” they both chorused.

“You too,” Evan added. He didn’t know exactly why, but he got that feeling, one that he imagined high school kids got when their moms left them alone in their bedroom with a crush. That joking warning. Or something like that. It was hard to describe.

“She totally thinks we’re sleeping with each other,” Austin said when Peggy had gone.

Evan nearly choked on the water he’d been sipping. “You think?”

“Yup. So do my sister and Cole. They don’t believe me when I say nothing’s going on.” Austin didn’t look too bothered by the concept.

Evan supposed he wasn’t either. “Why don’t they believe you?”

Austin shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just one of those things, I guess. You want to order pizza?”

“That’s not very healthy,” Evan said.

Austin rolled his eyes. “We can make a salad to go with it. Would that make you feel better?”

“Sure. But we’re getting it from It’s Greek to Me. I don’t want chain-store pizza.”

“Of course you don’t. I like the Greek place. I’m happy with whatever you want to get for toppings.”

“Good. I’ll call.”

“And I will beat you at Donkey Kong, by the way. I was just getting warmed up the other night, and I haven’t played that since, like, third grade.”

Evan chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Sure,” he said again. His tone was completely different from the first time. Which in retrospect was probably why Austin dumped the remainder of his water bottle on Evan’s head.

PIZZA AND
video games and even a trip down to the new ice cream place later, and Austin hadn’t left Evan’s house yet. He knew he should get home, but he couldn’t seem to make himself get up off the couch. It was just so comfortable. Not the couch—although the furniture was all Evan’s brand of posh and exactly perfect, so of course it was plush and firm, but the whole thing. He would’ve never thought he’d feel so at ease with Evan. He certainly hadn’t at first. But somewhere in the past few days, things had gotten to be pretty much perfect. Well, perfect if he didn’t want to jump on Evan and kiss him until neither one of them could breathe.

“Hey, you want a glass of moscato? I have a decent one. Not too sweet.”

Austin chuckled. “You want me not make it to the shop on time to open it tomorrow, don’t you?”

“No. Dex has a shampoo tomorrow. Please open on time.”

“Oh yeah.” He hadn’t forgotten. The thought of seeing Evan and his second favorite little dog had been in his mind all week. He saw them plenty. Hell, Dexter was on the couch cuddled up between him and Evan right at that moment. But it was different seeing them in the place where he worked. Exciting somehow.

“Maybe just a little bit?” Evan said.

“Half a glass. No more.” He’d be fine with just that much, to taste. Then he’d go home, get in bed, and not think about Evan goddamn Partridge anymore that day. Which would probably account for about twenty minutes, since the rest of the day, no matter what he’d done, Evan had been on his mind.

“Half a glass. I promise.” Evan stood and went to the kitchen. Dexter lifted his little head and then plopped it back down onto Austin’s thigh.

“Your papa’s driving me nuts, little guy,” Austin whispered. “Do you know why he doesn’t date?”

Dexter answered with a yawn and a stretch. Austin scratched lightly at his belly. Dexter made him think long and hard about his stance on big dogs only. Maggie seemed to love him too. Maybe Austin’s apartment could handle one more dog if they didn’t take up much space. Little pugs were awfully adorable.

“Here you go, one half glass of moscato as requested.”

Evan sat down next to Austin but twisted slightly so they were facing each other.

“So what you said about your sister’s boyfriend the other night. Do you guys not like him?”

Austin hadn’t gotten into The Chad with Evan yet, other than that one statement. He was slightly worried it would make him and Cole look like assholes for not supporting Mary Beth. But he doubted he’d be able to lie convincingly about it. He seriously hated the douche.

“Not a fan, no.” Austin tried for a gracious smile. “Mary Beth hasn’t had the best track record for picking guys. And it’s not just because I’m her brother. Nobody likes them.”

“Nobody?”

Austin shook his head. “The last guy? John?” He chuckled. “Cole used to say that if you looked ‘douchey bro’ up in the dictionary, it would be a picture of his face. To be honest, the same could be said for most of them.”

Evan grinned. “At least Mary Beth has a predictable type.”

“Douchey. The best type there is.” Austin snorted. “I’m just worried that The Chad is going to end up proposing to her. It’s not just that I’d have to look at his face on every holiday. It’s more that I want something better for her. I love her to death, even if we bicker.”

“I’m sure you do. I love my sister too.”

Austin had to admit he was mildly shocked. He hadn’t heard a single word about a sister. “You… have a sister?”

Evan sighed. “Yeah. I don’t really talk about her much.”

“Where is she?”

“New Mexico. That’s where I’m from. She has some
challenges
. Sometimes she’s angry. There are bad days and good ones, but I love her on all of them.”

“Wow. I had no idea.” Austin didn’t know what else to say.

“Yeah. Mood killer. That’s why I don’t bring her up very often. I’m her big brother, and I take care of her as much as I can. But things aren’t going so well right now. I think—” Evan cut himself off.

“What?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. Like I said, it’s not exactly light social conversation.”

Austin felt bad that Evan still thought of them that way. He’d hoped they were a little bit of something more by that point. “Hey. You know you can talk to me about stuff, right? I haven’t been around long, but I’m a good listener if you ever need to unload.”

