Snow

Story by Gibraltar on SoFurry

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Hooray for pretentious one-word titles


The air was still, so the snowflakes came straight down, more or less, spiraling gently towards the frozen earth. The past few hours had been hardly as forgiving; rain and sludge was tossed carelessly from the sky, freezing on the roads and icing over idle vehicles. I had to crack my Honda open like an egg before I went to Cav's house. I took it slow on the roads, and managed not to slide around too much. When I pulled up across the street from his place, I noticed that the door was open. That wouldn't usually seem odd at a party, but it was well below freezing. I stumbled upon my exit, holding onto my door and struggling to find decent footing in the slick road. I used to wear nice shoes a lot--wingtips and chelseas and what have you--so traction was a bit of an issue. I was more vain than I was practical. I pushed the door shut and spun on my heels to once again face Cav's house, noticing now that the open door had people coming through it.

Long slabs of concrete stepped down from the entry to marry it to the driveway. The bodies that had shuffled beyond the threshold and out into the stagnant air remained huddled together on the first step. Everyone was clad in layers. I spied coats and jackets, and a plethora of sweaters, with stripes of red and green, or snowflakes, and at least two individuals had donned Santa hats. How festive. Five or six faces I didn't recognize had already exited the house, and more were following. A white husky I didn't know caught my eye, wearing only a thin-looking sweater with images of bells and lights stitched into it. He was wearing dark skinny jeans along with his powder blue sweater. The form-fitting clothing showed off his tight little ass pretty nicely. I didn't let myself stare too long though. I recognized Pam, a panther in my physics class. I didn't know her super well, and she didn't know me super well, but she was one of those girls that was friendly with everyone. Like the other party-goers leaving Cav's house, she had a smile on her face. Surely everyone hadn't been kicked out? They wouldn't all be so happy if the party was going south.

Pam yanked me from my confusion. "Jon!" She waved a gloved paw at me, and slid down the steps to greet me. "You look warm."

I smiled at her greeting. Being a coyote, I needed more protection than the husky up on the steps. I received a corduroy jacket from my parents just a couple days ago, on Christmas. I had the collar popped up around my neck, and my paws were stuffed in the pockets of an old faded pair of jeans. Most everyone had jeans on.

"Hey Pam." She slipped forward and fell into me, holding onto me first for balance and then for a hug. I took one paw from my pocket and brought it to her back as she giggled. "Why's everybody leaving?"

She righted herself upwards and looked up at me, puffing a cloud of hot breath into my face as she spoke. "It was kinda boring downstairs, so we figured we'd head to the park!"

"We're going to walk to the park?" I craned my neck hyperbolically as I spoke, motioning as best as I could to the icy dust floating around us.

"Yeah! It's literally just down the street. You didn't see it on your way here?"

"Apparently not." Cav's street went up a hill, and I had drove in from the top. I had failed to notice the park at the bottom of the street, some ten or twelve houses down from my destination.

Pam went on. "Cav said it'd be funny if went to the playground, and everyone just hopped up and started leaving the house. Last I saw he was headed upstairs to find a coat."

The snowflakes in the air seemed to slow down when I saw him. "Speak of the devil."

Pam turned at my comment and noticed him as well. "Oh! Well, I'll let you catch up with him." She thrust her paws in front of herself and clumsily tried to slide down the slippery pavement. "I'm gonna get a head start!"

I had known the wolf for all of high school. His first name was Sean, but everyone called him by a shortened version of his surname: Cavender. With a last name like that how could you go by "Sean?"

I tried my best to hide while I was in high school. I didn't try to fit in in; I just tried not to be noticed. I kept to myself for the most part, especially outside of school. The handful of people I did talk to I only really hung out with during school. My personal life was full of walking and driving and reading. Quiet things. Things got a little less quiet when word got out I was a queer, but somehow all my school friends were cool with it. Cav took advantage of it, and began his three-year onslaught of bad gay jokes.

Me and Cav both played the tenor sax (poorly), and bonded over our shared disdain for most of the band kids. Why, then, did we stay in band for four years? I don't know. It was something to do. Cav wasn't a band nerd, and he wasn't one of the creepy band kids either. He was just a guy who played the sax. The same could be said for myself, though the two of us weren't wholly similar. He liked booze and girls and parties. I got drunk upon occasion, but neither girls nor parties were my forte. Cav knew that I wasn't crazy about parties, but insisted that I come to his Christmas party. The Christmas part was a bit redundant, as the affair had been rescheduled to the twenty-seventh, but the holiday spirit lingered in a festive afterglow. The colored lights strung up about the neighborhood were conducive to the party's late-night excursion, illuminating the sidewalks in colorful hues. It hadn't been a white Christmas, but the light dusting of snow on the ground would undoubtedly grow in depth before the new year.

