Life's Too Short (The Friend Zone #3)(11)

Melanie had gone the Hail Mary route when she got sick. Tried it all. I promised myself if I ever got it, I wasn’t going to put myself through that. There was no point.

“It’s probably nothing. I’ll be okay. And hey, it could be worse,” I said. “I could have the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap.”

This drew a crooked smile.

Seeing that I wasn’t going to further the discussion, Drake took mercy on me and changed the subject. “If you’re looking for content, you and I could always get back together.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh ha ha.”

He grinned. “We were great together, butterfly. I miss you. And if you came here, I’d give you Laird back.”

“Keep him. I’ve seen enough of him for a lifetime.”

He chuckled.

“Anyway, I can’t take the baby out of the country. I’m trapped in my apartment, dealing with Child Protective Services, and getting an emergency injunction for guardianship over an abandoned infant because once again my family dumped their responsibilities on me.”

“Want me to send you my herbalist?”

I laughed a little. “No, it’s fine. I’ll manage. I always do.”

Well, I would as long as I could. Until I wouldn’t be around anymore to do it.

And that day might come sooner than I thought.





CHAPTER 5





MAN RESCUES DOG BUT WAIT

UNTIL YOU SEE WHAT IT DID TO

HIS APARTMENT!




ADRIAN

The dog was shitting everywhere.

I’d had the thing less than three hours, and I was already counting down the seconds until I got to hand him back to Becky.

The diapers wrapped around his belly and stopped only the urine from getting everywhere—which I suppose I should have been grateful for. But it did nothing for the pudding-like stool he was shitting all over my apartment. Luckily, he’d done this only on the hardwood so cleanup had been minimal, but it was far from pleasant.

I’d called Becky about it and she said it was probably just the dewormer upsetting his stomach and it would pass.

I knew nothing about dogs. We never had them growing up. My introduction so far was not going well.

On top of the messes, I was pretty sure the dog was not only deaf but also blind. He ran into walls and the legs of chairs. He growled every time I picked him up, but mostly because he didn’t see me coming and I think I was startling him.

I’d decided to try my luck at getting him to go outside, but in the freezing late November weather, he just stood on the sidewalk shivering and looking miserable until I took pity on him and put him in my jacket to go back upstairs.

I was making my way down the hall, pulling out my keys, when I glanced at Vanessa’s apartment door as I walked by.

I stopped.

What if that guy had come back after I’d gone inside?

I should check on her.

I knocked.

When Vanessa opened the door, she was in considerably better shape than earlier. Her split lip was almost invisible now that the blood was gone. Her long hair was in a neat braid over one shoulder—no vomit—and the pink tank top she was wearing was clean and showed off a nice figure I hadn’t noticed before.

“Hey, my hero.” She gave me a smile.

I fiddled with my keys. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay—and to see if you needed your trash run down. I imagine it’s probably hard to take it out with the baby.”

“Yes. I would love that service, thank you.” She tilted her head. “Wow, you just never stop giving, do you?”

“I figure your cockroaches are my cockroaches,” I mumbled, looking away from her down the hall and back again.

She grinned. “I didn’t know you had a dog.”

I looked down at Harry’s head poking out of my jacket. His tongue was hanging out, and he was shivering. “I don’t. I’m fostering him.”

“Oh. So we’re both fostering. Cool. It can be very rewarding, you know.”

I grunted noncommittally. “Well, right now it’s just shitting everywhere.”

She laughed. “Yeah, mine too.”

“Hey, we should probably exchange numbers,” I said. “So we know how to get in touch in case we need to.” I put a hand up. “I’m not hitting on you,” I added.

She scoffed. “Well, thank God for that because you are hideous.”

I snorted.

She leaned on the door frame. “Hey, I was about to order a pizza. You want to join me? You can bring your dog. And just so you know, I’m not hitting on you either,” she said. “I don’t date. This is purely in the spirit of saying thank you and wanting to hang out with someone old enough to drive.”

I paused a moment, debating her offer. I didn’t feel like being social—even though I knew I probably should. Sitting around feeling sorry for myself wasn’t good for me. I could practically hear Mom’s voice in my head telling me to get out and do something.

I heard Becky’s voice too. It was more annoying but saying the same thing.

“Well?” Vanessa cocked her head.

“Yeah. Sure.” Why not. “But no pizza. It’s famine food. I’ll pick us up something.”