Photo credit: Keren Buttrum from Unsplash
***
When Brinny mentioned a surprise, the last thing Kieran expected was an animal, let alone a tiny one attacking his legs in her parents' backyard. The dog wouldn't stop yelping and yipping as it jumped for the toque sitting upon his head, despite the impossibility that the dog would reach it.
"Isn't he the sweetest?" she asked.
Kieran had a word for the animal, but it wasn't sweet. He tried to nudge it off his thighs with no success. Her denim overalls and a thicker long-sleeved shirt underneath were better armour than his t-shirt.
"Since when did you want a dog?"
Brinny crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "I've always liked animals."
From his knowledge, she enjoyed adorable pictures of them, but he couldn't imagine her taking care of one. She didn't stop this dog from harassing him and just filmed the ordeal on her phone while cooing at the supposed cuteness.
"Where did he come from?"
"Cole found him abandoned up north, and he couldn't bear the idea of the little guy being neglected. He's so thoughtful." She sighed wistfully.
Using a puppy to apologize for breaking up with Brinny for another woman and ignoring her for weeks wasn't Kieran's idea of thoughtfulness. But she had a soft spot for Cole. An argument would only upset her, and she was finally out of her melancholic bubble.
"So he's yours now?" Kieran asked.
The Jack Russell Terrier kept nipping at the knees of his jeans.
"I can't believe I got so lucky."
"What did you name him?"
"Rusty."
Kieran winced as the dog's claws dug into his calf. "That's so fitting." Both were reasons to get a protective shot.
He spotted a ball on the ground, picked it up, and tossed it across the backyard. Rusty had already damaged her parents' typically immaculate lawn. Kieran was curious how long this pet situation would last. More than that, he needed confirmation of her relationship status.
"So you and Cole are..."
"Back together, isn't it great?" Brinny's blue eyes almost sparkled as she searched his face.
If she was going to pretend last night didn't happen between them, he could too. "Yeah, if that's what you want."
She tucked a few strands of her dyed blonde hair that had escaped her messy bun behind her ear. He'd preferred her as a natural brunette, but his opinion didn't count for much anymore.
"It is. I'd forgotten how much I missed being with him."
The validity of her statement didn't convince Kieran, given the number of emotional rants he had endured over the past three weeks about what a lying, selfish bag of dicks he was.
"I'm happy for you," he lied.
Perhaps it wasn't so bad if you wished it were true. She sighed and looked away. What answer had she wanted from him?
Though he had hoped she'd be lonely enough to give in someday to at the very least sleeping together, two eventless years had come and gone. She flirted with him often when they first met, but as she got more confident, lost weight, and changed her style into this more boho, travel vibe, she'd stopped. She also had more offers and options now, but she still always made time for him.
Further in the yard, Rusty had abandoned the ball for Brinny's mother's prized flower garden. Kieran cursed and ran towards the mutt. He whistled and called the dog's name, but it wouldn't listen.
"Mom is going to kill me," Brinny whined as she jogged behind him. "Kier, please help."
He made it to the floral massacre and grabbed the puppy that thrashed in his arms. It spat out a flurry of stems and leaves. "Do you have a leash?"
"Yeah, I'll be right back." She ran into the house.
He wasn't sure how long he could keep up this game of puppy confinement as the dog wiggled out of his grip inch by inch. As Rusty's claws sunk into Kieran's skin with a painful rip, he regretted coming over.
"Chill out, little dude. I don't want to be doing this any more than you do." Kieran hummed Three Days Grace's Pain, which worked for ten seconds. "Come on, Brinny," he muttered. Scratches and dirt covered his arms, and Rusty was attempting to summit his shoulders to grab his toque. Small dogs were the worst. This would never happen with a lab.
The back door banged as she flung it open, the sunlight illuminating her slender form. "Don't worry, sweetie. Mommy's got your leash."
After they settled Rusty down enough to clip in his leash, Kieran set him down and exhaled a sigh of relief. He handed the leash to Brinny.
As she fought with the playful dog who grew interested in her shoes, she said, "Thanks, Kier. I knew it was a good idea to call you."
"What about Cole? Doesn't he want to see Rusty?"
She wrung her hands together and frowned. "There was a work emergency, so he left yesterday."
Of course, he did. The guy had been in the city for three days, long enough to win Brinny over, hook up, and bail. Cole was, without a doubt, lying, but somehow she was fine with that.
