I arched a brow.
“Okay, more than a little.” He unlocked the front door and pulled it open.
As we stepped inside, an adorably goofy dog sleepily raised its head, blinking a few times.
“Peaches, were you napping this whole time?” Boden asked.
The dog thumped her tail. Gizmo let out an excited series of barks, and Peaches’ ears twitched. She stood, hurrying over to Boden.
He shook his head and pointed to the door. “Uh-uh, go do your business first.”
She let out a series of grumbled whines that could only be taken for disagreement but headed for the open door.
Boden looked at me. “Is Gizmo good with other dogs?”
“Loves them.”
Boden set him down and hooked Gizmo’s wheels to his harness. Gizmo charged for the front porch just as Peaches came back up the steps. They circled each other, tails wagging until Peaches dipped her head and gave Gizmo what could only be described as a nuzzle.
“I’ll be damned,” Boden muttered.
Something about the movement made my chest ache. “She’s so sweet.”
“When she wants to be. She’s also one of the most stubborn dogs on the planet.”
I grinned. “That’s good. You need someone who doesn’t always let you have your way.”
“Hell, now you’re going to start ganging up on me with my dog.”
A laugh bubbled out of me, and the sound felt so damn good.
Boden’s expression softened before he headed into the kitchen. “You good with pepperoni?”
“It’s one of my favorites.”
“I knew I liked you.”
As the dogs worked their way inside, I shut the door. With nothing else to do, I stood awkwardly, studying Boden’s space. “How long are you here for?” It was a question I hadn’t thought to ask until that very moment, but the idea of Boden leaving sent a pang along my sternum.
“Undecided.” He put the frozen pizza on a tray and stuck it into the still-preheating oven. “I like it here, though. Might need to think about looking for a place.”
“In middle-of-nowhere Oregon?”
He shrugged. “Finding a place that speaks to your soul isn’t to be underestimated.”
“Those mountains are a sucker punch.”
“In the best possible way. But it’s more than that. There’s a sense of peace here I haven’t felt in a long time. It’s the same way my parents feel about Big Sur.”
I settled onto a stool at the kitchen island, keeping an eye on the dogs, who were still doing their sniffing dance. “That’s where they live? Not Los Angeles?”
Boden nodded. “It used to be our vacation home growing up. We spent most summers up there. But after Eli and I graduated high school, they moved up there full time.”
“Is Eli your brother?”
The stiffening of his spine was so minute, I would’ve missed it if I weren’t a student of faces and bodies and how they gave away so much more than a person would say. “Yeah, my brother.”
“You two aren’t close?”