The flakes falling now weren't fat and wet. Rather, they shimmered in the rays of light coming from the street lights and the Christmas lights, and the rays of light pouring in through Cav's doorway. They glittered like frost, crystalized dust drifting lazily down in the windless night.

Cav squeezed his way through the doorway, shimmying past the loiterers on the patio. There were some more cats I knew, and a painted dog I recognized from calculus, and the lithe, white husky I didn't know. When Cav made his way past a few bodies he noticed me.

He smiled and quickly tried to make his way down to meet me. "Jon! I thought you flaked on me!" He almost slipped on the driveway and thrust his arms out for balance.

I stifled a laugh and closed the distance between us. "I would never," I added sarcastically.

Through his smile steamy breath escaped and rose in the frigid air. "I'm glad you came." He held out both his paws and waited for me to grab them. I obliged him, having no idea what he had planned, and was swiftly yanked to the right. With a yip I started sliding about the concrete, as Cav laughed and swung me around in circles, slowly drifting with me towards the bottom of the driveway. Cav had always been a goofy guy, and had no qualms about getting comically physical with me. When we lost momentum we spurred in opposite directions, spiraling hand-in-hand towards the vacant street. All the young partygoers, having now fully left the house, paid us no heed, as they were jaded to Cav's flamboyant behavior. When we weren't looking at our shoes for security, we were looking at each other's faces, smiling giddily.

We noticed the droves of kids entering the street and made our way down to join then, still holding paws. I realized that there were actually about twenty people here, and they were all skating down the paved hill, building up momentum in long strides and halting abruptly every few paces to slide on the ice. Me and Cav joined the skating bodies, fingers intertwined for balance. I didn't holler like some of the other kids, but giggles escaped my lips.

I feel like the word "magical" is too frilly to accurately describe anything, but it's the only word I could come up with while I was on that street. The Christmas lights shone through the falling snow, illuminating our path to the park. Our precarious strides down the ice were made in poor judgement, but no one got hurt. The wind had died along with the freezing rain, so the air felt cool, not frigid. Our breath puffed up in our faces, and our necks were kept warm with scarves and lapels. And I felt happy. I felt free. Somehow, not until this moment, eighteen years into my life, had I ever felt so alive. The simple act of frolicking around like a child evoked a sad realization: I had never really experienced this childhood shamelessness. I barely had any friends growing up, and I had been too scared to act out for fear of embarrassing myself. This feeling of isolation festered throughout middle school and high school. Until tonight apparently. But none of these thoughts were swimming through my head. The only thing I could think about in the moment was the moment. Cav might as well have been glowing under the street lamps. When we looked at each other, into each other's eyes, I could _feel_the connection. There was something special there that had never had the freedom to break through, but I didn't push anything. We slid down the street as friends, nothing more. I couldn't ignore how he made me felt, though. I could get anxious around groups of people, and usually I just pretended to be complacent. Cav made me forget about all that, though. Whenever we were together I felt like I could truly be myself. He's the reason I felt so free on that icy street.

By the time we got to the park we were in full obnoxious teenager mode. It was eleven o'clock and twenty degrees, and we had no business being out. We were high school seniors fucking around on swing sets for Christ sake.

I was talking with Cav when he turned his head back up towards his house. The park was at the base of his street, on a T intersection, so we could see anything that moved along the sidewalk leading back up to his place. When I turned my head in parallel with his, I saw what he had seen. Carefully waking down the sidewalk in expensive boots was a thin wolf, wearing a bright quilted jacket. Angie. She was Cav's girl, a constant reminder that her man was a forbidden fruit.

"Angie!" He said it just like he had said my name from the entryway of his house, not fifteen minutes ago. "I thought you might've bailed too!"

She cocked her head and stopped in the street with her paws on her hips. "I would never."

He closed the gap between them, and took her paws in his own, just like he had with me. Only, now it wasn't him being a goofball. It was genuine. He brushed his cheek against hers as he pulled her into a long embrace. Thankfully her eyes were closed during the hug, so she couldn't catch my glare. Cav pulled back briefly before pecking Angie on the lips, and I finally yanked my head away. I was staring like a fucking creep. I began my retreat back to the frosted playground, searching for someone I knew, when I was halted.

