Page 17 of Teasing

It doesn’t hurt that the stormy sky tonight is beautiful shades of purples and pinks and oranges swirling together like a Monet. Abstract and stunning in its simplicity and intricacies as we catch a break in the rain that’s been hammering us on and off all day. The heavy, humid air clings to my skin, and the hum of the cicadas lulls me into a heavy-eyed calm as I get comfy and crack open my book. Time to get lost in the second book in theKings Of Kroydon Hillsseries.

I remember finding these books when I was in high school and falling in love with them. Knowing the author grew up in the next town over made them even sweeter. I still prefer the books to the Netflix shows and do a reread of all four of them every summer.

My phone vibrates on the blanket next to me with a new message from Camden.

Camden

My flight gets in around noon tomorrow.

Emmie

Are you sure you don’t want me to pick you up?

Camden

No. I’m grabbing a rental car until I can buy something.

I’ll see you tomorrow.

Emmie

Camden . . . I’m glad you’re coming home.

Camden

See you tomorrow, Em.

My heart feels fuller than it has in a while, even if I’m having a hard time believing Camden is actually coming home. Wehaven’t lived together in nearly a decade. So much has changed since then. And somehow, so much hasn’t.

A quiet noise catches my attention as I drop the phone back to the blanket and open my book.

Is that?—?

I sit up and look around but don’t see anything.

The noise happens again, and this time it sounds like a muffled cry.

I close my book and my eyes and try to focus on the sound in an attempt to figure out where it’s coming from. It doesn’t sound like a person... it sounds like something else. An animal, maybe.

It happens again, and my eyes widen with recognition.

A puppy. Oh no . . . Butters.

I jump up and hop down from the porch into the wet grass, trying to listen for Butters. “Where are you, buddy? Butters...?” I call out, and the puppy whimpers again.

The sound is coming from the back of the yard, and the yips get louder the closer I get to the rose bushes blooming in front of the trees.

“Oh, cutie. What did you do?” I murmur when I find Butters caught under one of the bushes.

Carefully, I pull back a thorn-covered branch, grateful to find Butters in one little chubby piece. She has a long, red scratch on her front paw, but it’s not bleeding. It may have stung and scared her more than anything. Poor thing.

“Come here, Butters.” I pick the pudgy puppy up and tuck her damp little tan paws against me. “Let’s get you home.”

The sky opens back up again as I dart through the yard to the guys’ back door and laugh. Only I could get caught in the rain twice in one day.

“You look like a drowned rat,” Maverick tells me as he looks up from the phone in his hand and pulls his AirPods out of hisears. He’s lounging on a chair under his covered porch with a pensive look on his face.

“Don’t you just say the sweetest things.” I shift Butters in my arms and plop him down next to Maverick on the teak and cream sofa. “The puppy was caught under one of my rose bushes. I think she’s okay.” I turn to walk back to the house as a crack of lightning lights up the sky and stops me in my tracks. Yup... that’s about right for the way my day has gone.

---