Puppy Love (bxb)

Chapter Six

Barbara showed up halfway through my shift. She was dressed up, yet again.

"Where's my favorite millennial?" she asked the second she walked through the door.

I was busy cleaning Bruno's kennel, but I yelled, "Here!" just so she knew that I heard her. I made sure to finish quick so I could talk to Barb and eat some sweets.

She was waiting with a box of desserts and a fistful of roses. "Alright, there's my favorite kid ever. Where's my man?"

I launched over the counter and gave her a hug. "Those for me?" I asked coyly, pointing at the roses. She smacked my stomach with them.

"Your scrawny butt gets the desserts!" she laughed, shoving the box towards me. "My hunk of a man gets the roses I bought just for him, what a lucky duck."

Jeff, as he usually did, wandered to the front when he heard Barbara's voice. He sent her a look. "I didn't call the number on the mixed tape! Shouldn't that have been a hint?"

"But did you like the tape?"

"...Well, you have a good taste in music."

I gagged. "Ew, Jeff. They were all old and crusty songs."

He looked offended. "They were classics! God, you young kids just don't understand quality music anymore."

Barb was happy to ditch me if it meant agreeing with her man. "I agree! As much as I love sweet Dillon here, his taste in music is tragic. Don't all the kids listen to the techno beats nowadays? I can't stand that kind of thing."

Liar. Barb knew every word to Turn Down For What. We'd (sort of) ironically jammed out to it one time.

"It hurts my ears," Jeff grunted.

I was watching a Christmas miracle.

Jeff even came around the counter. They began talking about the best hits from their day and age, and then Jeff laughed, and he even accepted the roses.

After I'd cleaned and reorganized the entire front dest just to eavesdrop, he said his goodbyes and gave me a light smack on the head when he went back to his office. "Back to work!"

Barb winked at me. "Look at that old handsome coot. He's finally giving me a shot."

I cracked open the box and ate an eclair. Mmf, it brought back memories of Henry's eclair from yesterday. "I'm happy for you, Barb. Nobody deserves love more than you do."

She put her hands on her hips. "How about you, fool? You deserve love more than anybody, you sweet boy! How's it going with this new handsome fella?"

I sat on the counter and displayed my sadness by despondently munching on an eclair. "I'm gonna be straight with you, Barb." She chuckled. "Barb! Seriously! I don't think it's going to work. There's this really mean guy who knows him well, but is also dating my best friend. I can't associate with that."

"Why not?" Barbara scoffed. "You're going to be scared away by a mean guy?"

"I'm intimidated. This other guy kind of seems like he resents me, and he's way better looking than I am—"

"Don't you talk like that!"

"It's true. He is, I know a better looking guy when I see one," I sighed. "I think at this point I need to just focus on preventing Declan's heartbreak."

She snorted and looked away. "Fine, be a coward."

"Geez! Maybe you're the mean guy in disguise."

"I'm being serious!" Barbara pointed a finger at my chest. "You usually have such a better attitude, but now you're all mopey and sad! Go get your man. Focus on your amazing attributes. Tell this other guy to go screw. Hell, kick his ass!"

I really wanted to kick his ass.

"You're right!" I decided, feeling kind of stupid. "I really have been acting bummed out, huh? I shouldn't give up."

Barbara gave me a wink and left me feeling much better about the situation. I said goodbye to Jeff after my shift was over and went right across the street to Henry's shop.

He saw me and snorted. "Is this going to be a daily thing now, pick up lines?"

I grinned. "Are you a donut?"

"Nope. I'm a person."

"Well, I find you very a-dough-rable!"

He sighed and grabbed an eclair. With hesitancy, I took it when he held it out. Usually Henry didn't give me food, so I was confused.

"You can eat that," he chuckled. "That's why I gave it to you. I figured I'd have a more enjoyable time if your mouth was closed."

The twinkle in his eyes and the little tiny smirk clued me in. He was totally fucking with me.

I paused my bite midway and flipped him off. "Fuck off, beefcake! I say sweet things to you and you love it."

He hid his smile, unsuccessfully, by ducking below the counter like he needed to pick something up. When he popped his head back up, he was still smiling a little. "I hate your pick up lines. That's all you ever say."

"Well fine," I decided, leaning against the counter. "Let's talk about something else. What's your birthday? What's your favorite sweet? What's your family like? Why are you a baker? Do you think I'm cute? Do you like dogs? Date tonight? What's your favorite color?"

He gave me an unimpressed stare. "Brown. That's my favorite color. It's the same color as all my doughs."

I nodded. "That's a unique one. Mine's blue, because I like the sky. So, guess we're working our way through the questions backwards. Date tonight?"

"Absolutely not."

"Do you like dogs?" I asked, because that question was honestly more important than the previous one.

"I have a bulldog-bull mastiff mutt, so yes. I love dogs," Henry said.

He shouldn't have said that. It totally derailed my mental track. I hopped on over, filled with excitement.

"Boy or girl? Can I see a picture? What's its name?"

I was giddy when I got the picture of the sweetest little muffin in the world named Pavo. I loved him. I had to meet him. He was adorable.

"I love Pavo," I gushed. "Can you bring him here sometime? I want to meet him."

Henry actually liked this topic. He smiled and looked at the picture. "Yeah, he's like my kid. I love him. I can't bring him to work because of health inspections, but maybe you can met him sometime."

"I would love that," I sighed. "I wish I had my own."

He glanced up and down, probably looking at my fur-covered clothes. "You don't?"

The fact that I didn't was heartbreaking. My shoulders sagged a little thinking about it. "Maybe someday. My brother doesn't mind the idea of one in the apartment, but I just don't have the money."

Henry was looking more and more happy by the minute. "Well, you should meet Pavo. Want to? After work?"

My heart kind of short-circuited for a minute. Was he asking me to go home with him? Well, the answer to that was yes! "I'd love that!"

"Great," Henry said. He was giving me an amused look, like he could tell how hyped I was and he loved it. "I get out of here at 10."

"I can bug you until 10."

He snorted and gave me another eclair.