Page 29 of Pugs & Kisses

T he breeze blowing in from the lake managed to cut through the thick humidity that had settled over the city today.

The meteorologists on every news station had spent their afternoon forecast discussing how the unseasonably warm air was something they should start to expect as climate change continued to wreak havoc on the area.

It was a good thing he liked the heat over the cold.

Bryson followed Bella’s lead, running at a slightly less than easy pace as they made their way along the jogging trail that looped around West End Park.

The fourteen-acre strip of green space that sat between the marina and Lake Pontchartrain had been an unexpected but welcome find as he began touring his new neighborhood this week.

He’d been prepared to drive out to City Park for his afternoon runs.

Instead, within five minutes of hooking Bella to the hands-free jogging leash that wrapped around his waist, they were at the park.

Today’s run was about more than the physical exertion his body had demanded since his days as a student athlete.

He was in desperate need of the mental clarity that always came with a good jog.

Based on the thoughts that continued to permeate his brain, he would probably bring Bella back to the house after a half hour and then return to the park so he could go hard on the pavement.

Maybe if he depleted himself physically, he could do the same for his mind.

That way he would be too mentally exhausted to do something stupid, like tell Evie that he would take her any way he could get her.

He could not stop reliving that coffee-flavored kiss they shared last night. It played over and over again, up until the moment Evie pulled away.

In twenty years, when he looked back on this era of his life, there were only two things he expected to find.

Either this was the period in which he found lifelong happiness, or the one in which he began his downward spiral into becoming a lonely curmudgeon who scared kids who passed him in the park.

He had a great-uncle who’d been that way.

He wondered if unrequited love was the source of Uncle Butch’s crabbiness.

Bryson tugged on Bella’s leash as they neared the stone bridge that spanned the small lagoon on the eastern edge of the park. On a previous jog, they’d nearly had a head-on collision with a double stroller. He didn’t want that kind of near miss ever again.

“Come here, girl,” Bryson said, scooping Bella up and holding her against his chest. He slowed to a walk and unsnapped the phone band from around his arm.

He glanced over the few texts that had come through, but it was the voicemail from a number he didn’t recognize with a 985 area code that snagged his attention.

The only 985 numbers he recognized were his own and his family’s. No one else from that area code ever called his phone.

Anxiety squeezed Bryson’s chest like a vise.

It had to be the hospital. Or the sheriff’s office. Would the fire department call?

He clicked into his voicemail and readied himself for whatever news was about to turn his world upside down.

“Hi, Bryson. This is Althea Gordon, assistant principal at Southwest Terrebonne High School. Your mother gave me your number.”

Bryson paused the voicemail and, still holding on to Bella, bent over and braced his left hand against his knee. He sucked in several deep breaths. He had to stop jumping to the worst-case scenario when it came to his parents. He was going to give himself a fucking heart attack.

He went back to the voicemail.

“I know this is very short notice, but one of our featured speakers for the school’s Career Day had to pull out at the last minute.

I mentioned it to your mother before she left on her cruise, and she said I should give you a call.

Even though you didn’t graduate from Southwest Terrebonne, we still consider you an honorary member of the Wolf Pack.

I apologize for not calling sooner, but we would love to have you join us tomorrow. ”

Seriously, Ma?

She couldn’t bother to make time for him, yet she had no qualms about distributing his time out to others. It’s a good thing he wasn’t on call tomorrow and the one surgery he’d had scheduled was pushed back due to an infection that would need to be cleared first.

He called the assistant principal back and was relieved to get her voicemail. He wasn’t up for holding a conversation right now.

“Hi, Ms. Gordon, this is Bryson Mitchell. I’m happy to join you all for Career Day. If you can send a text to this number with the start time, that would help a lot. See you tomorrow.”

Still holding Bella against his chest, Bryson set off in an easy jog along the remaining bit of the running trail. He crossed Lake Marina Drive and, within minutes, was back in his condo. He considered returning to the park for a more rigorous run, but it didn’t take much to talk himself out of it.

After topping off Bella’s water bowl, he made his way to the kitchen for his own bottle of water. His phone chimed with an incoming text.

Hey Bryson, this is Sierra Jackson. Your mom gave me your number.

“What the hell?” Why was his mother giving his number out like Halloween candy? And to his junior prom date, no less.

But he couldn’t ignore Sierra’s text. She had been sweet back in the day. She’d also refrained from remarking on the less-than-stellar two minutes it had taken from start to finish when they both lost their virginity on prom night.

He perched against the kitchen counter and banged out a quick text.

