Once Bitten Twice Shy 5

Once Bitten, Twice Shy by OlympusMons90

"One over-par, that leaves me at two-under for the day. Where are you at Marco?" Tony asks his friend on the eighteenth hole as it's getting close to lunchtime on a Sunday.

"If I putt this for birdie, I'll be even after eighteen." Marco replies as he lines up his put on the final hole of the day.

"And what about you, Jack? Weren't you two over the last time I checked?"

"Yeah, but I screwed up my approach shot, I'm gonna end up at three over probably, I'll wait for Marco to get outa the way first." Jack replies.

Antonio 'Tony' Ramirez is enjoying his Sunday morning with his two best friends, Jack and Marco, playing a round of golf at the Stone Creek Golf Club near where they all live in Paradise Valley, a suburb of Phoenix in Arizona. Tony is a thirty-four year-old divorcee, his friend Jack is thirty three, with Marco being the youngest of the three at thirty.

They all met on the building site, with Tony and Jack both being carpenters, while Marco is an electrician. Tony's older brother Carlos moved to Phoenix for work ten years ago from San Bernardino, California, before Tony followed him after his divorce to his now ex-wife Rosa eight years ago. Carlos is now their supervisor but didn't come along today for golf as he has a young family to look after, and Sunday is the rest day for his wife Jenna who looks after their two young kids for the rest of the week.

After they finished their round, they all headed to the club's restaurant for something to eat and to enjoy a few beers together. Luckily for them, Jack's fiancé Kristen is also playing a round with her friend today and is also their designated driver, so the boys can enjoy a few beers together for once.

After ordering something to eat and getting a beer, they sit back to relax after an enjoyable morning.

"So, Jack, who's the hot blonde that's with Kristen today?" Marco eagerly enquires.

"That's Sienna. She works at the florist downstairs from Kristen's accounting firm. But I don't think she'd be your type though Marco, she's not into clubbing or dating apps apparently." Jack responds with a small chuckle.

"Hey, what can I say? I'm an equal opportunity kinda guy. As long as they're hot, I'll give them a shot." Marco replies while laughing along.

Between the three friends, Marco is definitely the player amongst them. He still frequents clubs every weekend and is all over the major dating apps too. Luckily for him, he's also good looking enough to keep himself well-occupied with various girls most of the time.

"I think she's way more suited to you though, Tony. And I think Kristen may have brought her along today with meeting you in mind." Jack smiles at his best friend.

"Nah, I'm good. I don't need help in that area." Tony responds quietly.

"Yeah, he's still taking the celibacy oath to become a priest. Isn't that right, Tony?" Marco prods Tony with a chuckle.

Tony just smiles and shakes his head back at Marco, this type of ribbing is nothing new for him. He hasn't been out on a single date since he first moved to Phoenix eight years ago to be with his brother after getting divorced.

"Cut him some slack, Marco. I think Sienna might just be the one to break that particular drought." Jack smiles in response.

"Hey, I'm not a charity case you know. I could find myself a woman if I wanted to, I'm just not that interested right now." Tony offers in his defense.

"Fuck, eight years is a long time to 'not be interested', Tony. At some point you need to put yourself back out there again." Marco follows up.

"One day, maybe." Tony answers as the two lovely ladies approach their table.

"Who won today guys? Let me guess, Tony as usual?" Kristen asks as she takes up her seat beside her fiancé, Jack.

"Yeah, but only by two shots today, I think Marco's getting better." Jack offers her.

"By the way guys, this is my friend Sienna. Sienna, you already know Jack of course, over there is Marco and the guy on this side is Tony. Be careful around Marco though, he should change his name to Casanova or something." Kristen adds with a laugh.

"Geez, I'm copping it today, just because I like to keep my options open." Marco replies while he laughs along as well.

Sienna takes her seat next to Tony, he's the one that her friend Kristen brought her along for the day to meet after all.

"And what about you Tony? Do I need to be careful around you as well?" Sienna asks.

"Hardly, the guy's a fucking saint." Marco replies with a big grin.

"Oh, Saint Tony, huh?" Sienna says looking at the handsome man sitting beside her.

