Hunter licked my hand, and I smoothed my hand over his silky fur. After a few minutes of loving him up, I stood from the floor, and went to put the shoe away in the closet. I flicked on the light to the walk in closet and went to set the shoe next to its mate on the shelf…
“Where’s the other—”
It was gone too.
“Hunter!”
I bolted from the closet and followed his scampering steps down the hall and met him in the living room just in time to watch him root the matching shoe out from its hiding place behind the couch.
“Oh, no,” I breathed, chocking back the urge to scream again. It was utterly destroyed.
Hunter grabbed it in his mouth and shook it around, before dropping it to the ground again. I was frozen with horror when his third, and final act, was to raise his leg on the corner of the couch and pee all over the entire area.
I buried my fingers in my hair and tugged at the roots. “Oh. My. God. I soooo need a vacation!”
4
Jack
“This is the life, Princess,” I shouted to my four legged passenger, over the roar of the salty air flowing over the windshield of my convertible. It’d been ages since I’d had the opportunity to drop the top and cruise.
It was almost as good as flying.
Princess panted, her eyes half closed against the wind, a big, happy grin on her face.
We’d been driving down the 101 for the past three hours, stopping at a few viewpoints along the way to take pictures of the ocean and stretch out. We’d had a fish and chips lunch at a little crab shack along the way and were getting ready to close in on Player’s place.
We flew by a blue, highway sign listing attractions, and I smiled when I saw Rosen Air Museum listed among the other tourist spots. After his father had retired from the Navy, he’d opened his own business. It had originally started as a museum with old fighter planes from different military branches and time periods. People came from all over the state to see his collection, and over time, he’d added to the business to get even more people through the doors. He’d built a hanger and airstrip and took people on air tours up and down the California coast. I’d been out to see it a few times over the years, but I hadn’t been there since Aaron’s father had passed. Player had been running the business for a while and added his own spin, bringing a new, techno savvy element, with a set of virtual reality rooms where people could go inside, get strapped to a real pilot’s seat, and play out battle scenes on a giant simulation screen. Player had told me all about it over the phone and taken me on a tour over Face App, a video chat app we liked to use. It looked badass and I was eager to experience it for myself in person.
A few miles off the exit, I saw the familiar driveway and pulled off the highway. Aaron’s house was on the same property as the museum, and I veered left to follow the gravel drive that led to his bungalow style home. I spotted my old friend on the front porch and honked my horn. Princess added a howl and was lunging at the door before I even brought the car to a stop.
“Crazy pooch,” Aaron said, opening the passenger door when I’d put the car in park. Princess jumped out and started dancing around at his feet. “Hey there, girl. We’re gonna be buddies for a while,” he said, squatting down beside her.
Aaron straightened and offered me a salute once I rounded the car. “Good to see you, man.”
I pulled him in for a quick, one armed, embrace, and as I pulled away, realized it looked like he’d lost some weight. We had similar builds, and while I had an inch on him, we’d been evenly matched in the gym. He didn’t look out of shape, but there was a noticeable difference in his physique.
He smiled. “How was the drive?”
“Couldn’t ask for better.” I went to the back of the car and popped the trunk with my key, but Aaron swooped in and closed it again.
“Hey, hey, we’ll do all that later. Come on, let me give you the tour.”
Princess trotted after him as he set off across the drive, back down the way I’d just driven, toward the massive, warehouse style building that I knew housed all the antique planes. I pocketed my keys and took off after them, jogging a few steps to close the gap.
“So, catch me up, how’s the squad?” Player asked when I was once again within earshot.
I fell into step beside him, our shoes crunching the gravel beneath us as we walked down the drive, back to where the asphalt road met up and led to the warehouse. “You mean besides the part where we’re all pining away for you?”