"Where you goin' Jon?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, get back here," Angie chimed. "Sorry if I interrupted you guys or anything. I can't have you stealing my man!" The three of us laughed, though mine was less genuine. We made our way back to the crowd, three abreast.

"Why so late?" I asked politely.

She smirked up at Cav. "I was picking up some stuff up from Allen."

Cav grinned slyly.

Allen was her brother, or half-brother, or something like that. I had heard a little bit about him from Cav. From what I had heard he seemed like a protective older brother type, but he was cool. He was also old enough to buy liquor.

When we finally merged with the crowd, all attention was drawn to the couple, allowing me to slink away. I brushed some soft snow off a bench by the road, and sat down. I pulled out my phone in an attempt to seem occupied. No new notifications. That's fine. I scrolled through some news, only halfway soaking in the headlines that flew upwards on the screen. Celebrity sexual misconduct, proxy war, hunger crisis, another shooting. Vonnegut gave me a good motto to live by: so it goes. I stuffed my phone back into my pocket in frustration and resigned myself to just sitting. Once my ass acclimated to the frigid bench, I felt comfortable. I always felt pretty comfortable in the cold, especially when there wasn't any wind blowing to sting your face. I watched hot breath plume up from my muzzle, and turned my eyes up to the sky. In the park, the moonlight pierced through the sky and turned the snowflakes blue, but the park was behind me. The snowflakes I could see now were copper-bronze, twinkling in the sodium light leaking from the street lamps. They were almost golden. I tried to focus on that, on the twinkling hexagons, but I couldn't, not fully. Cav kept sneaking into my brain, trying to remind me of what I couldn't have.

Cav's dad left on a business trip the day after Christmas. They were regular occurrences, and helped to finance the massive house he had bought. His wife, Cav's stepmother, elected to tag along with him, thus leaving the house vacant for Cav to enjoy. I pieced together that the "rescheduling" had taken place so that the party could align with the venture. Cav's dad was usually pretty cavalier with what he allowed his son to do, but his complete absence would ensure that no problems would arise from the introduction of Allen's alcohol.

Fitting twenty people in Cav's basement wasn't a difficult task. His house was enormous. The basement alone was at least twelve hundred square feet, not including the mother-in-law suite and half bath. The floor space was populated with a large couch arrangement, easily seating most of the kids at the party. A flat screen sat upon the mantle, over an electric fireplace. The television was hooked up to a sound system capable of flooding the whole basement with noise. The whole time I was there, the speakers played some run-of-the-mill alternative music. It wasn't spectacular, but it also wasn't entirely unpleasant. The idea was to play something agreeable for everyone.

When I came in I sat down at the end of the couches; they were in a loose sort of horseshoe shape. Cav sat down by me for a while, but eventually began wandering around, being a host. Pam filled in after him for a while, and we chatted. Nothing important enough to remember. After she left, the other girls started cycling past me. I knew some of them, and barely knew the others. As the night progressed, they got more tipsy, and more touchy. At one point I think I had three girls on top of me, giggling and touching my chest. They weren't vying for a lay, mind you; everyone knew I was gay. They were vying for a trophy friend. That was fine by me. They gave me a little bit of attention, and all I had to do was be a queer.

I spent most of my time staring at the wall across, or at my feet propped up on the ottoman. When the girls talked at me I smiled politely and made brief eye contact, but the first thing, or rather, the first _person_to draw my attention was the husky in the middle of the horseshoe. He was the same lithe little husky whose ass I noticed when I first got here. I couldn't see the goods while he was sitting, but I could see the girls crawling over him. He wasn't complacent like me though, but neither was he womanizing. He was giggling and batting paws just like the girls were. Occasionally he and his girls would start whispering, and then they'd all turn to me and start laughing. I probably would have melted into the cushions by now, on account of my social ineptitude, but I had been nursing on bottles for the past hour or so. I had finished three already, and whenever my beer ran out one of my girls would scamper off to fetch me another. I took another sip when the husky started giggling again, and looked away.

I couldn't help but look at him once again when I noticed movement. He was shooing the girls away, and rising to his feet. He didn't look at me, but when he passed by my seat, his tail brushed against my foot. I would've rolled my eyes if I wasn't too lazy to. Miraculously, none of the girls noticed; surely if they had they would've flipped the fuck out. My ears could only handle so much.

