“And why?” She took a bite.
“A lot of reasons. The biggest one being that she didn’t want to have kids. I did. It wasn’t negotiable.”
She nodded again. “That’s a big one,” she mumbled.
There were a lot of big ones at the end. I also didn’t much enjoy supporting her shopping habit or her inability to actually work in any of the many career paths she’d chosen. She was a perpetual student, jumping from one pursuit to another and never graduating. Paralegal, vet tech, dental assistant, nursing assistant, EMT—she was the most partially educated waitress in South Dakota.
“How about you? Boyfriend, right?” I asked, looking around her living room for a photo. When I’d gone to Sloan and Brandon’s to pick up tools, Sloan had photos and art and shadow boxes all over the place. Kristen didn’t have anything on her walls. Maybe Sloan took it all in the move.
“Yeah, Tyler. He’s coming home in three weeks. Moving in. He’s a Marine too.”
I took a swallow of my Coke. “First time living with someone?”
“I lived with Sloan. But yeah, first time living with a boyfriend. Any tips?”
I pretended to think about it. “Feed him and give him lots of sex.”
“Good advice. Though I’m hoping that’s what he does for me,” she said, laughing.
Her laugh transformed her face so instantly I was immediately taken by how beautiful she was. Natural. Long thick lashes, smooth flawless skin, warm eyes. I’d thought she was pretty the other day too, but a scowl is an unflattering filter.
I cleared my throat, forcing myself to look away from her. “So doglets, huh?” I nodded at Stuntman Mike. He had his head on her lap. The tip of his tongue was out. He didn’t even look real. Like a stuffed animal. “You know, he doesn’t seem like the kind of dog you’d own.”
She looked at me curiously. “What kind of dog do I look like I’d own?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just had a preconceived notion about what kind of people own dogs like this. Paris Hiltons and little old ladies. Is he the reason why you started the business?” I took a bite of my Big Mac.
“Yeah. There were things I wanted to buy for him that I couldn’t find online. So I started making them. People go nuts for their little dogs. The business does well.”
That I could believe. Just with the amount of orders she’d already given me, I could tell she made a decent living. It was pretty impressive.
I tilted my head. “They’re kind of useless though, aren’t they? Little dogs don’t really do anything.”
She scoffed. “Okay, first of all, he can hear you. Second of all, he’s a working dog.”
“What, a personal support animal?” Everyone seemed to have one these days. “Doesn’t count. A dog that hangs out with you isn’t a working dog. That’s not a job.”
“And what exactly would count?” she asked.
“A police dog. A search-and-rescue or service animal. A protection dog. A hunting dog.”
She looked at me, dead serious, and put a hand on Stuntman Mike’s head. “He’s a hunting dog.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s an insult to hunting dogs everywhere.” I dug for my cell and pulled up a picture of my buddy’s Lab with a duck in his mouth. “This is a hunting dog.”
She looked unimpressed. “Yeah, that’s a dog that hunts ducks. Stuntman hunts women.”
I snorted.
“What? I’m serious. He’s lady bait.”
I glanced at him. He was pretty cute.
She put her cheeseburger on the coffee table and pulled her dog into her lap like a floppy teddy bear, cradling him like a baby. His tongue rolled out and hung from the side of his mouth. “How about this? The next time you go to the store, take him with you.”
I shook my head. “I can’t take him to the store.”
“Why?”
“Uh, because he’s not a service animal?”
She laughed. “Stuntman can go anywhere. He’s wearing clothes. He’s not a dog—he’s an accessory.”
I chewed a fry thoughtfully. “So I just walk him in on a leash?”
“No, you put him in a bag.”
I shook my head with a laugh. “I’m cool buying tampons, but I’m not walking a tiny dog into a store in a purse.”
“It’s not a purse—it’s a satchel. And if this were entirely dignified, don’t you think all the guys would be doing it? It’s a core part of the strategy. Men don’t own dogs like this. They own dogs like that.” She pointed to my phone. “It’s adorable. Trust me. You’ll be a chick magnet.”
I didn’t care about being a chick magnet, but I liked the idea of having an inside joke with her for some reason. “Okay. You’ve piqued my interest. I’ll test your theory.”
“And if I’m right?”
“Then I’ll tell you that you were right.”
She twisted her lips to one side. “No. Not good enough. If I’m right, you pose in some website pictures with my dog satchels. I need a male model.”
Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?“Somehow this whole deal feels like I’m the loser.” I chuckled. Whatever. I was a good sport.
“How are you the loser? I’m giving you the opportunity to use my highly trained hunting dog to lure scores of women into your bed.”
