Page 11 of Succeeding Love

He laughed wholeheartedly, his smile making his tough demeanor seem so much more gentle. “Wow, you’re short,” he answered, patting my head.

“Am not,” I muttered. “I’m average.”

“If you say so. What can I do for you, average Feighlynn?”

I lifted the bag I had carried over in front of me like an offering. “I come bearing gifts! Well, leftovers. We had a lot left, and I thought maybe you would want to try some.”

“Yes, thank you!” He took the bag from my hands, taking a deep inhale from inside of it. His eyes rolled back in satisfaction, which made something tingle in my chest. “I was just about to microwave two cans of Spaghettios and pretend they were lasagna.”

“That sounds horrible,” I giggled.

“A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.”

“Well, I hope this eases that burden a little. If you ever find yourself in a Spaghettio crisis again, feel free to stop by. We always have enough to share.”

“If this lasagna is half as good as it smells, I’ll have to take you up on that.”

I smiled, blushing slightly from the praise. Cooking was just another task on my daily list of things to do. It always has been. I haven’t received genuine praise about anything related to my cooking in a long time.

Human Kevin stood awkwardly for a second, and I was about to bid him goodnight and finish my walk, but then he asked, “Would you like to come in?”

“That’s okay,” I grinned gratefully. “Your mom isn’t too fond of dogs, and Kevin still needs to go for his walk.” I pressed my lips together, seeing the playful grin spreading on his face. “Doggy Kevin. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” he chuckled. He crouched down to pet my Kevin just like he did earlier today. “This Kevin is a good boy. Aren’t you? Aren’t you, boy?”

“Aw, are you baby talking to my dog?”

It was his turn to get all flushed in the face. “Maybe.” The muscled military man looked shy and pouty. “I like dogs.” He then reverted to the baby talk. “Especially dogs with cool names like Kevin.”

Kevin licked at human Kevin’s face excitedly. Human Kevin leaned into it, rubbing his neck with matching enthusiasm.

“Kevin is a cool name, but having two of you around might get confusing. I’m going to stick my head outside and yell for Kevin one day and you might come running over.”

“That would be a problem,” human Kevin chuckled. “You could just call me Trude. I’m used to it after twenty-two years in the Army.”

“But then, what if your mom comes running?” I giggled.

“Do you plan on sticking your head out the door and yelling Trude very often?” he smirked.

I shrugged. “I have leftovers often.”

“Hmm, you’re right. That may not work then. How about this,” he rubbed his hand on his chin, “What about a nickname?”

“I could just call you the human,” I said jokingly.

“Nah. You’d have all the neighbors running for my leftovers, then. How about just Kev? Or Vin?”

“I like Vin,” I smiled. “You have a Vin sort of vibe.”

“Like a certain actor that stars in a never-ending series of movies about fast cars?”

“I was thinking ofRiddick, but sure,” I shrugged.

“Oh, that’s a good movie. I forgot aboutRiddick. I’ll have to see if I can find it to stream later while I’m eating my leftovers.”

“You can borrow it if you like. I have the Blu-ray.”

He laughed softly. “Thanks, but I don’t even think mom has a Blu-ray player.”