I noticed movement again when the husky peered around the dividing wall. The wall separated the vast living space from a hallway that led to the bedroom and bathroom. I figured he had slinked off to piss when he disappeared back there, and maybe he had already, but apparently he had expected me to follow. When I saw his head poking out from behind the wall, we made eye contact. He winked, and in another instant he had vanished once again. Whatever. I took another swig, and after about twenty seconds he peeked out yet again. Oh my god. I downed the rest of my beer and rose. Fuck. My head hurt instantly and I swayed a bit as my vision lethargically darkened before coming back. I stumbled over to the hallway, and caught a white tail disappearing into the bathroom as I rubbed the heel of my paw into my eye. With a sigh, I followed him.

I pushed the door open and shut it behind me. The husky was leaning on the counter, with his arms crossed. When he saw me coming in he straightened up and smiled at me. As soon as I locked the handle, his arms were around my neck, and he swayed with me as if we were doing a drunken waltz. My paws went straight for his ass. I grabbed the thin hemispheres and squeezed them, hard, eliciting a moan from the dog. My eyes closed lazily and I kissed him. Our lips collided, and the taste of alcohol was fresh again, on his tongue. I lifted him up by the thighs and he crossed his ankles behind the small of my back. My legs were barely strong enough to support my own weight, so I quickly set him down on the counter. There was plenty of room there; there was plenty room for a fucking orgy in that enormous bathroom. When I set him down, he kept his legs wrapped around me, and his muzzle on mine. Only his arms came loose.

His fingertips danced down my chest, feeling up my pecs through my shirt. I didn't work out a lot, but I was fit enough to maintain my figure. He let his paws explore my chest more thoroughly, touching my ribs and sternum. He pushed his paws to my back as well, squeezing at the tight muscles around my shoulders. I grunted through my lips and pushed into the husky, placing a paw on the mirror behind him to support my leaning in.

Gradually his paws sunk lower, teasing my ass before heading in towards their true target. He giggled, fumbling clumsily in an attempt to unbutton my jeans. Eventually he succeeded, and progressed to my zipper. When it slid open, a paw slid in, exploring hungrily. With his free paw he pushed me back gently; it was more of a signal than an actual attempt to push me away. I backed up, and let my eyes open lazily. I watched a white-furred head sink to my hips. He dropped to his knees rather quickly, making a painfully loud noise on the tile. He didn't seem to mind though. His paws groped my ass again, grabbing for leverage to pull my pants down further. He used his tongue to lap at my stiffening cock through my boxers until they were pulled down to my ankles along with my jeans. As soon as it was free my cock bounced into the husky's muzzle, drawing an awkward laugh from the both of us. He wrapped his fingers around it and started pulling slow and hard, pushing his thumb up into my head. He pointed his muzzle at my face. Our eyes met, and he smiled. I smirked and brought a paw to his head, rubbing a thumb over his ear. I noticed now how pretty he was. Sharp-looking eyes, and a cute little drunken grin.

"C'mon," I urged.

He hummed affirmatively and opened his maw, taking my cock, which was almost at full-mast, into it. He suckled on just the head, holding the rest of my length with his paw. I exhaled in bliss, and leaned back into the wall, staring at the ceiling.

I didn't have too many notches on my belt, but I could tell that I had more than this husky. I mean, he clearly had some experience--a first-time blow job this good didn't seem likely--but I picked up on some cues while he picked up the pace. The alcohol should have mellowed him out considerably, but whenever I glanced back down at him I could see shaky fingers. His ears were laid back, so I placed a paw on the back of his head, not for control, but to comfort him a bit.

"That's good," I murmured, trying to encourage him. His eyebrows raised and he searched for my eyes. I cocked my head and smirked; he looked cute with my cock half stuck in his mouth. He then attempted to sink all the way down, but started gagging as soon as his nose touched my pubic fur. He pulled back abruptly, grazing a tooth on the top of my head before coughing into the back of his forearm. I hissed and doubled over, grabbing onto the countertop for support. It wasn't painful, but all the buildup had made my tip extremely sensitive. The husky peered up at me from underneath the arch my weak body made over him.

His eyes were full of fear and regret. "Oh my god Jon, I'm so sorry." He covered his mouth and stifled another cough.

I breathed in shakily and slowly turned around before sliding down the cabinets to seat myself on the floor. I laid my legs out straight and the husky scooted up next me. I heard a sniff.