I smirked. “You know, without sounding like an asshole, I don’t really have a hard time getting women.”
She tilted her head. “Yeah, I can see that. You have the whole sexy fireman thing going for you.” She waved a hand over my body.
I took a drink of my soda and grinned at her. “So you think I’m sexy, huh?”
She pivoted to face me full on. “There’s something you should know about me, Josh. I say what I think. I don’t have a coy bone in my body. Yes, you’re sexy. Enjoy the compliment because you won’t always like what I say to you, and I won’t care one way or the other if you do or don’t.”
* * *
Two days later I was back at the station. I’d just sat down in the living room after cleaning up the kitchen by myself for half an hour. The rest of the crew liked to hit the gym after dinner. There weren’t enough weight benches for everyone. As the probie, I had last right to anything, let alone the limited workout equipment, so TV it was.
Brandon came into the living room with a water bottle and dropped into a recliner. “Shawn lost the book I loaned him.”
“What book?” I asked, flipping the channels.
“Devil in the White City. I swear to God, every time I loan that guy something, he either loses it or damages it.”
“Did you check the bathroom?”
“It’s the first place I looked. Keep an eye out for it, yeah? I bet he set it down in the apparatus bay or something. I’m probably going to have to buy a new copy,” he grumbled.
“Why’d you let him have it?”
He waved a hand. “Eh, I don’t know. Shame on me, right?” He shook his head. “Hey, how’s the side job?”
I smiled, thinking about Kristen. “She’s cool as hell. She hung out with me in the garage a few times both days, just bullshitting. She’s hilarious.”
No offense to Brandon, but Kristen was turning into my favorite co-worker. And if I had to get bossed around, I’d rather it be by her any day.
He laughed. “Uh, I was asking about the job. But I can see where your mind’s at.” He grinned like he’d just won some bet. “I knew you’d like her.”
I gave him a sideways smile. “What do you know about her?”
Brandon was probably the one guy friend I could talk to about this. He wouldn’t give me shit. And God knows I’d sat through enough talks about Sloan.
He shrugged. “What do you want to know?”
Everything.
“I don’t know. Just tell me what you’ve seen. You’ve known her as long as you’ve known Sloan.”
He thought about it for a second. “Well, let’s see. She’s smart.”
I could see that about her. Good with math. I’d watched her figure out the totals on a few phone orders in her head, tax and all.
“She’s competitive. Doesn’t like to lose. The couple of times Sloan and I hosted poker, Kristen played and she made it to the final table both times. And those guys are pretty good. She’s driven.”
“How solid do you think her and her boyfriend are?” I asked. “They’re moving in together, so it’s serious, right?”
This was what I really wanted to know.
He gave me a raised eyebrow. “I know she’s faithful to him, buddy.”
I wasn’t implying that I hoped she would cheat. But now I was curious. “How do you know?”
“I mean, I’ve never seen anything to lead me to believe she’s ever messed around on him. And she doesn’t seem like the type. She’s too principled.”
I liked that she was loyal. A lot of women cheated when their men were deployed. I saw it often enough when I was on tour. The long separations took their toll. It said something about her character that she stayed the course, but at the same time, I didn’t like that it meant they were probably pretty serious.
“You think she’ll marry him?”
He grinned, shaking his head. “All right.” He picked up the remote from the arm of my chair and put the TV on mute. “You want to know what I think?” He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands, going into squad leader mode. He was about to level with me. “I think she’s not as into this guy as she could be.”
Now here was something. I sat up. “What makes you say that?”
“I don’t know. A hunch. Body language. Sloan. Any relationship that doesn’t have the best friend behind it is going to have challenges. And I didn’t get the impression Kristen was super in love with him. It seemed one-sided between them. That’s just what I got when I saw them together. But that was almost a year ago. Things might be different now.”
I tapped my finger on the armrest and stared at the Marine Corps tattoo on Brandon’s forearm. Mine was on my chest. We’d gotten them at the same time. “She doesn’t have any pictures of him in the house. Not one.” Girls like to put up pictures. It had to mean something that there weren’t any.
“Eh, there’s plenty on her Instagram.”
I deflated again.
He gave me an amused smile. “Look, buddy, you know how it goes. You come off tour and you don’t have a place of your own so you move in with your girl. It could just be that. Convenience. Or it could be they’re really in love. You want my advice?”
I waited, looking at him.
“Stick around. One of two things is going to happen when this guy comes home. They’ll either break up or they’ll get married. And if they break up, you’ll be the first to know. There’s no deadline. You like hanging out with her.” He shrugged. “So hang out with her. Be her friend.”
Her friend. I could do that. That was easy enough. Anyway, what choice did I have?