Page 17 of Make Me Trust Again
“You’re safe now,” I continue speaking in a low tone as I take another small step, making sure to keep my body relaxed. Unthreatening. “Nobody will hurt you again.”
Another step.
“I bet you’re hungry.” Slowly, I slide my hand into my pocket and pull out some of the dog food I always carry around and show it to him.
His eyes dart to the offering, ears perking. I can see him weighing his options. I can see the hunger and desperation—the caution.
“C’mon, boy,” I coax, extending my hand further. “You have to eat.”
“He’ll bite you!” Rose calls out from behind me.
She must make some kind of movement because the dog barks, his eyes narrowing in distrust as he glares at us, and before I can make a move, he dashes away.
“Dammit.”
I watch as the dog slips between the unkept bushes. Is this his hiding place, or is there some kind of hole he snuck in through?
Running my hand over my face, I push to my feet, and I have to grit my teeth to stop a wince from coming out.
Fucking useless.
“Are you okay? He didn’t bite you?—”
“No. You shouldn’t have done that,” I grind out, annoyed as I make my way to the bushes and poke around carefully.
“He was dangerous.”
The fence is broken, and there is a hole; the dog is nowhere to be found. Great, just great.
I turn toward Rose just as Shadow brushes against my side. Those blue eyes are fixed on mine. They’re the color of the ocean, and I swear I can feel them pulling me in.
“He was hurt. Better question is, what are you doing here?”
“I—” She tucks a strand of her shiny brown hair behind her ear. “I came to check out the house.”
Before she can finish whatever she wanted to say, we can hear somebody call her name. She looks up and smiles at the newcomer.
Slowly, I turn around, and there is a preppy guy in a suit coming our way. His hair is slicked back; his dress shirt is buttoned all the way to his neck.
“I saw your car, so I knew you had to be here.”
“Yes, I wanted to give it a look?—”
A loudbangpierces the air.
My body moves on autopilot. My arms wrap around Rose’s middle, pulling her body into mine as I duck to the ground and cover her body with mine.
My eyes fall shut, the piercingbang-bang-bangechoing in my ears on repeat. Even behind my closed eyelids, I can see the red sand and fire from the blast, feel the scorching heat licking my skin, the collar of my shirt tightening around my neck and making it hard to breathe…
“Chase.”
A hand cups my cheeks, snapping me out of my thoughts. I suck in a sharp breath as those dark blue orbs stare into mine, a trace of worry on her face.
Rose.
A wet snout nudges my neck, followed by a lick of a sharp tongue.
Shadow.