"You miss him already, don't you?" she cooed at the dog, who growled and tugged at the leash. "Don't worry, your saviour will return in two weeks." She grinned like she was imagining their reunion.
Kieran tried to focus on anything but the sinking pit of dread in his stomach.
You had your shot, and you missed it. Move on, man.
The dog played tug of war on the leash with Brinny, who grimaced. "I can't believe the energy this little guy has. Cole said he should settle out when he's older."
"I hope so." Kieran picked some of the dirt off his arm, and Brinny gasped.
"Kier, you're bleeding!" Her soft palm rested on the back of his hand. It made him think of their night at the bar, her drunkenly stroking his cheek with her thumb. "Hold him for a minute, and I'll be back."
Rusty whimpered as she ran back inside, and Kieran empathized. He'd wanted that moment to last longer too. He and Rusty headed to the patio, and Kieran sat on a chair. Rusty sat beside him, nipping at the leashed. When she returned, she carried a bowl of water with a washcloth and bandaids. She set it all on the glass tabletop.
"Could you?" He gestured toward the bowl. He doubted his lazy attempt at closeness would work, but she picked up the washcloth and took his large hand to stretch out his arm.
"I feel like I have kid hands compared to you." Her light pink nails stood out atop the dark purple washcloth.
"You have cute, dainty hands."
A smile danced on her lips for a second before she focused on his arm. She removed the dirt from his skin first and flicked it off parts of his shirt too. Next, she rinsed the washcloth in the bowl and tended to his wounds. Each warm touch excited him. With tenderness, she placed four bandaids on each arm, even the subtlest scratches. It was borderline embarrassing how much he liked this.
You could have enjoyed a lot more than this if you hadn't screwed up yesterday. Was it too late to undo the damage?
Rusty tugged at the leash Kieran was clutching and chewed on it like it was some kind of rope toy.
She pushed the bowl to the center of the table and took his leash back.
Her forehead wrinkled as she frowned. "Do you know how to train dogs?"
Kieran had always wanted a dog, not like Rusty, but something bigger and more like a real dog. After his parents' divorce, his mom had promised they would get one if he and Jake came to live with her. Kieran begged his brother until Jake gave in. Kieran did his research, and he picked out his ideal pet, a chocolate lab. He'd even saved up his allowance to buy a collar and a bed for it. But when it was time to adopt the dog, it was not possible, according to his mom. Against the building code, she'd said.
"No, we never had pets." When Brinny's smile dropped, he added, "But I'm sure if we look online we'll find videos or something to help. That's what the internet is for, isn't it?"
Kieran pulled out his phone and searched for how to deal with an energetic puppy. Puppy socialization classes weren't an option, and Kieran doubted her parents wanted the dog running up and down their stairs. A visit to a dog park where he could be off leash may help if they found one nearby. Walks were supposed to help too, but Kieran wasn't sure if Rusty would release the leash long enough to go anywhere.
"We could go for a walk," he said.
Brinny smiled until she glanced back at the flower garden. "My mom will be furious if she comes home and sees the yard like that. Can you take him while I fix it?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Thanks, Kier, you're the best." Her hug left him stunned for a moment.
He wanted to ask how long to walk him, but Brinny headed to the garden.
"All right pal, let's explore."
Kieran and Brinny had walked this neighbourhood enough to give him a vague idea of where to go, although Rusty seemed to know his path as he tugged relentlessly on the leash. Kieran let him lead for fear of his arm ripping out of his socket. For a small dog, Rusty was powerful. Kieran wondered what walking his coveted lab would have been like. Probably not as good as he dreamed, or perhaps growing up with one would have given him more patience.
The dog stopped to sniff every tree, fence, and object hundreds of other dogs had peed on. Kieran had to stop him from eating the garbage on the edge of the sidewalk. When they passed another dog on the other side of the street, Rusty barked like he wasn't a foot tall and didn't weigh ten pounds.
Fifteen minutes later, they crossed paths with a Bichon Frisé and its attractive owner. She had dark silky hair flowing over perky breasts peaking out of her v-neck tee and wore skin-tight leggings over her athletic legs. A smile grazed the dog-walker's pink lips when she spotted Rusty. Perhaps this dog-care situation would work itself out.
"What a sweetie," she cooed.
"I get that all the time. Poor Rusty is getting jealous," Kieran teased.
The comment earned him a chuckle which trumped an eye roll. "How old is he?" she asked as their dogs sniffed each other.
Kieran didn't have a clue, so he guessed, "About five months old. What about yours?"
