For You by Jodi Ellen Malpas

Author:Jodi Ellen Malpas [Malpas, Jodi Ellen & Malpas, Jodi Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781957597409
Publisher: Jodi Ellen Malpas
Published: 2023-04-21T18:30:00+00:00

I’ve been waiting at the end of Lo’s street for fifteen minutes clock-watching. It’s ten-past, and I’m getting twitchy. So is Steve, throwing himself around my car, yapping and barking, dying to break free. Where is she? I spin my phone in my hand, deliberating over whether I should text her. No, that would be stupid. I’ll give her ten more minutes. Those ten minutes feel like hours, and when I see someone jogging down the street, I deflate in my seat as soon as I see it’s Lo. I frantically wait for her face to become clear, searching for any signs of distress. There’s nothing. She raises her hand and waves, Boris trotting alongside her.

I slide out of my car, and Steve dives out behind me. “I was getting worried.”

“I’m sorry.” She comes to a stop and chugs in air. “I had—” She looks back at her house. “Never mind. I’m here now.”

I force myself not to question her with my expression, and swallow down the interrogation. “Hey, Steve, a new friend for you.” I let him pull me towards Lo and Boris, his body shaking with excitement at seeing one of his kind. Boris looks just as pleased to see Steve, and they both start sniffing each other’s arses. I grimace. “Nice.” Steve circles around me, and Boris circles Lo, both of them running excited rings around us, their leads getting all caught up. “Shit.” I grab the side of my car, and Lo grabs me.

“My legs.” She laughs, looking down at the tangle of limbs, dogs, and leather leads. “Boris, stop it.”

“Whoa.” I catch Lo as she falls forward, forsaking Steve’s lead to save her from toppling. “I’ve got you,” I say, wondering what on earth we must look like, causing chaos on the street corner.

I unravel my legs and dip to collect Steve’s lead, holding Lo as I do. “I’m good.” She chuckles, pushing back off my chest with her palms. Once we’ve regained control of our dogs, we start to wander down to the park, chatting easily. Always so easily. Her smile doesn’t fall once. Not once. “So Todd basically uses your bar as a knocking shop?”

“Pretty much,” I reply, watching Lo rub her hands together. “You cold?”

“I forgot my gloves, and this coat doesn’t have pockets.” She indicates down her gray, woolen knee-length coat.

I cock her my arm, encouraging her to hold on. She smiles and places her hands around my coat sleeve, and I bring my arm in close to my body so her hands are trapped between my upper arm and my torso. And it feels so . . . right. Natural. Which is plain odd. “Better?”

“Much, thank you. But he has his own place, right?”

I frown, trying to remember what we were talking about.

“Todd,” she prompts, looking up at me with a smile.

“Oh, yes.” I laugh lightly. “He does, but the girlfriend who he didn’t know was his girlfriend trashed the joint.”

“No,” Lo gasps. “All because he split up with her?”

“He claims they were never together.

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