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THE LAST TIME I was at Takoda's house, I'd enthusiastically brought over an entire bag of chew toys I'd bought for Lulu. I'd become so comfortable being in his private space that I'd started to prefer it to mine.
He never greeted me at the door, but he would always be waiting for me in the living room, leaned back in his couch with the TV off, his legs spread in a way that screamed at me to occupy the space between them.
"Is it obvious that I was waiting for you?" he'd asked me the first time I came over, his waves looking like it had been abandoned for days, sitting in a haphazard pile on his head. He'd called it his creative locks when I asked why he looked like he was jumped. I'd called it a bush and asked him to fix it. He'd quietly obeyed.
The last time I was here, though, something was off. I'd noticed the half open front door before I saw the SUV sitting on the driveway.
Today, there was a woman standing on the front stairs, hand placed over her eyes to shield them from the sun, and even though I hadn't seen her in a long time, my tired brain recognized her immediately.
May Ong was the only person who knew about Takoda and I. Once, we'd been so distracted with finding out how many chaste kisses we could give each other before we went all in, that we didn't notice the soles of her shoes clicking against the tiles until she was standing in the living room. While we struggled to right ourselves and pretend we weren't doing anything, she just stood there, nude lips in an intimidating straight line. My face rivaled the color of her outfit—a fiery red ensemble—and I'd been this close to dying from embarrassment when Takoda told me she was just his publicist.
With her pin-straight hair—dark as the night—cat-eye makeup, and designer heels, she gave confidence a smell. Made me want to level up. At first, I'd assumed she was just a straight-faced, no-nonsense PR manager who spent her free time reviewing contracts and explaining legal jargon to the boy I liked to kiss and do more with, but turns out she couldn't be any farther from it.
"I was worried you wouldn't come," she said to me the moment I stepped out of the car, her voice easily carrying across the quiet property.
I was feeling a little light-headed, so I held onto the door for a second to steady myself. "I didn't want to, but I changed my mind."
She smiled, big and bright, competing with the sunlight. "I just realized how much I missed you."
Lulu strutted out of the house behind her and bounded down the stairs towards Takoda and me when she noticed us. If she were any bigger than she was, she probably would've jumped into his arms and knocked him over or something. She was a ball of excitement, running around his legs, her tail wagging with insane speed, a huge smile on her face.
I watched their exchange for a nostalgic minute before Takoda picked her up and earned enthusiastic doggy kisses he reluctantly accepted. Then he turned around so her face was to me.