"Precious turns one next week, don't you, girl?"
Her smile morphed into a grimace of terror as Rusty jumped onto the other dog's pristine white fur and sullied it with black paw prints. Kieran tried to yank Rusty away, but the damage was done. The owner picked up her dog and stormed off, muttering under her breath.
"So much for your help picking up women, Rusty. We'll keep working on that."
If Brinny was going to rely on him for animal care, he might as well benefit from the arrangement. That owner wasn't the best match since thin athletic women weren't attracted to heavier men in his experience, but Pizza Girl's attention had messed with his head. Not that she'd been attracted to him, but she'd given him the time and her honesty like he mattered.
Kieran looked for an empty field without other animals or more so their uptight owners. What happened to people who let their dogs swim at the beach or run through the forest without stressing about cleanliness? They must still exist somewhere.
His phone rang, and he answered, thinking it was Brinny wanting to join them.
"How long will you be out?" came Jake's voice. The guy rarely wasted time with greetings.
"Maybe another hour or two."
"What was Brinny's big surprise?"
Rusty barked as if on cue at an object the size of an insect. "There it is."
"All I hear is some dog barking."
"That's the surprise, Brinny's gift from Cole."
"He surprised her with a dog?" Jake could never hide the disgust in his voice.
Rusty yanked on the leash and attempted to run toward a plastic bag, one restrained leap at a time. At least they'd arrived at a small, empty park.
"Thank you for also thinking that's weird. I was feeling like I was losing my mind."
"To be clear, you have lost your mind because you're fixated on a woman whose boyfriend just bought her a dog that you are taking care of. Why isn't he helping?"
"Because he's back up north working on another hydro project."
"So you're there instead?"
Kieran steered Rusty away from the bag and made the mistake of reaching for a stick. He cursed under his breath as Rusty's claws scratched him again. "We're out for a walk while Brinny repairs the damage to her mom's garden."
"You need better friends who don't take advantage of you, Kieran."
He wrestled the stick free from Rusty, threw it far, and then let go of the leash, figuring it'd make the dog easier to catch later.
"Brinny was very supportive when you and I first moved here."
She had played tour guide for the city and a few of her favourite places around it. She'd dragged him to skate on the river with the more decorative than functional warming huts, to French winter festivals that eased some homesickness, and to try her favourite coffee houses. All of it had made his transition to this province easier.
"And now?" Jake asked.
"She's been going through things."
First, it was drama with Cole, then work drama amplified by a break-up with Cole. He couldn't blame her for focusing on her issues.
"You should have gotten Ace Girl's number."
"Who?" Kieran asked
"The woman from the bar you told me about."
"Her name wasn't Ace."
"She is ace."
"What?"
"Ace, code for asexual."
"Oh." Ace Girl made her sound like an Alice in Wonderland superhero, which was cool. She had the legs to pull off one of those card costumes. "Why would I need her number?"
"Because then you wouldn't be so easily manipulated with sex off the table."
Rusty bounded toward Kieran with the stick in his mouth and growled.
"I didn't come here to sleep with Brinny." Although, his brother's statement wasn't entirely off. The prospect that she and Cole had broken up for good had excited him when she'd called. He'd thought perhaps a do-over from his blunder at the bar could occur. But her tone had been far too upbeat for that.
"Not today, but I suspect you were thinking about the long term."
Kieran played tug-a-war with Rusty and his stick. "You're too perceptive for someone who's never been in a relationship."
"Romantic relationships aren't the only way to experience manipulation."
"It's not manipulation. When you care about someone, you help and go the extra mile."
Jake sighed. "What has she done for you lately?"
"She bandaged up my arm."
"What happened."
"The dog."
"That you are helping her with. I'd hardly consider that above and beyond kindness."
"Last summer, we spent a week at her cabin. Her family took me fishing, water skiing, and tubing." He'd had a blast and wondered if she'd extend the invitation this year too.
"That was a year ago, Kieran. I can name five things you've done for her this month alone and none that she's done for you."
Rusty yanked at Kieran's arm, released the stick, and barked as a rabbit hopped leisurely across the field. He bolted before Kieran could step on the dropped leash.
"I have to go, but I'll come home later with supper."
He sprinted after the dog, hoping he wouldn't have to tell Brinny tragic news about her pet. Luckily, the rabbit ran into a corner away from cars, allowing Kieran to catch and return him safely to his new owner.
***
Thanks for reading! Any thoughts on Brinny or what Kieran should do next?