“I’m going back in,” I said over my shoulder as I turned toward the door. Clay sprang to his feet before I reached it, swiftly crowding behind me.
I looked down at him and then back at Rachel, who watched us with an enormous grin. “Looks like another guy who can’t take his eyes off you. Living with you is going to be a riot.” She laughed and picked up the towels. “Let’s all go in. The neighbor’s tree is going to shade the deck soon anyway.”
Having little choice, I opened the door for Clay. His fur brushed my bare thighs as he moved past me into the house. His head came to about my sternum. He really was huge. A huge problem!
Sam had warned me that Clay had taken my speech as an invitation to live together. At least, he showed up in his fur rather than the flesh. Any relief I might have felt went unnoticed as I contemplated how he’d found me in a completely different state. If Sam told him, I’d have to kill Sam. Since I didn’t have the stomach for outright murder, I’d break his coffee maker.
I took a deep breath to clear my hectic thoughts and followed Clay and Rachel inside. If he’d come all this way, I knew I wouldn’t be able to tell him to go. I watched Rachel pat him again. Especially with Rachel around as a witness. It’d make me look like a complete physico if I started talking to the dog, not only as if I knew him, but also as if I gave a breakup speech to a human. I didn’t really have much of a choice… for now.
“We can keep him,” I said quietly, “But he’s going to shed everywhere,” I predicted on my way to my room.
Wisely, Clay stayed in the kitchen with Rachel. She continued talking to him, telling him how cute he was and asking him if he wanted anything to drink. I heard dishes clanking as I closed my door to change.
Even knowing he could probably hear me, I grabbed my cell phone and called Sam. “Gabby, what’s wrong?” he answered before it rang on my end. Sam knew I wouldn’t be calling so soon for just any reason.
“Clay is here. In fur,” I said as quietly as possible.
After a brief pause, Sam chuckled. “What did you expect, hun? He’s scented you. He’s probably been following you since then. The only difference is, when you were with me, he trusted me to protect you. Moving away, well, you might have forced his hand a bit. Then again, I think he planned on joining you from the start.”
I heard a creak of leather and knew that Sam had sat in his office chair, getting comfortable for a long conversation. “Right…” I started to say.
“Listen, this isn’t so bad. With him there, you won’t need to worry as much about other guys, right?”
“Yeah, but what about him?” I went to my dresser to start looking for clothes with one hand.
“I told you, he’s got control. You won’t have to worry about him becoming aggressive with you.”
Before I could say anything, Rachel’s muted voice called from the kitchen. “Hey, Gabby!”
“I gotta go. Just wanted to tell you what was going on,” I spoke quickly. “I’ll call if anything stranger pops up.” I didn’t wait for his good bye. Closing the phone, I tucked it back into one of my messenger bags on my dresser and quickly changed.
Dressed in lounge pants and a tank top, I opened the door walking toward her voice. “What’s up?”
“Do you think I can feed him leftover steak?” she said sounding slightly muffled.
Bent at the waist, Rachel riffled through the fridge. Clay sat off to the side with a perfect view of her exposed string bikini bottomed backside, only he wasn’t looking. He sat facing the arched door watching for me. Should I be happy that he’d ignored the perfect view, or annoyed? Instead of thinking about it, I answered Rachel.
“I’m pretty sure people food is bad for dogs.” Yes, I knew it wasn’t nice, but if he wanted to play the dog, I’d play along. “We can pick up some dog food for him in the morning. He’ll be fine overnight.”
I sat at the kitchen table, pulling my legs up and holding my knees, watching Rachel straighten from the fridge and let the door close. She turned to look at Clay with concern, but Clay ignored her and continued to watch me.
My stomach growled. Ignoring him, I spoke to Rachel. “But dinner does sound good. I should have thought of groceries while we were shopping.”
“No problem. I forgot to tell you during the grand tour,” she smiled and looking at me, waved her arms to encompass the house, saying, “that there’s a cupboard over there that you can stock and call your own. The top shelf in the fridge is mine. But don’t worry about it for tonight. I was lazy yesterday and ordered take-out pizza. There’s still plenty if you don’t mind leftovers.”
“That’s fine with me.” My stomach rumbled in agreement.
“We’ve got cheap plastic plates in the cupboard to the left of the sink, inherited from a prior roommate. Grab two, will you?” she said as she re-opened the fridge.