“That’s really sweet.” Evan reached over and put his hand on Austin’s thigh. Austin didn’t even think. He covered Evan’s hand with his own. Their fingers slipped together and tangled. They were holding hands. Shit. Austin held hands with Cole sometimes when they were drunk and being silly, but this wasn’t Cole, and they definitely weren’t drunk.

Evan’s cheeks had turned bright pink. His eyes were a bit shiny, his lips parted. Austin knew what it looked like when someone was… interested. And Evan was definitely interested. Austin squeezed Evan’s hand and leaned a little closer. Was he reading all of the signals wrong? He honestly didn’t think so.

“Austin,” Evan murmured.

“Yeah?” Austin leaned closer. They were going to kiss. The air between them was full of static. Exciting. Magnetic. Austin had never looked forward to a kiss, wanted it, dreamed of it, so much in his life. He could barely believe it was going to happen. And then Evan let go of his hand.

“I’m sorry.” He scooted back on the couch. Austin felt a wash of chill air hit the skin Evan had been touching. Dexter was startled, and jumped to the ground. Nothing, not any part of the magic they’d created in the past few moments, was left. “I really meant it. We’re better off as friends.”

Oh God. Austin felt like a dick. Or a fool. Or a fool who was a dick. “Of course. I’m sorry.” He scrambled off the couch, turned around like Dexter had been, booted out of his warm, cozy bubble. “I’m going to go. Yeah. Early day tomorrow.”

He plunked his wineglass down on an end table, grabbed his keys, gestured for Maggie to follow him, and left with only one small wave.

EVAN BROUGHT
Dexter into Pawsitively Purrfect in the morning for his wash and condition—
no
clipping—but Austin wasn’t there. Jessica, a friendly perky assistant with a high ponytail greeted him. Austin was supposed to be there. Evan had a good idea about why he wasn’t.

“Hey, you’re Evan, right?”

Evan nodded. Dexter squirmed in his arms. It was obvious he recognized Jessica, and true to Dexter’s nature, he loved her like he loved everyone else. “Yeah, Dexter has a ten o’clock appointment.”

Jessica reached out her hands for Dexter. “Hi, sweetheart. Austin left me a note about you. Wash, condition, and a nail clip, right? Friends and family discount?” She winked at Evan. “I’m under strict orders to give this little guy the movie star treatment.”

He didn’t know why, but he felt a weird kind of nervous without Austin around. Not that he didn’t trust Jessica with his dog—she looked cheerful and competent, and Austin had said she was basically his right hand—it was just that… Austin wasn’t there. And Evan needed him to be.

“Where’s Austin?” Evan asked. And, yeah, he sounded as lost and pathetic as he felt. Since when? Since when did Evan feel lost when a guy wasn’t around?

“Oh, he’s running an errand. He’ll be back in a little bit.” Jessica gave him a cheerful grin. “We’ll have Dex here ready in about an hour. Is that okay?”

Evan simply nodded. Maybe Austin would be there when he returned. Maybe he shouldn’t care. But last night had been so weird and wrong, and Austin hadn’t answered the text Evan sent as soon as he’d realized that he’d driven away. He just wanted things to go back to the way they were.

EVAN HADN’T
seen Austin in nearly a week. He hadn’t heard from him. He’d only sent the one text, saying hi, all casual, but he’d figured Austin would reply to that when he wanted to talk. Which apparently wasn’t just yet. Evan felt weird. He remembered when Derek forgot to call, which hadn’t been often. Evan had been either relieved, or he’d never noticed at all. He most certainly noticed the lack of Austin. And he didn’t like it.

His phone buzzed, and he thought it was Austin for a second—and of course his damn pulse sped up, and he smiled like a fool—but it wasn’t him. Evan tried not to be disappointed. It
was
Peter, though, who’d gotten his number when they’d been over for poker. Peter was cool. Laid-back and low-key. He asked if Evan wanted to go on a bike ride later that day. Evan was oddly pleased at the idea of having new friends. Odd, because if you’d asked him a few months ago, he probably would’ve said no thanks. Instead, he texted Peter back and told him he’d love to go on a bike ride.

Everything was looking up for Evan. Changing in a good way. If only he could get Austin to call him back, tell him things weren’t irreparably weird and broken, then he could get back to feeling like himself, or the new and improved version of himself, and everything would be kosher.

AUSTIN FELT
like his phone was burning a hole in his pocket. For days, he’d ignored Evan’s text; for days he hadn’t known what to say or feel. Well, other than really, really embarrassed. Evan had said he wanted to be friends. Austin must’ve read the chemistry he thought they’d had very, very wrong. Every time he thought of that near-kiss, and of Evan’s reminder that, no, he didn’t want to kiss Austin, he wanted to die. So he hadn’t texted Evan.

Instead, he went out to the main floor of his shop. He sort of hoped there was some emergency—cat shampoo gone awry, unhappy dog,
anything—
to keep him from having to deal with the silence of his office and the sound of Evan’s rejection. But there wasn’t any catastrophe to be found. Instead, it was only Jessica and one small, sturdy gray-and-white Chihuahua.

“Who do we have here?” Austin asked.

Jessica smiled. “This is Piglet. Her owner’s scared to clip her nails because they’re black and she can’t see where the vein is. She’s been coming here for a while. You just haven’t met her yet.”

Austin didn’t blame the owner. He wasn’t a fan of clipping opaque nails either, ironically. Jessica was a much surer hand when it came to that.