Oh come on. "Hey... shhh..." I pulled him in closer with my right arm, laying it across his shoulder. With my left paw I reached over and grabbed his, guiding it to my hungry cock. I was gettin' close, too. He started stroking my wet cock slowly, almost apologetically. It drooled and he wiped his eyes with the back of his paw.

"I'm sorry."

I pursed my lips and pulled his head to my shoulder, and he nuzzled my neck. "Quit sayin' that, B." I stroked his cheek while he stroked my length. "It just sorta startled me."

He slowly moved his thumb over my slick cock, intently studying the glistening veins pulsing beneath his paw pads.

I made a guess. "First time?"

"With a guy, yeah." His response came quicker than I expected. "I mean, first time doin' anything, yeah. I guess I only ever kissed girls before I realized it wasn't really doin' it, you know?" He chuckled.

"Yeah, I know."

"Then you start lookin' at guys and... well here I am." He chuckled again, but I could sense the artifice more clearly this time. He was still nervous.

"You still wanna finish the job?" I asked, turning slightly to lick his ear. I wrapped my paw around his own, guiding his strokes, increasingly both their strength and their frequency.

Suddenly he yanked his head away, and soon after his paw followed. "I think... I'm just gonna go back to the uh... the, living room, or whatever." He rose quickly, almost falling over from the sudden change in elevation. I watched in confusion as the husky searched the room desperately. Finally he found his target--a towel folded next to the sink--and wiped his hands off before unlocked the door. He turned his head just barely, still facing the door, and said, "maybe you should wait a bit before you come back out, so that, like, it isn't too obvious we were together." With that the opened the door and slipped out.

Okay. I felt remorse, and some guilt, but mostly I felt sympathy for the confused dog. It was easy to forget just how much progress I had actually made. I was a hot mess when I first came to terms with my sexuality. I took me three years to get to where I was now, and considering I was the first person the husky had screwed around with, I could assume the husky was early in the process. Honestly it was baffling that he had made a move so drastic considering how on the fence he must have been, but he had drunk at least as much as I had, and I had had plenty. But oh well, I'm sure his girlfriends would make him feel better.

My cock twitched. I sighed and took hold. Might as well finish up. It's been a while anyways. I leaned my head back and breathed through my mouth, stroking hard and fast, trying to finish before my absence from the party became any more suspect than it already was. I let my imagination paint images as my paw pumped over my length.

A wolf climbs over me, pushing me down into the bed. His arms are hard, but his grasp is gentle, caring. His lips dance over mine, and his teeth graze my neck, biting and nibbling at their discretion. One paw takes my cock, and the other my throat, reminding me of who's in control. His muzzle explores my chest, and my stomach, and my groin. He plants kisses on my cock, and sinks down, expert tongue pleasing me as it pleases him. He doesn't linger too long, though. There's more in store. He rises to his knees and spreads my legs. He doesn't ask for my permission first; he doesn't need it. He lines up his length with my entrance and begins his advance. A moan and a single word hiss out from between my lips: "Cav..."

With my shirt unbuttoned and spread to either side of my torso, my cock was free to paint my chest and my stomach. I squeezed my cock, watching the dregs of my orgasm drool out over my fingers. Fuck. Even though I was alone, my afterglow was tainted with the heat of embarrassment in my cheeks. I just fantasized about my best friend, in his basement, and jerked off. I could have blamed it on the husky, whose name I still didn't know, but in the end it was my own brain that brought up Cav.

Having cleaned up hurriedly with toilet paper and masked the scent of semen with some deodorant I found in the bathroom, I waded back out into the basement. The husky was gone, and his girls eyed me as I returned to my spot at the end of the horseshoe.

"Hi Jon!" Pam and Angie were seated across from me, laughing and drinking and talking.

"Jon! There you are." Cav collapsed next to me, curling up next to me like a little kid, with his head on my chest. "Mmm, hi Jon." As he spoke he slid down, probably not on purpose, eventually landing on my lap.

I grinned like a fool. I couldn't help myself. "Hey buddy." I rustled his head fur. "Got enough to drink?"

"Mmm, nuh uh."

"Okay." I smiled down at him and rubbed his head as he nuzzled into my thigh. I don't know if it was a curse or a blessing that he touched me so much. "I think I'm gonna leave soon, Cav."

He shot up as quickly as he could, which wasn't very quickly, and looked at me incredulously. "But!"

I waited for him to continue, but all he did was look at me. "But...?"

