“I warned you.”
“A woman with a hearty appetite is refreshing to see. That’s it, Molly, I’m taking you to a Japanese steakhouse.”
“What now? What’s a Japanese steakhouse?”
“Hibachi?” he asks as if I should know what he’s talking about.
“No idea.”
“We’re so going. Are you allergic to anything?”
“Not to my knowledge. I’m not a huge meat fan, but I love my burgers.”
“I can see.” He makes a gesture, wiping at his cheek. “You’ve got sauce everywhere.”
I flick my hand dismissively at him. “It’s only sauce.”
“You eat with gusto.” I shrug, I suppose I do. “Tell me about yoga. What made you get into yoga?”
“I like meditation. And I found yoga and meditation work well together. It relaxes me and keeps me grounded. Have you tried it?”
“Uh, no. Yoga isn’t for me.”
I roll my eyes. Here we go, another ‘it’s not a man’s thing.’ “Why not?”
“I’m not flexible. I think it could, um.” He runs his hand through his short hair and looks around to make sure no one’s listening. “I think it could hurt me in the groin area.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“Maybe you can teach me.”
“Are you just saying this so you can score extra brownie points with me?”
“Is it working?” he asks, enthusiastically.
“Hmm.” I take my napkin, and wipe my face. “I’ll let Zhen decide if I should be impressed with you.”
He holds his hand out to shake mine. Hesitantly I extend my hand and shake his. “Deal. We’ll let Zhen decide. Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” I say.
I like Dylan. I’ve got a good vibe about him. He doesn’t make me uneasy. I feel safe with him near.
Hopefully Zhen and Zorro will like him, too.
The dogs and I get to the dog park, and I see Dylan standing in front of the entrance. I can’t help but smile.
He came. Yay!
I park my car, and open the back door. Both Zhen and Zorro are eager to jump out. I take their leads, and let them out of the car.
Walking up to the entrance, Dylan sees me. A huge smile lights up his face.
He’s really, really handsome. A baseball cap covers his dirty blond hair. While a pair of sleek sunglasses shield his brown eyes.
“Hey,” I say when I approach.
“Hi.” He leans down and gives me a brief kiss on the cheek. He pulls away quickly, not making this awkward. Though it’s just a peck, something happens to me. My skin tingles, and I feel nervous butterflies fluttering in my stomach. “Here are the infamous Zhen and Zorro. Let me guess.” He points to my Labrador. “Zhen, for sure. Which means you must be Zorro.” He doesn’t hesitate, he gives both dogs a scratch on their back.
“Yeah. Should we go in? I brought two balls. Thought maybe you’d like to throw one.”
“Sure.” He opens the gate, and waits until we’re in, before closing. He walks beside me with his hands in his pockets. “Um, are you okay?” He must be sensing this weird feeling.
“Yeah, I am. I wasn’t sure if you’d show up.” It’s a partial truth. I wasn’t, but that peck on the cheek is kind of making feel jittery and excited. Ugh, these are unknown feelings. I shake my head, trying to push that feeling away. There’s no logical reason why I’d be feeling like this.
We sit on one of the bench seats, and I let the dogs off their leads. They both run together. “Why wouldn’t I show up? I like you.”
“Have you got pets?” I ask.
“God, no. I had a fish once, when I was about twelve.”
“Yeah? What was the fish’s name?”
Dylan casually slings his elbow up on the back part of the bench seat. He starts laughing. “You’re gonna think it’s stupid. And it was.”
“The fish or the fish’s name?”
“The name.”
“Okay, let’s start with an easier question. What kind of fish was it?”
“It was a goldfish.” He turns his head, and laughs again. “And his name was Sushi.” He tries to contain his laughter, but his broad shoulders are shaking. “Man, I’m going to Hell for that one, aren’t I?”
“Sushi?” I ask, and laugh too. “As long as you didn’t eat him, then I don’t think Hell is the place for you.”
“I didn’t eat him. But I did kill him.”
“What?” The smile on my face fades fast. “How?”
“I gave him an entire container of fish food.”
I clasp my hand to my mouth. “Why?”
“’Cause I was a dumb kid.”
“Please tell me you’ve never had another animal?”
Dylan’s expression says it all. He screws his nose up, then quickly nods. “Yeah, I did.”
“Oh no. What did you have?”
“I had a bird. He was nice. He’d sing all the time. And when we didn’t want him to sing, we’d put a sheet over his cage, and he’d go to sleep.”
“He sounds nice.”
Dylan screws his nose up again. “Yeah he was. A really nice bird, actually. He was pretty. Blue and white.”
“Should I ask his name?”
“Oh man.” Dylan cringes as he looks away. “Roadkill.”
“No! You’re nasty with names. Tell me you didn’t overfeed him too?”
“No, no. Something far more sinister.”
“Oh god. Do I want to know?”
“I don’t have to tell you.”
“You can’t say that. Now I want to know. Just rip the Band-Aid off and tell me.”
“I cleaned his cage, and I hadn’t clicked in the top wire part properly. Roadkill stuck his head under to try and get out, but he got stuck, and snapped his own neck.”
“Dylan. You suck at looking after animals!” I’m completely shocked at how bad he is with animals.
“I know. To this very day, I still feel bad. But I promise you, I’ll do better with your dogs.”
“Nope. You’re never looking after my boys. Not knowing you have the touch of death.” Zhen runs back to me, and wags his tail. I give Dylan a sideways glance. I can see he wants to put his hand down for Zhen to sniff him. This must be a big deal for him, because he knows how important Zhen and Zorro are to me. “I’m trusting you. Dylan. Put your hand down slowly, and let Zhen come to you. If he likes you, he’ll smell you, rub himself on your leg, maybe lick your hand. If he doesn’t, he’ll just smell you and walk away. But he’s really protective of me, so if he thinks you’re trying to hurt me, he won’t back down.”
“I’d never hurt you, Molly,” Dylan says even before I have a chance of finishing my sentence.
“Zhen, this is Dylan. Dylan, this is my best dog, Zhen.” Zhen wags his tail. Dylan slowly drops his hand down, waiting for Zhen’s reaction. I keep scratching Zhen’s back, and when Zhen takes a step toward Dylan, I stop.
Zhen takes a good minute to smell Dylan, maybe even longer. He gives Dylan’s knuckles a small lick, then goes back to sniffing him. I raise my gaze to look at Dylan. He’s watching Zhen as Zhen inspects him. Zhen finally gives his hand another lick, then rubs his torso up against Dylan’s leg before returning to me.