Hey Sierra. Good to hear from you.

He uncapped a bottle of water and gulped down half of it without coming up for air. Sierra texted back within seconds.

Your mom told me you moved to New Orleans. I’m in River Ridge now. Maybe we can get together?

Bryson set the water bottle on the counter and stared at the phone.

There were several ways to interpret Sierra’s invitation.

She was an old friend who possibly just wanted to catch up.

They hadn’t been super close as kids. They’d attended the same church but not the same high school.

He’d only asked her to prom because not a single girl at the bougie-ass high school he went to appealed to him back then.

The three dots popped up on his phone, indicating another incoming text.

To be clear, when I say get together, I mean in an adult way.

Well, damn. Guess there was no reason for him to interpret her meaning on his own.

Bryson ran a hand over his mouth as he continued to process the text and suss out its implications.

Maybe this is what he needed. After the way his kiss with Evie had ended, with her still not sure if she wanted to go beyond that kiss, why not see what else was out there?

God knows this drought he’d been in had lasted longer than he’d planned.

It had been nearly a year since he’d hooked up with anyone.

His last time had been with a research vet he’d met at a conference in Seattle.

They hadn’t even exchanged numbers after.

Would it hurt to spend a night out with an old friend? A night that would end in guaranteed sex and would force him to finally put Evie in that friends-only category she obviously wanted to reside in?

He texted Sierra back.

I appreciate the invitation, but this just isn’t a good time.

“Fuck,” Bryson whispered. Could he be a bigger glutton for punishment?

The ellipses popped up on the screen again. A few seconds later came her reply.

Let me know when that better time rolls around so I can shoot my shot again. Take care.

“Fuuuck,” Bryson said again. He threw his head back and stared up at the pristine white ceiling. What in the hell was he doing? There was absolutely no reason for him to turn down Sierra’s invitation. Not a solitary one.

“You know why you turned her down,” Bryson muttered.

He would be too disgusted with himself to look in the mirror after sleeping with Sierra, knowing that he would be thinking about Evie the entire time.

He hated this. He hated the thought of turning away someone who actually wanted him because he couldn’t shake the thoughts of someone who refused to commit to being more than a friend.

But that’s the situation he found himself in, no matter how shitty.

He picked up his phone again and texted Sierra.

If things change, you’ll be the first one I call.

Then he flipped over to the texts he’d been exchanging with Evie, because yes, apparently he could be a bigger glutton for punishment.

Are you up for a trip to the bayou tomorrow? The high school in my hometown wants me to speak at their Career Day. You’ve showed me around NOLA, thought I could return the favor. We can talk strategy on the drive.

He stared at the phone while he finished his bottle of water. No reply. No ellipses. Nothing.

“Not everyone is staring at their phone, waiting for random text messages to come through,” Bryson said.

He carried the phone into his bedroom, keeping it in his left hand while he used his right one to pull a pair of lounging pants and a T-shirt from his drawer, along with a pair of boxer briefs.

Still nothing.

Bryson huffed out a derisive laugh, but he was more frustrated with himself than Evie’s lack of a reply.

What part of asking her to join him on a road trip to Houma even remotely resembled the “friendly acquaintance” she’d asked for?

Tacking on that they could talk strategy was as transparent as plastic wrap.

“When did you turn into a joke?” Bryson muttered.

He got in the shower and made quick work of washing because he fucking refused to engage in his normal ritual of jerking off, not when he’d just passed on the opportunity to have an orgasm initiated by something other than his hand.

He slung the drying towel from the rack and angrily attacked his limbs, because that made total sense. Like it was his arm’s fault that he was showering alone.

When he returned to his bedroom, he noticed his phone screen had just lit up. The swiftness in which he ran to it told Bryson all he needed to know about how far gone he was. She had him sprinting.

And yet, he couldn’t stop the big, stupid-ass grin that broke out across his face when he read Evie’s text.

Sounds like fun. Let me know what time and where you want me to meet you.

Bryson quickly replied with a time and told her that he would drive over to her house to pick her up. She responded almost immediately, asking if he’d meet her at Barkingham Palace instead. She would be leaving Waffles at the daycare.

I’m sure Ashanti can find a spot for Bella if I ask her nicely.

Bryson replied, Please do. Let me know what she says.

Evie answered with a thumbs-up emoji. He couldn’t explain why that caused his grin to broaden, but it did.

He should stop pretending that there was even the slightest possibility that he would settle for anything less than Evie Williams’s whole heart. He couldn’t do it. When he finally got her to love him, he wanted it all.