Tony's just over six feet, with dark brown hair and eyes, solid build and in shape for a handsome man of thirty-four. Sienna herself is 5'6 with golden blonde hair with a fit body and a pretty face with lovely blue eyes. At just twenty-six, she's the youngest in the group today as Kristen is two years older at twenty-eight.

"Nah, I'm no saint. I just don't play the field like young Marco here."

"What are you talking about Tony, you don't even get out on the field, let alone playing it." Marco replies while laughing further.

"Alright, enough about my dating history, or lack of. I'm sure Sienna would be more interested in talking about other things." Tony follows up, hoping the topic of conversation will quickly move on.

"Well, Kristen told me the three of you all work together, is that right?" Sienna asks the guys.

"Yeah, we all work for my older brother, but he couldn't make it here today." Tony replies to Sienna.

"And how is Jenna doing? Handling two kids under three can't be that easy." Kristen asks Tony.

"Yeah, Carlos is giving her a day off today. She's over her mom's while he's on diaper duties." Tony replies.

"And what else do you guys like to do away from work? Apart from playing golf, of course." Sienna follows up.

"Well, Marco's favorite hobby is going out to clubs until the early hours, all the staff at those places know him personally too." Jack offers.

"What's wrong with that? I'm likeable, that's all." Marco responds.

"And you, Tony?" Sienna asks, looking at Tony sitting beside her.

"I have Champ, that's my dog. He's a three year-old Doberman, and I spend a lot of my spare time taking him to the park and stuff. I think he has more of a social life than I do sometimes." Tony chuckles.

"Really? I have my Princess too, she's a golden retriever and will be three in a about a month's time. I do like to spend time on the weekends taking her out to socialize as well, so I know exactly what you mean." Sienna responds with a wonderful smile.

"Maybe you two should go on a puppy play date together." Kristen adds.

Tony shrugs his shoulders, nodding his head a little.

"I'd like that, at least I'd have someone to talk to while Princess runs around with the other dogs." Sienna offers, but Tony doesn't say anything further.

"Hey, we're having a house leaving party next weekend by the way, I expect all of you guys to be there, you too, Sienna." Jack adds.

"House-leaving? Is that even a thing?" Marco adds.

"It is now. I'd rather we party at our old place to say goodbye than our new one. But we can have another party later, although we want to take some time to get settled in first before you lot mess it all up." Jack offers.

"Which night is it?" Tony asks.

"Next Saturday night. No excuses either, just bring your own drinks, we'll have the food." Jack answers.

The conversation between them all continued while the boys had another couple of beers. When it came time to leave, Kristen again prodded Tony that he should arrange a time for him to meet up with Sienna to take their dogs to the park, but Tony just smiled and shrugged a little again, but didn't actually get around to asking Sienna out to meet up later.

The following Saturday, Tony showed up at Jack and Kristen's place with a six-pack of beer, meeting Jack at the front door.

"Good to see you here Tony, but are you planning on having an early night with only a six-pack?" Jack questions Tony as he lets him in the front door.

"Yeah, I got stuff to do tomorrow morning, so I'm taking it easy tonight."

"Alright, go put them in the fridge. By the way, Sienna is already here too, just thought you should know."

"Are you and Kristen seriously trying to set me up with her or what?"

"Fuck yeah, of course we are. You can't seem to get the job done on your own apparently."

"Yeah, whatever." Tony replies, shaking his head as he makes his way into the kitchen.

"I'll take those Tony; you go mingle a bit. Maybe go talk to Sienna, she's here somewhere too." Kristen tells Tony as he hands her his beers.

Tony shakes his head again; he's feeling like he's being pushed into a corner. He knows they both mean well, of course, but he'd much rather not have to deal with this stuff. When Tony hears his brother's voice outside, he's a little surprised to see him here as he walks out into the backyard to talk with him.

"Carlos, I didn't think you'd show up, what with the young ones and all." Tony says to his older brother.

"We got her mom in as a sitter for a few hours; Jenna is here somewhere as well. I think she's off talking with Kristen's friend, Sienna."

"Oh great. Now she'll be hassling me too." Tony responds with a wry smile.

"Hassling you with what?"

"Sienna. Jack and Kristen are already both trying to set us up together."

"And what's wrong with that? And have you seen her by the way? You'd be lucky if she was even interested in you to begin with, she might be out of your league." Carlos chuckles back.

