Lay Low

13: Puppy Parents

SOOKIE

I was close to bringing a puppy home myself when Eric and I went to the shelter. My heart wasn't made for puppy searching. I may have even cried when we had to leave one little guy behind. There was a pit bull puppy that wanted me as his mama. My one bedroom apartment wasn't even close to big enough for a dog that size. I wasn't even sure it was big enough for a human, let alone an animal. Eric liked him well enough, but it was obvious he would've been stuck to me and that wasn't going to work unless we lived together. We were nowhere close to being ready for that move. I like Eric more than I had ever liked any man, and our compatibility was off the charts, but that was a leap we weren't ready for. I knew he felt the same way.

He found a beagle mix that had long dirty blonde hair. He was one of the last dogs we got to see and it was obvious the moment they met eyes that they were meant for each other. He sniffed Eric's ankle; walked around his legs a few times, and that was it. He took a seat on his foot and wasn't budging. Eric was his human; there was no changing his mind.

His name was already Sawyer, and it seemed to fit him, so Eric was keeping it. He looked like a little old man to me, already too wise for his months. If he was at a rescue, that may have been true. It didn't matter anymore though, he bad his forever home. I knew Eric was going to take good care of him. We already had a bed and bowls at the house ready for him. We just needed the right dog to take... Eric, not we. We were a we, but it wasn't our stuff. That was weird... Not a wrong weird, but a happy, content weird.

"I just thought of us as a 'we' for the first time," I said out loud. We were in his backyard, allowing Sawyer to sniff out the lay of the land.

Eric smiled. "I called you my girlfriend earlier," he admitted.

"Really?" I smiled back. "That makes me happy." I scooted over to wrap my arms around his middle. "I was thinking about going to visit my parents and Gran to tell them about you."

"That's a pretty big deal."

"You're a pretty big deal," I replied. "To me anyway." I decided to keep the fact that I didn't remember having the type of feelings I had for him, for anyone else. It wasn't love, but I knew I was going to fall hard for him. It was a little scary.

"I am a pretty big deal," he agreed in a rare moment of cockiness.

"Too much Anchorman," I muttered. I looked up at him to take the offered kiss.

"No such thing," he replied.

"You're lucky you're cute, you know that?" I teased.

"I think I have more to offer than cute."

He did have a lot more to offer. He was kind, funny, goofy, smart, loyal from what I knew about him. He had a serious side, and knew when to use it. Those were just a few things.

"So far I've enjoyed everything you've offered me," I told him. "Your cuteness isn't what's keeping me."

"Good." He leaned down to kiss me again.

"Keep up all that kissin' and Sawyer is going to spend his first few hours alone," I warned. I would have never turn down Eric kisses.

"I don't know, he might be a better kisser than you," Eric teased me.

Damnit. I knew my snuggles comment would come back to bite me in the ass.

"If you'd rather have dog tongue on you over mine... that's a little sick, but whatever floats your boat," I shrugged. "I'll just keep my kisses to myself."

"Liar," he challenged. "You know you can't resist me."

"Oh, I think that's the other way around, Mister." He was absolutely irresistible to me.