Page 59 of Catch Me
Fuck, I really was alone.
Staring at the ceiling wasn’t helping my mood, so I took a long shower, then dressed in a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt. Technically, I was on winter break, so I was going to chill when I had the chance.
It was getting less awkward to walk out of my room, which was a relief. There were a couple times when I stared at the door for a long time before I decided to do it. Today, it just felt like waking up and going about my day.
There was coffee in the pot, but it was cold, so I poured it into a glass and added some ice. Looking out of the window above the sink, I saw Travis playing catch with Tessa. That dog had the best life. There was never a dull moment around this guy.
He fake threw the ball, and Tessa turned around, but when she realized what he’d done, she charged him. This must’ve been a regular thing because when she leapt off the ground, he caught her without missing a beat. Aside from the games he didn’t take her to, they were always together, no matter where he went.
When I reached the end of my coffee, I realized that I’d been watching them for a while. They were mesmerizing, an unbreakable force that belonged together. The way they were in sync with each other was pure and beautiful.
Travis headed toward the house, so I quickly made another coffee, then leaned against the counter, facing away from the window. He was humming as he came in the door, and when he saw me, he swore.
“Warn a guy if you’re gonna come back from the dead.”
“I’m not dead,” I replied as I stared at an ice cube in my glass.
“Just a late sleeper, then.”
“I barely slept.”
He matched my position across from me and crossed his ankles in front of him. His white t-shirt was wet and molded to his abdomen. I’d seen him shirtless, but something about this felt more revealing. I lifted my gaze and found him watching me.
“Why didn’t you sleep?”
“I did. Some.”
“Did Tessa keep you up? She’s a bed hog.”
“Nah. I slept better when she was there.”
He hummed his acknowledgement. “Have her sleep with you.”
“I’m not gonna steal your dog.”
“Steal? You’re saving me from waking up at five when her demon energy awakens.” He whistled and Tessa charged into the house. When he lifted his hand, she stopped and sat down. “She does know how to control herself, surprisingly.”
“You never give her commands.”
“I use them for her safety and when she gives in to the monster too much. I don’t see a reason to stop her from acting like a dog if she’s not doing anything wrong. No matter how rowdy she gets, she always listens when I give her an actual instruction because she knows I’m serious if I’m doing it.”
He really was a good person. A lot of people either didn’t train their dogs well and yelled at them all the time or they kept them controlled without letting them act a little wild sometimes. Not only did I find myself wanting to know him more; I’d also begun to respect him.
Travis was a different breed, and maybe he knew it, but he acted casual about everything. When he explained things, like the commands with Tessa or the flaw in my assertion that a gay man would hit on me, he did it with ease. He said he had anger issues, and I’d seen that begin to flare up, but he was so in control of himself that I wanted to learn how he did it. Words left my lips before I had a chance to think about them, and most of the time, they weren’t good.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“Nothing.” The defensiveness in my tone made me clench my teeth. It was so automatic that I didn’t know how to keep it at bay most of the time. “Sorry.”
“It’s cool. You’re allowed to feel things. If you would’ve called me a weak-armed troll fucker, then I would have kicked you in the dick.”
I laughed around the cup. “Is it the troll fucking or the arm that bothers you most?”
“The arm, for sure. If I’m fucking trolls, we have bigger problems. The construct of reality, for example.” His fingers tapped on the cabinet behind him as he stared past me.
“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?”
“Will you get uncomfortable if I tell you?”
