Page 37 of The Intimacy of Finding You

“Oh, good. I’m glad. You gonna split this with him?”

“Fuck no. He’d think I was lyin’ to him if I showed up with food this well made. I’ll repay him somehow at some point.”

“That makes sense, I guess.”

He shrugged. “I’m still learning the etiquette, but most people are pretty cool.” He set his plate down, most of the food almost completely gone. How hungry had he been? “Oh, yeah. Was that a dog I saw in your car with Jack?”

I smiled. I couldn’t help it. Just thinking about Fishy made me feel a million times better. “It sure was.”

“What kind? It looked cute, but I couldn’t see it very well.”

“Uh,” I had to think about it really hard. Fishy was quite the enigma. “Well, he’s definitely some kind of standard dachshund mix, but I don’t know what he’s mixed with. He’s just cute, long, has stumpy legs, and is the most excitable yet lazy and sassy dog I’ve ever met. I love him dearly.”

Tobi’s smile grew wider with each description I threw out there. Fuck, his smile was so bright and beautiful. I’d missed it so much. “He sounds really cute. I always wanted a dog of my own. Growing up, we just had the chickens, and my mom was too scared about dogs or cats eating them, so we never got any. I was always so jealous of the other kids.”

“Getting him was the best decision of my life. He’s great company. He would’ve loved seeing you a bit too much, though. He loves new people, so Jack kept him from looking out the window.”

“Aw, I would’ve loved to say hi.”

The chuckle he gave as he said it made me pause. These were the first true signs of happiness I’d seen from him in so long. It was genuine. It was real. What if… No, it was too early, right?

Or should I trust my instincts more with how far to push? The conversation I’d had with Crew earlier had me thinking. If Tobi still had that love—if he still had that determination and drive deep within him—then maybe I didn’t have to walk on eggshells. I knew Tobi, too. I understood him. At one point, I knew him better than anyone else did.

Deciding to go with my gut, I looked up at him and tilted my head. Underneath the years of pain hidden by his beard and the new lines etched into his face I didn’t get to watch grow was still my Tobi. Even if he was a little different. Even if he was more hurt. I knew him. My soul knew his. “Do you want to come meet him?”

chapter nineteen

I didn’t know why I said yes. It was a light flutter in my stomach—almost like a tickle from a soft, beautiful feather that kept getting worse and worse the longer I let the question hang in the air. Though I was a little stupid, I wasn’t that stupid. Logically, I knew exactly what I was getting into.

Despite knowing, I still wasn’t prepared enough. My palms had started to sweat as I waited for Callum to unlock his front door in the dark. He paused for a second, looking a little over his shoulder. “Fair warning, he might pee.”

“Pee?”

“Yeah, remember how I said he’s really excitable? I already keep a Swiffer by the door because he sometimes gets too excited when I get home. It’s even more probable when it comes to him meeting new people.”

I guess that was fair. “Okay. As long as I don’t gotta clean it up, that’s fine.”

Callum turned the key and slowly opened the door, stepping aside for me to walk in first. He came behind me right after, quickly shutting the door behind us just as the sound of claws tippy-tapping got louder and louder. Within seconds, an adorable, short, and very stumpy dog slid across the hardwood floor to me.

I couldn’t take anything else in while he started to wiggle his entire body, occasionally jumping up and down in front of me. “Oh, my goodness. Well, hello, little baby.” I bent over, holding my hand out for him. I was going to pet him, but he was wiggling and going in circles too fast for me to touch him.

He was so long. His fur was short and mostly black except for the front of his chest, the tips of his paws, and the tip of his long tail. When he looked up at me, his ears flopped backward just as his eyes widened. I thought I’d finally be able to pet him, so I reached down to give him some scratches on his head when he suddenly bent his lower body and…

“Fishy! Come on, man.” Callum sighed and grabbed the Swiffer from the corner.

I stood back a little bit. “You weren’t kidding.”

“Unfortunately not. Come on, baby. Move over.” Callum made him move so he could clean up the mess.

The dog pretended like it’d never happened. “Wait, did you say Fishy?”

“Yep. His name is Fishbowl. Fishy for short.”

My eyebrows rose as I looked between him and the ball of excited energy that was staring up at me. “You named your dog Fishbowl?”

He squatted down and started to pet all over Fishy. “Yeah, what about it? He’s really round. He reminds me of a Fishbowl. And he flops like a fish sometimes when he wants attention, and I’m not giving him enough.”

I couldn’t help it. I started to laugh. I couldn’t stop. It was somehow the funniest fucking thing I’d heard in an entire decade, and it was so undeniably Callum. “Ain’t no way!” I wrapped my arms around my stomach as my muscles started to ache. I hadn’t laughed this hard in so long, my body wasn’t sure how to deal with it.