"Yeah, we met last Sunday at golf. She's nice." Tony offers his brother.

"So, what's with the act that you'd be put out or something? Go ask her out, you need to do something sooner or later." Carlos replies, referring to the eight-year drought his brother has been on.

"I don't know. While she's nice and all, I'm not sure if I want to deal with all that."

"Jesus, Tony. I know Rosa did a real fucking number on you, but not every woman is like that. At some point you need to let someone back in again, and it might as well be Sienna. Just start somewhere, anywhere."

"Alright, I'll think about it. But I'd prefer it if everyone just let me figure it out on my own rather than trying to push someone onto me like this."

"We gave you eight years, so you haven't been figuring it out on your own, have you? Look Tony, the people that care about you are just trying to help, that's all. If you really don't want to go out with Sienna, then don't." Carlos replied matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, okay. How did you go with the suppliers for Monday by the way, all sorted?" Tony asks.

"Nice deflection there, asking about work. But yeah, we're all good for 8am. Hey, look who's just walking outside. Go over and say hello at least." Carlos replies, nodding towards a very lovely Sienna who's followed Jenna back outside once again.

Tony did just that, going over and giving his sister-in-law a hug and a kiss on the cheek before saying hello to Sienna standing beside her.

"I didn't know you two knew each other as well." Tony says to Sienna.

"We just met tonight actually. Jenna's been nice enough to introduce me to everyone while Kristen is getting the food ready." Sienna replies.

"And speaking of which, I need to go check in on your brother to make sure he's not drinking too much. Can you two please excuse me for a moment." Jenna replies as she makes her way over to her husband, leaving Tony and Sienna alone together.

"Did you just get here too?" Tony asks, unsure what else to say.

"About thirty minutes ago. I'm thankful that Jenna's been kind enough to look after me."

"That's good. How's Princess doing? Is she home alone or is someone else with her right now?"

"She's home alone at the moment. Is that the same for Champ?"

"He has another dog at home. We've got a big backyard, so they keep themselves occupied."

"So, do you live with someone then?"

"I share a three-bedroom house with Marco, who you met last weekend at golf. He's got a dog named JR; he's a four-year-old male Jack Russell. Both of them enjoy playing tag around the backyard all day long."

"That's good, they need companionship too, just like us." Sienna responds.

"Yeah, and what about Princess? Does she have a dog friend she gets to play with on the regular?"

"No, not at the moment. That's why I'm always taking her to the local dog park so she can be with other dogs too. I feel bad for her when I'm at work all day."

"Yeah, understandable. So, are you sharing a place with someone else too then?"

"Yep. My older sister and her boyfriend. But they're almost never home, and they work weird hours too." Sienna replies.

"How old are you? Sorry, if you don't mind me asking, that is." Tony quickly follows up after his blunt question.

"I'm twenty-six, and you?"

"Thirty-four, although I'm surprised that Kristen didn't tell you that already."

"She did, I just wanted to know if you'd tell me the truth or not."

"Oh, so you don't think guys always tell you the truth then?" Tony responds with a slight chuckle.

"No, not really. I work at a florist, a lot the guys that come in buy flowers not just for their wives, but for their side-chicks too. That and I've met my fair share of guys like Marco before."

"But did you figure them out before or after they've had their way with you?"

"Before. I've learnt to have a good BS meter after my only proper relationship crashed and burned. I always make guys jump through a few hoops now, and that usually scares the fakers away if they're only after a bit of fun."

"Hoops? Like what?"

"Like taking our dogs to the dog park for a few hours to start with." Sienna replies.

"And that works?"

"Well, it worked with you, didn't it?"

"Hey, I never said I wouldn't take you, and besides I'm not looking for just a bit of fun, anyway. But I do actually love the idea of taking Champ to the park to run around with Princess."

"So, why didn't you agree to that last weekend? I gave you every opportunity and you just blew me off."

"Because."

"That's not an answer. You can at least tell me why."

"I don't know. Look, I haven't been out with anyone in a very long time. I'm not even sure what I should say or do at this point. So, maybe I'm just a little nervous."

"It's easy, you just talk like what we're doing now. It's no different."

"Yeah, maybe." Tony replies.

"Maybe what? Does that mean you want to go to the dog park with me, or not? You're not making this very easy, Tony."

