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“Pretend you know how to behave,” I say, giving her a tug.
Echo barely notices.
I finally give up, walking to her and grabbing the handle on her harness. “Sit.”
She looks at me over her shoulder as I repeat the command.
“I’m not letting you off the leash until you sit,” I tell her, shrugging.
She sits back on her haunches, and I unclip the pink and purple leash. As soon as she knows she’s free, she takes off to smell Bryant.
He’s brave, squatting down and patting her back.
“You are solid for a lady doggy.” He chuckles as she bumps her blocky head against his arm until he gives her scratches. “Just as big of an attention fiend as Shadow.”
While he’s preoccupied, I glance around, taking in the space. Most of the space is an open floor plan until you hit the tiny kitchen on the right and the dining room on the left. There’s a wooden table pushed against the far wall.
Two barstools line this side of the counter. A row of top cabinets block some of the view, but I can make out the appliances in what little of the kitchen is visible from here.
To the left is a hallway, and the door straight ahead is open.
A bathroom.
The ache in my bladder has moved to almost painful.
“Let me show you around,” Bryant says from behind me.
“I see the bathroom,” I say, moving toward it. “I’m going to pop in there real quick, if that’s okay. Then I would love a tour.” I take off to the sound of him chuckling.
“Shit. Sorry. I should have thought of that.”
* * *
“In here,” Bryant calls out as I step into the hallway from the bathroom.
The relief is extreme, but I already feel like I have to pee again. It could be anxiety. Or I overtaxed my bladder, and now it doesn’t know what the hell is going on.
I follow the sound of his voice and step into a sparsely decorated bedroom. It has a queen-size bed that stretches across the room horizontally.
The headboard starts on the wall to my right, and the bed takes up the majority of the space.
There’s a window on the wall opposite me that provides a decent amount of light. Dark gray curtains frame the edges, and I bet they help block the lights from the parking lot.
The left side of the room has a dresser with a decent-sized TV perched on it.
“I have no idea when the sheets were last changed, so I wanted to handle that before I left.” Bryant pulls a fitted sheet onto the mattress and nods to the wall behind me. “I left fresh pillowcases on top of the pillows on the dresser. Sorry, it’s not exactly hotel-level service.”
Echo circles around the end of the bed, following me over as I grab one of the pillows. It appears to be clean and without stains, but even if there were, I couldn’t complain.
I smile over at Bryant. “I’m more than capable of putting on fresh sheets by myself, but I appreciate you being a thoughtful host.”
“I failed with the tour.” He chuckles. “So I had to redeem myself somewhere. The door at the other end of the hall is another bedroom, but the guys use it as a spare office. The folding doors in the hallway are where you’ll find the washer and dryer. If you need to do laundry, I would tackle that soon.”
“Thank you so much.” I shake the pillow, struggling to get it into the pillowcase.
A rich, woodsy scent fills the air, and I fight the urge to bring the pillow to my nose.
There are hints of some type of citrus combined with fresh pine. It’s manly and delicious, and my senses are obsessed.
