“The sunglasses thing definitely pissed him off,” he says.
“Youthink?” I deadpan, feeling my anger build up again, but when I turn around to face Jay, he’s fighting back a smile.
My fury deflates. “What?”
“Nothing, but that was hilarious. Almost worth the whole two hundred eighty-two dollars and fifty-nine cents, plus tip, which you say often, you know.”
I feel myself fighting back my smile, despite everything that just happened tonight. Now Jay and I are standing in a dark parking lot, a cool breeze whipping at my hair, smiling stupidly at each other.
“Come on,” Jay says, the first to break eye contact. “Let’s get going. I’ll follow you home so you can grab running shoes and drop off your car.”
He takes a few steps backward, still looking at me with an amused smile, then he shakes his head and turns around, heading across the parking lot to his car.
Sliding into my car, I close and lock the door, thinking about everything that happened today. Am I actually about to do something normal with Jay? Hang out like . . . friends? And why do I feel excited about it? Can we be civil together and enjoy a night out? Oddly enough, it wouldn’t be the strangest thing that’s happened to me on a Friday night, or even tonight.
When headlights appear behind my car and Jay flashes his high beams at me to let me know he’s ready, I start my car and lead him to my house, ignoring my rising heartbeat and goofy smile.
Thirteen
When I pull into my driveway, the outside lights and some inside lights are on, but my parents aren’t home yet. Jay pulls up next to the curb and doesn’t turn off his car, but I consider my dog and realize she must have to pee, so I walk over to Jay. He rolls his window down when he sees me approaching.
“Hey,” I say, “come in for a second. I have to take my dog out.”
He nods and rolls his window back up before shutting off his car. I lead him up my porch steps and unlock the door.
“Kevin!” I shout, listening for the jingling of her collar.
“Wait, Kevin is yourdog?” Jay asks, then he shakes his head, a smile on his lips. “That makes so much more sense.”
“What?” Kevin comes bounding down the stairs and jumps on me, her paws reaching me mid-thigh, her little tail wagging like there’s no tomorrow. “Hi, Kevin! I missed you too. Oh, I know, you’re such a good dog!”
After I give her thorough attention, with excellent pats and head scratches, Kevin tentatively sniffs Jay.
“Hi, Kevin,” he greets, holding his hand out to her, and after a few sniffs she allows him to scratch her head. She stands on her back legs to get closer to him, and I watch in amazement as she lets Jay pick her up and pet her. She revels in the attention, which confuses the crap out of me. She doesn’t even let Kalani do that and only occasionally tolerates Emi picking her up, so the fact that sheaskedJay to pick her up and cuddle isn’t lost on me. It must be because she was home alone for a couple hours so any human attention is desirable. It’s the only logical explanation.
Jay, for his part, is doing a great job; he’s cooing and petting Kevin like a seasoned professional. It makes me happy that apparently Jay’s a dog person.
“Who’s a good boy, Kevin? Who’s a good boy? You are! Yes, you are!” he says, and his warm attitude toward her throws me off almost as much as her letting him pick her up.
I slip off my heels. “You mean, who’s a goodgirl.”
He pauses, his eyebrows drawn together as he looks at me. “Kevin’s a girl?”
Like every time I hear the line, I cackle. “Yes, Kevin’s a girl.”
He tilts his head at me, then resumes petting Kevin. “Why did you name your female dog Kevin? And why is that funny?”
I laugh again, rummaging through the closet for some sneakers. “Have you ever watched the movieUp? The one with the house and the balloons? It came out when we were little kids.”
“Yes . . . ?”
“There’s a line in the movie where the kid, who named the giant bird Kevin, finds out she’s a mom, and he says, ‘Kevin’s a girl?’ and I thought it was the funniest thing ever, so I named my dog Kevin so I could hear everyone say that line over and over and over.”
He sets Kevin down when she squirms and looks at me, an amused smile on his lips. “You’re weird.”
“I was like ten, okay?” I laugh, even though he thought I was weird before I shared that story with him. I find my shoes and pull them out of the closet, setting them on the floor. “Be back in two seconds, just grabbing socks.”
With my heels in my hand, I sprint up the stairs and throw them in my closet, then slip on some socks. Then I pull the cork from my little piggy bank where I’ve been stuffing cash and count out how much I owe Jay before replacing the cork and jogging back downstairs.