Page 12 of Take Me (Cherry Blossom Lake #5)

Mason

“ S hit!”

Snatching the blanket off the back of the couch, I say a silent thanks to my twin for putting it there in the first place. Luce said I needed more homey touches, and touching is what I try not to do as I swaddle the half-naked woman in front of me.

“Sorry, sorry, shit, I’m so sorry.”

“Mason, quit it.” Grabbing the blanket with one hand, Erika uses the other to swat me away. “Go answer your door, dummy.”

Backing away, I stumble over my feet and rush to the door, leaving Erika wrestling her clothing in place. Through my stupid glass door, I see Annabelle clutching a cardboard box and pretending to cover her eyes.

“I didn’t see anything!” She giggles as she says it, making it clear she saw plenty. Dropping her hand, she stoops down to pet Scrumpy. “Hey, buddy. You’re looking good.”

“Annabelle, hi.” I drag a hand through my hair, aware of the sounds of Erika dressing behind me. “This is a surprise.”

“Whoops.” With a grimace she calls out to Erika. “So sorry, girl. If it makes you feel any better, I got caught with my top off at Puffin Point last week. Gave Frank Bundy an eyeful.”

I try not to picture the scene. “Why were you topless with a cop?”

“I wasn’t topless with Frank.” Her cheeks go pink as she gets to her feet. “I wanted to see Puffin Point. I didn’t date much in high school, and I never got a chance to park there and neck. It’s silly, but so freakin’ fun.”

“Gotcha.” I think—but don’t say—that I would have taken her to Puffin Point anytime she wanted. I was the Puffin Point mayor in my day. As a horny teenager, I steamed up my fair share of car windows there.

Why didn’t Annabelle ask to tick off that bucket list fantasy with me ?

“What’s in the box?” I ask instead, since that’s a much safer question.

“This is for you.” She thrusts the cardboard rectangle at my chest. “Some stuff I thought you might like to have.”

I peer in and see a weird wedge of clay, along with an old ratty collar. “What’s all this?”

Annabelle bites her lip. “When pets get abandoned at my clinic—especially when they have medical issues requiring surgery—I keep anything they arrive with. Collar, leash, tags, whatever.” She shrugs.

“I mean, they rarely have tags. People don’t want others to know when they surrender an animal for medical reasons. ”

Reaching into the box, I pull out the ratty blue collar and leash. The collar looks way too small for Scrumpy’s thick neck. “He was tied up with this?”

She must see me judging the width of the collar. “It’s probably better they had it a little too snug. If he’d been able to wiggle free, he might’ve run loose and been hit by a car.”

Bile fills the back of my throat. I still can’t believe they’d just leave him. “They abandoned him with porcupine quills in his face.”

“I try not to judge.” She bends down again to pet Scrumpy’s soft head. “People panic when a pet has medical needs they can’t afford. They don’t always know we have payment plans or ways of working with owners who don’t have the funds.”

That makes me feel better, but only a little.

I imagine how scared my dog must have been, his face full of quills, tethered outside a strange place on a cold, rainy night.

Did he watch his old owner drive away, wondering when they’d come back?

Did he whimper in pain and cry out in the night?

Did he wonder what bad thing he’d done to prompt them to leave him tied up alone in a dark, scary place?

“Mason?”

I turn to see Erika looking at me like she’s just asked a question. I must have spaced out for a second. “Hey.”

“Hi, Annabelle.” She flutters a hand toward the living room. “Sorry you had to see that.”

“Are you kidding? God, I feel like a jerk for barging in like I did. I know better than that. Sorry, Erika. Didn’t mean to catch you in flagrante delicto .”

Her laugh says she’s not that embarrassed. “If that’s Latin for ‘tits out,’ no biggie.” Erika shrugs, and I notice she’s gotten her outfit reassembled. “I’ve got good tits.”

“Yeah, you do.” I’m looking at them when she says it, and the words just slip out. Jerking my gaze off her body, I look back in the box. “What’s the clay thing?”

“Oh, that.” Annabelle sticks her hand in and pulls out the thin terracotta heart. “Whenever I put a pet under anesthesia for the first time, I take an impression of their paw, just in case.”

“In case—” Oh, I get it. “In case the pet doesn’t live?”

“My dad loves the one you made for Zippy.” Erika holds out her hand, and Annabelle hands her the paw print. “He has it up on the wall behind his computer.”

“I’m so glad it’s special for him.”

I never knew she did this. “You even take paw prints with pets who’ve been abandoned?”

“Just in case.” Annabelle shrugs. “You never know if the owner might have second thoughts and come back to claim them.”

