A day with friends, Pt. 2

“Mm. Yummy.” Caitlyn grinned around the bite of turkey club in her mouth. She handed me back my sandwich, while I mock glared. Summer sat on the bench beside me, happily eating a cheeseburger. Brutus sat opposite her, while Eli and TJ sat with their companions at the table right beside ours.

“Pretty good food.” Eli commented.

“Eh. Could have better mac and cheese.” Caitlyn wrinkled her nose adorably. I laughed.

“I get it, all right? You wanna go to that Italian place with the good mac.” I huffed. Caitlyn beamed.

“Ital-ean?” Summer squinted.

“Pasta.” Brutus explained. Summer’s confusion cleared.

“Oh! Pasta! Summer good at make pasta.” she declared.

“Really? What about mac and cheese?” Caitlyn asked eagerly.

“You and fucking mac and cheese.” Eli laughed.

“What? It’s delicious!” Caitlyn protested. The conversation devolved into an argument about mac and cheese, and I glanced towards Summer. She smiled at me, beautifully, and I felt my heart skip a beat. But... that was definitely wrong, wasn’t it? Humans shouldn’t feel any attraction towards Canidus.

Period.

“Joel. Back me up here, man.” Eli appealed.

“Mac and cheese is yummy, yeah, but you’re pretty crazy about it, Cait.” I grinned. Eli looked triumphant. Caitlyn just scowled, but her eyes held no real anger. They were sparkling with barely restrained laughter, from the looks of it.

“Brutus and Summer go play?” Brutus asked with a big smile on his face.

“Sure. You can go, if Joel says yes.” Caitlyn answered her dog. Both dogs turned to me.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go.” I said, and stood up to leave. Caitlyn grabbed my turkey sandwich on the way out, eating it happily as we left.

The two dogs bounded towards the park. I found a park bench and sat down, Caitlyn sitting beside me. I noticed abruptly how close she’d sat to me, despite the plentiful space she could have put between us. Our thighs and arms were touching.

“Cait?” I asked uncertainly. My eyes met her pretty green ones, and I found myself reaching up to stroke her cheek. We were pulled towards each other by some sort of magnet, but then Caitlyn’s phone buzzed, and we sprang apart, flustered.

“It’s Aidan. He wants me to meet him at Everpine Resort. What is he doing up there?” Caitlyn rambled.

“I don’t know.” I blurted.

“Right. Um... Brutus, we have to go!” Caitlyn said, then hurried away from me. Looks like the moment had passed and now only awkwardness remained.

Summer came up to me.

“Master... why Brutus leave?” she cocked her head. I patted the bench beside me, and Summer sat, precisely as close as Caitlyn had.

“Caitlyn’s brother needed help.” I said.

“Oh. Um... Summer smell Caitlyn on Master.” she admitted.

“Well, we were sitting beside each other.” I said in confusion.

“Smell Caitlyn arousal.” Summer clarified.

“Seriously?” I gawked.

“Yes sir.” Summer bobbed her head.

“Wow. That’s... that’s something.” I mumbled.

“Master want go somewhere fun?” Summer asked me.

“Like where?” I asked. Summer held up a paper.

“Tom said give this to Master.” she said. I took it, and was surprised to find it was a new apartment. A note was written on it:

Hey kiddo. Already paid for it. You’ll have to cover your rent, but the damned thing is yours. Bout time, eh? 21’s a good time to move out. Not too far from the college, either. I checked. It’s an hour from me, but I think it’ll let you have some well-deserved freedom. Happy belated birthday!

“Wow. Summer, he got us an apartment.” I grinned.

“Us?” Summer asked hopefully.

“Yeah, us. Me and you.” I grinned.

“No Angie?” she checked. I blinked, momentarily confused.

“Uh, no. No Angel.” I shook my head. Summer brightened even more, her tail wagging eagerly.

Eli and TJ came out of the diner, and I went over to tell them the news.

“Hey, man. That’s great for you. Besides, Briarwood College is a great college.” TJ grinned, as his elder sister went to that college.

“Oh, your sister’s a hottie, too.” Eli joked.

“Hey!” TJ frowned.

“She is pretty hot. You seen her rack?” I grinned.

“Aw, c’mon. You couldn’t get with her if you tried.” TJ laughed.

“I totally could!” I protested.

“Alright, man. Let’s make a bet.” he said with a shit-eating smile.

“Alright.” I grinned.

“I bet you can’t seduce my sister in... three weeks?” he asked.

“Done.” I said.

“Ok... but, if I win, we switch companions for two days. If you win... what do you want?” TJ asked. I was loathe to offer up Summer, but I also knew that his sister, Talia, was always happy to help screw over her little brother. She’d act as my happy girlfriend if I asked her nicely, I was sure of it.

“I want...” I trailed off, unsure

“Aw, get him to buy you a second Companion.” Eli grinned.

“A second one? I just got my first.” I frowned.

“Yeah, but more hands to get work done. I’ve already got my eye on a second one.” Eli told me.

“Yeah, alright. Deal, you buy me a second Companion.” I grinned.

“Alright.” TJ smirked.

“Now, how do we decide what seduce means?” Eli spoke up. Voice of reason.

“I want a picture of her naked.” TJ said immediately.

“Perv!” Eli and I laughed.

“What? Oh, shit, no I’m not gonna perv or anything!” TJ promised. Eli and I were laughing ridiculously hard now.

“Yeah, deal.” I laughed. The other two boys nodded, and headed off to the park while I headed to my car.

“Master trade Summer?” my dog asked immediately.

“What? No. You don’t get it. TJ’s sister is... well, let’s just say there’s no way I can lose.” I promised her. She looked unsure.

“Besides, you can help me pick out the new Companion TJ’s gonna buy me.” I chuckled.

“Summer help pick new sister?” she asked with interest. I nodded.

“Yup.” I said.