"But you can't go!"

"It's getting late though."

"Why don't you just stay the night."

I sighed and looked at the ground.

Cav turned to me, eyes big with pleading. "Pleeease? I'll do anything."

Apparently, Angie and Pam had been listening in, because they both chimed in. "Kiss him, Cav!" Instantly they started cackling, and drew in the attention of everyone else in the room. My face grew hot as the small crowd pitched in their "yeahs" and "do its."

Cav giggled and turned his whole body to face me, tucking a leg underneath himself. "Will you stay?"

I sighed and conceded. I figured denying him would draw even more attention to me than kissing him. "Yeah I'll stay for a while."

Cav straddled my lap in glee and squeaked. The voices died and only the music lingered, but all I could hear was breathing. Mine and Cav's. He cupped my face with startling tenderness and leaned in. I figured he would have just pecked me, but as he got closer I could tell he was all in. I don't know if the alcohol had dissolved his inhibitions, or if he really was just that comfortable with the whole situation. I didn't have time to determine which one it was before our lips touched. The gasps and screeches and whistles from the crowd swelled, and we kept going. I realized my arms had been idle, so I grabbed Cav's ass with both paws and hoisted him higher up onto me, eliciting a shrill yet excited "oh my god!" from his girlfriend. She was as into it as much as everyone else. Cav smirked and hummed when I touched him, and wiggled his fingers in my fur.

It had easily gone one for thirty seconds, and by the time he pulled back I was panting softly. Cav wiped the wetness from his lips with the back of his paw and grinned at me like a fool.

"I think you got some competition, Angie," I heard Pam say. It was responded to with a playful shush.

Cav laughed, and let himself down from my lap, returning to the position he had assumed earlier, with his head resting on my lap. "Thanks for bein' a good sport Jon."

My head was too busy spinning to compose a response. Instead of trying to comprehend my feelings, I focused on the excitement and pleasure I felt, and fell asleep drunk and blissful, with my best friend's head in my lap.

I woke up with a dull headache and a wolf for a little spoon. Everyone else except Angie, Pam, and a couple people I didn't know had left in the night. When I rose I was careful to place Cav's head gently on the couch, and made my way upstairs to the kitchen, where I scarfed down some cereal. As soon as I pissed and found my coat, I was ready to go. I knew Cav wouldn't have any regrets from last night, but still, I didn't want to confront him.

When I stumbled outside I discovered that the snow had continued to fall through the night, and thicken. My car was covered with a dense blanket, so I turned on the heater and grabbed a brush from the backseat. When I closed the door and stood up, I saw Cav coming down from his front door, with an ice scraper.

He crossed the snowy street and aided me in clearing the windshield. "Sorry if I trapped you in a corner last night Jon."

I smiled politely and moved on to the passenger windows, having finished the windshield. "You're fine."

Cav wasn't smiling. "I mean it, man. I shouldn't have gone that far. It's not fair to tease you like that."

I didn't respond for a while, and when I finally did I found that I was choked up. "It's not fair." When I looked at him he wore a concerned frown, and his eyes were full of sympathy. I sniffed brushed the last of the loose snow from the back of the car. I tossed my brush back into the backseat, and made my way to the driver's door, where Cav stood, and hugged him without hesitation.

"Jon..."

"It's not fair."

"I know."

"Then why'd you kiss me for so long?"

The silence lingered for a moment before he answered. "I don't know. You're just a good kisser."

I chuckled and sniffed, and when I pushed myself back and looked at him I found that familiar playfulness in his eyes.

"I can give you that husky's number if you want. His name's Grant."

I was a bit taken back by his intuition, but then again, it's not like my operation with Grant had been super incognito. "I don't know... things went really fast last night, and I don't know. I don't even know if he was really into me, or he's even ready for a relationship, or--"

"What?" Cav stopped me. "Things went fast?" He waited for an answer, but I didn't know what he was asking. "I just thought he was kinda cute and maybe you'd wanna talk to him."

"Oh! Um... sure, yeah."

Cav gave me a questioning look, but shook his head. "I'm just not gonna ask. I'll send you his number. Drive safe, okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

He turned around once he got to his side of the street. "And thanks for coming!"

I waved at him as I got in my car, and sat there. Lot to process. I checked my phone when it buzzed, and found a phone number from Cav, followed soon after by a winky face.

I tapped the number and tried to come up with the right thing to say, and typed the only thing I could think of.

"Hey"