That thought breaks my heart even more. “You think that might happen? That somebody could come back for Scrumpy?”

“Doubtful,” she says. “I held onto him for nearly two weeks. He needed time to heal, and I wanted to be sure they weren’t planning to return.”

Erika touches my shoulder. “It’s a good thing you came along. He already knows you’re his person.”

I look down and, yeah. The dog’s got his butt on my shoe.

“That’s a sign of affection and trust.” Annabelle winks. “They also have anal glands they use for scent marking, so he’s letting the world know you’re his.”

The punchline slips out before I can stop it. So does my arm, which ropes around Erika’s waist. “Guess I need to start rubbing my butt on you, huh?”

Rolling her eyes, she looks at Annabelle. “However did you tear yourself away from such poetry?”

Belle looks surprised that she went there. “God, I’m so glad we’re all open about this. No hard feelings, right?”

“Of course.” Erika sounds so breezy and bright, while I’m standing here with my arm locked around her like I think she might run. “Mason and I are great.”

That sounded convincing, so I nod. “Yep. Couldn’t be happier.”

“It was meant to be, then.” Annabelle sighs with relief. “Things work out for a reason, right?”

“Absolutely.”

My ex-girlfriend searches my eyes. “I’d love it if you and I could catch up sometime. As friends,” she says quickly, glancing at Erika. “Is that okay with you?”

“Sure.” She puts the paw print back in the box. “I already rubbed my butt on Mason, so he’s good to go out of the house.”

“Great.” She laughs and stoops down to pet Scrumpy. “I’ll just leave your parents to it then, huh? Seems like I interrupted something.”

My dog licks her face, then jerks his head to his tail. He gnaws on the base, then does some spring cleaning while he’s down there.

“At least he did it in that order,” I offer. “Sucks when the face lick comes after the butt lick.”

“We’re working on proper booty lick hygiene,” Erika deadpans.

Annabelle laughs. “Have a good night, you two.”

“Thanks for bringing the stuff by.”

“My pleasure.” She flashes a bright smile at Erika. “I’m really glad things all worked out like they did.”

“So am I.”

There’s a quick swap of farewell hugs, and we wave from the porch as the pale-yellow Volkswagen backs down my drive. As soon as she’s gone, I draw a deep breath.

“I’d apologize for the awkward moment,” I say, “but I’m not sure you’d know which one I meant.”

“Hmm.” Erika pretends to ponder. “It’s a tossup between you tearing my clothes off on your couch or informing your ex we’re into anal play.”

“Shit.” I glance at the driveway where Annabelle’s car disappeared. “You think she thought that?”

“I have no idea what she thought.” She takes a step back like she thinks I might strip her naked again. “Did it seem weird she kept spouting clichés? Like ‘everything happens for a reason’ or ‘things worked out for the best.’”

“Or ‘I’ve got good tits.’” I tap a finger to the side of my face. “No, wait—that was you .”

She rolls her eyes. “I do have good tits. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying so. It’s not like I put it on a bumper sticker.”

“Maybe you should.” God help me, it’s all I can do not to glance at her breasts. “Seems like a great way to get guys.”

“I’ve got one, remember?” She pats my abs fondly, maybe a little bit harder than necessary. “A guy who’s not counting on me to be wifey or sexy or anything other than me.”

“Shouldn’t that be the baseline for a relationship?”

Erika snorts like I’ve said something funny, but I don’t get the joke. “Like I’d know,” she retorts. “Mine lasted ten years, and I still never knew what the fuck I was doing.”

Is that really the lesson she took from that? “Maybe Neil didn’t know what the fuck he was doing.”

“Does anyone?” Crossing her arms, she looks me dead in the eye. “I think I’m not cut out for any relationship other than friendship. It’s easier this way, don’t you think?”

I’m supposed to say yes here, right? “Maybe.” I’ll give her that much, since I’m hardly batting a thousand myself. “But what about sex and close companionship?”

“I’ve got a vibrator with ten different settings and a drawer full of batteries.

” She grins, and I try not to let my reaction show on my face.

“And I’ve got a fake boyfriend for companionship, which is handy since I don’t need to navigate learning somebody new.

You’re just you and I’m just me and there’s no risk we’ll go falling in love with each other.

It would have happened ages ago if we were meant to be together, right? ”

“Right.” I’m not sure I follow her reasoning, but agreeing seems like the smart thing. She does have a point that we’ve never been anything other than friends.

“So.” Erika pats my abs one more time, and I’m getting the sense she likes it. She looks into my eyes, and I’m confident friendship’s the only thing zinging between us. “What time are you picking me up tomorrow, Pookie?”