Page 115 of Men or Paws

“You’re something else.” Beth lunged toward me and kissed me. “Absolutely amazing.”

I held her in my arms. “If I would have known it was that easy to get a kiss from you, I would’ve shown you the toys the day we met.”

She ran her fingers along my chest. “You seem to have a faulty memory because I wasn’t your biggest fan back then.”

I arched an eyebrow. “I don’t remember that at all.” I smiled. “What about now? Are you my number one fan?”

“I’m getting there,” she said, kissing me again. She glanced at the five unmarked cardboard boxes in the corner of the room. “What are you hiding in those?”

“Nothing you’d want to see.” I avoided eye contact and tried to play it cool, knowing if she saw what was inside those boxes, I would never hear the end of it. I pulled her toward the door. “We should head downstairs.”

“You’re acting very weird.”

“No, I’m not.”

Beth pulled me back over to the boxes. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Look me in the eyes and say that.”

Intelligent women were a pain in the butt.

I slowly turned to her and forced a smile as I looked intently at her forehead. “Nothing.”

Beth laughed and pointed to my face. “Oh, you are definitely hiding something. You can’t even look me in the eyes.” She reached for the top box, grasping one of the flaps.

“You really shouldn’t mess with that,” I said, trying to hide my amusement since she wanted to open it as badly as I wanted it to remain closed.

She smirked. “I have a VIP all-access pass, remember?”

I shook my head. “Revoked for mischievous behavior.”

It was no use.

Beth pulled out one of theCaptain ClaptonAction Figures from the box, her eyes dancing with mirth. She exploded with laughter. “Oh. My. Word. These are the cutest dolls ever!”

I wagged my finger at her. “Hey—don’t ever call them that. They’re action figures.”

She kept laughing. “You’re such a macho man. Fine. Action figures, and they’re adorable.”

“I have to admit I thought you were going to make fun of the spandex,” I said.

Beth shrugged. “The spandex has grown on me, much like the man. Can I have one of these, please, please, please?”

I chuckled. “Yes, but not from this batch. These are donations and already accounted for. I can have one for you by the end of the week.”

She shook her head and placed the action figure back inside the box. “Just when I thought you couldn’t surprise me any more. Okay, let’s go see what Gwen and Douglas are up to.”

We headed back downstairs to the bowling alley where everyone was having the best time, chatting, drinking, laughing, and bowling.

Their laughter echoed and bounced off the walls.

It made me smile.

I’d never had a birthday party quite like this before. Every year I’d denied myself the pleasure of celebrating my birth, thinking it wasn’t important since I had convinced myself my birth parents had thought the same thing. Every birthday had been a reminder that the people who created me wished I hadn’t been born. Keeping it low-key every year was the norm for me.

This year felt so different, much better, thanks to Beth.