A shiver brushes my finger, and I look down to see a tiny snowflake melting on my hand. Joy floods my chest. It’s snowing—really snowing. It’s not melting this time.
It’s here to stay.
This is the first time Haze’s ever really been in the snow. As any first-timer would, he stares up at the sky and unfolds his hand to catch a bit of magic. A collection of snowflakes trickles down onto his palm. Waze barks as if to remind us of who’s the real star here.
“Waze, meet Haze.” I march toward my boyfriend, who also gets a lick from the agitated pup. Haze laughs and traps my hand into his before saying, “Happy Birthday, Kingston.”
15
Broken
“What’s taking so long? They’ll be here soon.” Haze knocks on the door. As soon as we got home, I ran into our bedroom in the hope of finding a decent dinner party outfit. I’m guessing I should make an effort at least once a year and that “once a year” should probably be my birthday.
“I have nothing to wear.” My eyes wander around the floor, where the majority of my closet now lies. Haze swings the door open, crosses his buf
f arms over his chest, and leans against the doorway.
“What’s wrong with that?” I catch his perverted smile.
I grin and turn to Waze, who’s sitting on our bed with his tongue out. After he ran around his new home for a good half hour, he found happiness in our bedroom, which is where he’ll be sleeping from now on since I’m never parting from this dog again.
Haze told me on the way home that he decided to get me Waze weeks ago. He pretended he didn’t want a pet and agreed to play my stupid game entirely so I wouldn’t suspect his gift. As for the rather hot game he came up with? He just said a guy knows an opportunity when he sees one. Is anyone surprised? Didn’t think so.
I was a bit worried about the barking when we came home, but Haze said he’d already talked to the tenant downstairs. Turns out our neighbor is a lovely seventy-year-old half-deaf woman who didn’t even know people had moved in upstairs.
“What do you say, buddy?” I say to Waze as I hold up a black dress under my chin.
He tilts his head to the side.
“Good point. Too dark.”
Haze snorts. “You’re talking to the dog now? How many conversations am I going to get left out of?”
“Only the ones in which you’re not helping.” I pick up my second choice: a pale blue dress. “How about this one?”
Waze barks.
“Yeah, that’s the one. Thanks.”
Haze laughs as I change out of my clothes and slip into the dress. We hear the front door close.
“We got the stuff you wanted from the store,” Kendrick calls from the kitchen. “For God’s sake, are we feeding a country?” I scoff at his exaggeration. We asked them to get some bread and a bottle of wine—big deal.
“Just Winter,” Haze teases. “So, yeah, we are.”
I punch him in the arm on my way to the kitchen. The new addition to our family doesn’t miss a beat and follows us.
“There’s my favorite roommate!” Kendrick braces his grocery bags on the counter and drops to his knees. Waze enthusiastically runs to him, not giving a single thought to the fact that Kendrick is basically a stranger. Waze is more than a friendly dog. Waze is that dog who chills with the robbers and shows them the best things to steal around the house.
“Wait. You knew?”
Was I the only one completely clueless here?
“Of course I knew. He told me weeks ago. This one can’t keep a secret to save his life.” Kendrick mocks Haze, whose only reaction is to smile awkwardly and turn away.
Kendrick gets back up and pulls me into a quick embrace. “Come here, you. Happy Birthday.”
“Thanks.” I smile. “Hey, where’s Allie?”