Page 50 of Lines

Groaning loudly, I press pause and roll onto my back.

My parents are out having dinner and movies with their friends. They have the key so that can’t be them.

It’s almost nine, and the house is covered in darkness. The only light left is the one in my bedroom and the one in the foyer for when my parents return home, so whoever it is, has to know we aren’t home.

I get into sitting position and run my fingers through my messy locks. The cramps are killing me, so I spent the whole day in bed doing nothing but sleeping and watching TV shows.

Brook, maybe?

She probably had anotherthingwith her mother and decided to crash here. It wouldn’t be the first time. This is even early for her. Once she came at two in the morning, scaring all of us to death, but since then we got used to her just popping up in whatever time of the day or night. We even gave her our house key so she can enter whenever she needs, but she rarely uses it.

I slowly get out of my room, just as the bell rings for the second time.

“Coming!” I yell loudly, trying to out voice Lola.

Turning on the light, I shove her away lightly with my furry sock so that she doesn’t get in the way of opening the door, but she thinks it’s a game and starts attacking my foot. “Move, you little beast,” I tell her affectionately, a big smile on my lips, nudging her again. She can be so silly sometimes.

“Hey…,” I start, opening the door, but my mouth hangs open, no words coming out of them when I see the person standing on my front porch.

“Hey, there.” Derek beams back at me.

We stare at each other.

I can feel Lola run between my legs. There is a lot of barking and movements around us. My eyes fall to the ground and I see what has her attention.

“You have a dog?” I squat down and catch her in passing, lifting her up in my arms, not wanting to risk her getting the idea of running off. She’ll think it’s a game and won’t let me catch her.

Once she’s secure in my arms, I look at the other dog. It’s a husky or some husky mix, and he’s adorable. Just a small puppy with fluffy fur and intelligent blue eyes.

“Hey, baby. What’s your name?” I extend my hand, inviting him closer. He doesn’t have a leash or even a collar, but he doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave Derek’s side.

“This is Ace.”

“Come here, boy. Come.” I wiggle my fingers in his direction.

Ace lifts his head to look at Derek and when he gives him an okay, Ace moves closer to me. I pat his soft fur and scratch him behind his ears. It seems he likes it because he urges me to do it more. Ace moves closer to me, sniffing my hand and licking me.

“Aren’t you handsome?” I laugh at his antics.

When I stand up again, Derek’s still there, looking at me and the wiggling creature in my hands.

“Hey,” I repeat dumbly, not knowing what else to say.

He chuckles at me. “Hey.”

“We should really stop saying it,” I add, blush rising on my cheeks. “And you better pet her or she won’t stop moving.”

Lola’s been restless since I took her in my arms. I’m not sure why exactly. Maybe because she wants to go to Derek, or it could be the new doggy company. She’s the jealous type.

His smile and eyes soften, but the blue of them becomes darker, more intense. “She would like that, wouldn’t she?”

“Mhm.” I agree, not moving my eyes from his.

They transfix me. They hold me and draw me to him. I think if I look too long, I’ll be swallowed by those blue depths and there will be no way for me to find my way out of them. Not that I believe he would let me.

Without breaking our eye contact, his hand moves to Lola’s head and he pets her softly behind her fluffy ears. She stops wiggling instantly, and I can feel her move her head more into his touch.

Who can blame her? Derek has nice hands. They are strong and kind of rough, but at the same time, his touch is soft, almost like a feather lightly moving over your skin. Just thinking about it, something I really should stop doing, is making me shiver. But there is no escaping my memories of his hands on my skin.

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