Page 35 of Doggy Style

Preston puts his fork down. “You okay?”

“No. But don’t stop eating on my account. I mean, he died for your breakfast. Don’t waste his life.”

Preston rolls his eyes at me. “Seriously, stop. This is the natural way of life. We’re at the top of the food chain. We are carnivores.”

“Actually, we’re omnivores. Humans don’t need meat to survive. Cats are obligate carnivores because they need the taurine, but we don’t.”

“Didn’t you tell me yesterday to buy a hamburger for Cuffs?”

“Yes, I did, because that poor dog was starving, and I was trying to get him to trust us. But we don’t need meat, and we certainly don’t need to eat animals that are killed in an inhumane way. I suppose you like foie gras also. And veal.”

He frowns as he wipes his mouth with his cloth napkin. “Yup. Love them both. Look, I like you, Yessi, but I’m not going to ever change who I am for a woman. I won’t live an inauthentic life. I do think that I could be wrong about selling puppies, but I’m going to eat meat. And lobster. And whatever the fuck I want. If that’s a deal breaker for you, then let’s end this now.”

I turn away from him. In the past, yeah, it’s been a deal breaker. Preston might be my ideal man—at least physically—but philosophically we definitely don’t see eye to eye. Avril always says I’m too picky, but what’s the point of even having standards if you’re just going to compromise on them? She asked me once what my ideal man would be like, and I said he would be socially conscious, a pacifist, an animal lover, an activist, and yes, a vegan. Bonus points if he loved hot yoga.

My ex had met all those requirements. He was nowhere near as hot as Preston, though.

But more importantly, my ex was a jerk. A complete and total asshat. He was mean and controlling. In addition to cheating on me, which was the last straw, he’d been the one to call animal control on me after we broke up.

So maybe what I think I want isn’t what I need. Perhaps I could be happy with a man like Preston. Don’t I owe it to myself to at least try? It’s not like this has to go anywhere serious. I owe it to myself to have some fun for a change.

I can at least give him a chance. It’s not like I’ve been vegan my entire life, so why should I expect Preston to change? I can educate him about veganism in addition to shelter dogs. Eden’s approach is to kill people with kindness, so maybe I should take a page from her playbook here.

I should stop being so judgy. I don’t get mad at my pets when they eat meat. So why should I get mad at Preston?

Preston’s utensils clattering to the plate startle me out of my thoughts and I glance over to see him pushing his chair back from the table, wiping at his mouth with his napkin. He’s looking at me expectantly, and I realize I haven’t answered him. I exhale and take a sip of my Kona coffee. “I don’t want to end this now. I like you.”

“I like you, too.”

My heart beats quicker in my chest.

“But please tell me you’ll at least listen to what I have to say.”

He nods. “I promise I’ll listen to you with an open mind, Yessi. I can’t guarantee anything beyond that, but I did say I wanted to learn more from you on this trip, so I’ll keep my word to you. Why don’t you tell me about what you ordered for breakfast?”

I enjoy the rest of my food and true to his word, Preston asks questions and even tries some of what I ordered. Maybe there’s hope for him yet.