I nodded just as Rachel turned the corner from her bedroom. She paused mid-stride, her eyes wide.
“Did he just nod?”
Gabby smiled. “Yep. I’ve been working on it with him. He caught on really fast. The nodding isn’t bad, but his smile can be a little scary.”
Her pulse tripped, giving away her lie. Rachel stared at us for a moment then shook her head.
“You’re weird, Gabby, but in a good way. Anyway, it was one hundred and twenty-five dollars to fix the washer. I covered your half. With the vet bill, you’re up to one hundred, minus the burger and drink from disaster night.”
I saw Gabby’s cringe.
“Okay. I’ll run to the bank after class tomorrow.” She chewed her lip for a moment, and I scented her concern.
My mistake had cost her.
It took the rest of the week for the boots to dry; and when they did, the leather cracked. I could have dealt with that, but the toes of both boots also curled up, making them difficult to wear. Frustrated that the effort hadn’t resulted in something I could wear to go job hunting, I hid everything back under the neighbor’s shrub and knew I’d need to find some other footwear.
Friday afternoon, I lay beside Gabby, resolutely reading yet another book. I heard Rachel’s car pull into the driveway much too quickly, then her rapid steps on the porch. I lifted my head.
“Gabby!” she called in a panicked tone.
Even with Gabby’s cute little human ears, she picked up on the wrongness of Rachel’s pitch.
“In here!” she said as she flew from the bed toward the door.
The two almost collided when Rachel burst into the room.
“What’s going on?” Gabby asked, pulling back.
Gabby liked keeping a physical distance from people. Even Rachel. She didn’t seem to like touching. It made each pat on the head even more special.
“Peter broke and told Scott he had plans to go to dinner with me tonight,” Rachel said, out of breath.
“So...?”
I liked that Gabby tended to echo my thoughts when it came to Rachel.
“Peter’s coming here to pick me up, and Scott’s coming with.”
My ears twitched involuntarily.
“Gabby, I don’t think he’s going to take no for an answer tonight. Peter can’t shake him.”
Scott was going to end up in the hospital. After the week I had, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him nicely.
Gabby groaned, flopped back on her bed, and landed on me. Full body contact with her back. I didn’t care. I loved it. She even reached back to pat me and apologize.
“Sorry, Clay.” She froze then bolted up right. “I’ve got an idea! Rachel, if you have any clothes that would say I’ve been dating a guy for a while, can I borrow them?”
Wait, what?
“Sure, but who are you dating?”
Yeah. Who?
Rachel moved out of Gabby’s way as Gabby rushed from the room. I jumped off the bed and followed. She crammed some shoes onto her feet as she walked to the door, almost falling twice along the way. I stared at her wondering what she was doing.
“I’ll let you know when I bring him home. Come on, Clay,” she said, holding open the door.
She wanted me along? I hurried through the door.
She rushed to the car, opened the door, and waved for me to get in. I was barely out of the way when she pushed in behind me and slammed the car door. I studied her as she careened out the driveway.
“You’re here to keep me safe, right?”
I grunted in surprise. It wasn’t a rhetorical question. She really wasn’t sure.
I’m here to keep you safe and more, Gabby, I thought. But I remained quiet, waiting for her to state her point.
“Then, I need you to be more than my dog.”
I tilted my head at her, unsure how to take that comment.
She glanced at me nervously.
“I need you to put on your skin. Be my date tonight. Please?”
She wanted me. My pulse leapt, and the ache that had slowly eased over the days spent lying beside her came back with such force that I struggled to inhale. She wanted me as a man, as her date. I almost shifted right then.
“You took a shower today, right?”
Like a well-aimed porcupine quill, her little dart dug deep. I snorted.
“Do you know what size you wear? Shirt, pants, shoes?”
I blinked at her. I had no idea. I put on things that looked like they would fit. Everything I’d found, I’d tried on.
She didn’t seem bothered by my lack of answer. With a slight squeal of tires, she pulled into an open space in a huge parking lot and slammed on the brakes. I almost hit the dash.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she said. She was out the door before I could nod.
I stared after her and watched her disappear into a store. What was she up to? Scott was coming; and instead of just leaving the house, she was asking me to be her date?
A slow smile spread on my lips as I began to see her plan. She wanted to show the man that I had a Claim on her. She didn’t want to avoid him; she wanted to stop any future interest. I stood and stared at the store with pride. She wanted me.
She ran out of the store a few minutes later with a bag hanging from her arm. She opened the car door, tossed the bag at my feet, slid behind the wheel, and backed out, all in a matter of seconds.
Her driving made my stomach turn as she raced home.
Gabby pulled into the driveway, came to another jarring stop, then killed the engine as she opened her door. Rachel stood by the back door, waiting. The clingy dress she wore didn’t bode well for Gabby because I doubted the stack of clothes in Rachel’s arms was much different.
“Where’s your date?” Rachel asked as she scanned the car. “The guys are going to be here in fifteen minutes.”
Gabby waved her back into the house. “He’ll be here in a few minutes. I hope.”
I followed just behind Gabby and saw her toss the bag into the bathroom.
“Let’s go in my room, and you can help me pick what to wear.”
“Really?” Rachel’s excited squeal made me wince. It wasn’t the pitch; it was how she would dress Gabby.
They disappeared around the corner into the living room while I stayed by the bathroom.
“I need something a little tropical or hippie-ish,” Gabby said as she closed her bedroom door.
I looked at the bag. What had she purchased? I walked into the bathroom, then shifted and closed the door. In the bag, I found some weird cloth pants, a matching shirt, and sandals. Even without growing up human, I knew I’d look like an idiot. I knew what men wore. It wasn’t that.
But she’d asked me to be a man for her. I sighed and started the shower. Though I’d already bathed, I knew how she was about my scent.
I listened to the murmur of their voices through the walls. Then suddenly Gabby’s voice rose, and I could clearly hear her.
“...because I’m cheap, I got him some clean clothes from the summer closeout racks...”
So it was money behind the selection and not annoyance. That relieved me but also concerned me. I was eating her food, breaking her washing machine—the cost of the vet was all on her—and now she had to buy me clothes, too? I’d wanted her to become dependent on me. Instead, I was dependent on her.
I stepped into the shower and quickly washed. When I finished, I refrained from shaking off. Gabby didn’t like the mess that made. I used my designated towel, dried, and hung it over the edge of the tub. Then I stared at the clothes. There was a package of shorts and a pair of pants. I looked the package over. Underwear. Hmm. They didn’t have that at the Compound. Shrugging, I opened the package and shook a pair out. I eyed it. It looked...small. I stretched the sides out, in doubt. Maybe it would work, but was it necessary?
She wouldn’t have included it if it wasn’t. At least from her point of view. I stepped into the underwear and carefully pulled them up. They held everything as firmly as the vet. I tugged the legs down and won an inch of breathing room. Resigned, I stepped into the pants. They fit all right and were comfortable enough. The shirt was snug across my shoulders. If I needed to grab Scott, I’d rip a seam. No grabbing Scott, then. Unless he really deserved it.