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"I'm sorry I didn't call," he says quietly.
"That's fine," I mutter. "I didn't want you to."
Why is he really here? Is he trying to win me back? Does he think volunteering at the shelter will win me over when he's still skipping town in a week and going out of the country?
I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I can't afford to get caught up in this again.
I need to focus on my job, and on my son.
Maybe I can start over with someone else.
We reach the kennels, and I hand him a pair of rubber gloves and a bucket of cleaning supplies. "Sam--" he starts, but I shake my head.
"Evan, I realized that I didn't want a fling, okay? Our lives and personalities just don't work together. I'm glad you got me back out there, but...but I think I need to see other people, and the sooner you're out of my life, the better."
He raises his eyebrows. "Uh...I was just going to ask where the leads are."
Oh my God.The dog is still in the kennel, he was just...
I take a sharp breath.
"I'll get you one," I say.
As I turn to grab a lead for him, I can feel my face heating up with embarrassment. It's clear that I jumped to conclusions and misread Evan's intentions. I can't help but wonder if I'm just pushing him away because I'm too afraid to let him back in.
I hand him the lead and he slips it onto the collar of the Shepherd mix in the kennel. "Hey, I get it," he says, his voice softening. "But I just want to help out, Sam. I'm trying to be less of a piece of shit."
I nod, trying to control the mix of emotions swirling inside me. It's hard to process everything that's happening.
I want him so much it hurts.
"Sorry," I say. "You don't deserve that. I didn't...we weren't--we aren't together."
"And we don't have to be if that's not what you want," he says.
I don't question it. I can't figure out what that means.
I can't have him anyway if he's leaving town.
I leave him behind to work on the kennels, my head spinning. Jenny comes up to the counter a few minutes later, her eyes darting down the hall to the kennels and looking at Evan, who's currently mopping out a messy kennel.
"He's back," she says.
I nod. "Mmhm."
"Are you two still seeing each other?" she whispers.
I glance over at him, hoping he can't hear her. "I don't want to talk about it, Jenny."
"That's what you said last time," she says. "Are you fighting?"
"We're not anything," I tell her. "He's leaving town to go back on another trip for Hopeful Hearts. There was nothing there to begin with, we just...we just hooked up."
"Nope," Jenny shakes her head. "I've seen the way he looks at you. He's into you."
"He's horny," I mutter.
"He's in love," Jenny sighs dramatically. She looks over at him and snaps her head back, leaning closer. "He's literally watching youright now."
