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“You know it,” he said, looking at Amara. “You give ‘em the tour yet?”
“No, but let’s go. Honestly,” she turned to Ryan, “I need to get away for a bit. You know me and people.”
“Catch up with you guys later,” Jake called, heading over to the pool as they turned to go inside the house.
She’d led them around, showing them the downstairs, then the upstairs, including their master suite complete with his and hers walk-in closets. “It’s not a huge house, but the space is maximized to perfection. And this,” she said, opening the last in the hallway on the right, “is my respite.”
There was a huge desk in the middle of the room with bookshelves holding color-coordinated spines along the back wall. A small couch was positioned under the bay window that overlooked the beach, and the walls were decorated with some of her favorite published pieces of writing that Jake had framed for her. “It’s nice having a place all to myself where I can just sit and read or write,” she said.
“You mean where you don’t have two needy, dickhead hockey boys up your ass 24/7?” Hayes joked. “Don’t lie. You miss that shit.”
She shrugged. “Sometimes, I suppose.”
Just then, a muffled, high-pitched bark echoed throughout the hallway.
“Oh my God. And you have a fuckin’ dog? Bitch is out here livin’ the literal American dream!”
She laughed. “Be right back,” she said, leaving for a few seconds before returning with the teeniest, fluffiest golden retriever puppy. She shut the door behind her and plopped him onto the floor, where he took off right towards Ryan. The pup began sniffing him and immediately mounted his leg and went to town. “Baylor! No!”
“What’d I do?” Ryan said, throwing his hands up, confused.
“No, it’s...his name. We named him…Baylor.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake! All I’m sayin’? You better bust out another one of those fuzzy ‘lil fuckers named Hayes, woman, or I’m outta here."
Ryan blushed. “I’m flattered. But, um, why?”
“Well, Jake and I couldn’t come up with a name for him. We fought over just about every single one of them. Then it dawned on us: he’s adorable, he’s sweet but with a bit of an attitude, he’s blonde, he cries a lot, and he literally never stops humping things. So,” she shrugged. “Baylor.”
“That’s...actually perfect.” Ryan got down on his hands and knees and rolled onto his back, giggling as the dog crawled all over him and shooing him away when he began humping various parts of his body. “Oh, I love him!”
“He’s due to go outside. Can you take him out for me?” she asked Ryan. “His leash and collar are right next to the patio doors.”
“Yup. Come on, buddy.” He scooped the puppy up and kissed it. “God, I fucking love dogs so much!” he said, as he left the room.
Amara had a seat next to Hayes on the couch, and he put his arm around her, kissing the top of her head. “You’re OK?” he asked.
“I’m so OK, Ty. I miss you guys so much, but I do look forward to our little Facetime chats every couple of weeks. They help ease the pain a bit.”
“I like ‘em, too. And hey: just so you know? You fuckin’ deserve all of this.”
“I know.”
He picked up her left hand and examined it. “And, uh...nah?”
“Nope, not yet,” she laughed. “Still got just under two years of alimony payments to collect first. Then, maybe someday.”
“Well, I better be in the wedding since I can’t even get a puppy named after me.”
She smiled. “You’d be my man of honor. You know, because I don’t have one single female friend, sad as that is.”
“I mean, you got Rook. Close enough.”
“True,” she laughed. “But you really are my best friend, Ty.”
“I know that,” he said, as Ryan came back in without the puppy, but holding the briefcase and three beers.
“I was brutally attacked by a mob of children, and they took the puppy. Who are all these kids, anyway? It’s like a fucking daycare down there.”