"Why are you even interested in me anyway? Are you doing Kristen a favor?"

"What? No. Not at all. She did tell me there's this really nice guy named Tony that she wanted me to meet, and that she knew I'd get along well with you, but that was it."

"Are you sure? I'm feeling like a bit of a charity case at the moment."

"No, my charity doesn't extend to who I might date. I'll never spend time with someone I'm not interested in, that's for sure."

"And you're interested in me?"

"Maybe, but don't get too far ahead of yourself, Tony. I only said I'd like to go to the dog park with you to get to know you better. That's just the first hoop though, remember." Sienna replies with a slight laugh.

"Alright. Sienna, would you like to go to the dog park with me so that we can get to know each other better?"

"Yes, I would. See, that was easy, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so. When do you want to do this?"

"What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?"

"Nothing. I have some stuff to do in the morning, but I'll be free after lunch."

"2pm then. Give me your number and I'll text you the address." Sienna offers.

"Sure."

Both Tony and Sienna mingled with other guests at the party for the rest of the night, but found themselves back together chatting more often than not. As much as Tony wouldn't want to admit it, he's already feeling those butterflies whenever she approaches him, whenever he looks over in her direction when she's talking with someone else. It's a feeling that Tony hasn't felt in a very long time.

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On Sunday afternoon, Tony walked to the dog park that wasn't very too from the house that he and Marco share, arriving with Champ to see that there were already a few other owners and their dogs there. He looked around for Sienna, but couldn't see her yet, although he is a good twenty minutes early.

Tony always leaves the muzzle on Champ when he takes him to a dog park, more so for the other dog owners as Champ is a bigger dog and loves to get enthusiastic and rough house a little when running and playing with the other dogs. As Tony lets him off his leash, he's gone, sprinting over towards the other dogs to begin his play session.

Within moments, there are three dogs all running together, like they're doing big laps of an imaginary circle. At least Champ might burn off a bit of energy before Princess gets here, Tony is worried that Sienna might think that his dog is a little too much for Princess to handle.

As he's standing there watching the dogs run, he sees a beautiful golden retriever go tearing past him to join the other three dogs. As Tony looks behind him, he again starts to get those butterflies in his tummy, as a wonderful looking Sienna approaches him.

"Is that your dog? The one leading all the others around the park." Sienna asks as she gets to Tony, standing beside him.

"Yeah, he definitely likes being chased around, very few can keep up with him usually."

"Well, I'm sure Princess will do her best, she loves to chase things."

"How did you like the party last night by the way? Meet any interesting people?" Tony asks her.

"Yeah, I did. One in particular. I think his name was Gary or something." Sienna laughs in response, teasing Tony a little.

"Oh, I'm betting he didn't get a doggy-date though, did he?"

"The guy I met did, although maybe I got his name wrong. What was your name again?" Sienna asks with a cheeky smile.

"Very funny. Seriously though, did you have a good time last night?"

"Yeah, I did. Everyone was really nice. Also, everyone there seemed to know each other extremely well too. It seemed like a very close-knit kind of party just for close friends, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was. Just good friends and family mainly. You were probably the only ring-in for the night."

"I'm not sure whether I should be flattered or insulted." Sienna laughs at Tony's response.

"Definitely flattered. We've got a very good circle of friends that we all stick closely by. Usually, you have to be dating or married to one of us to get invited in. I'm guessing Kristen made an exception for you because she's hoping we'll get together." Tony responds.

"And what do you hope for, Tony?"

"I'm not sure yet. Apparently, I still have some hoops to jump through." Tony replies, chuckling a little.

"That's right, you do. But I might make them easier for you, if Princess and Champ get along well."

"No pressure Champ. You can do it!" Tony says out loud as if talking to his dog, even though they're a good fifty yards away from the dogs that are all still running after Champ.

"Jenna told me that both you and her husband moved out here from California ten years ago. What made you guys want to move out here to Arizona?" Sienna enquires.

"Carlos got offered a better position within the construction company we work for, but he'd have to move out here to take it. He felt that it would be a good change, not just for the better pay, but for better living conditions too. He tried to talk me into coming with him, but I was married at the time. My now ex-wife didn't want to move so we stayed."

"So, if Carlos came here first, when did you move here then?"

"About two years after my brother."