Page 10 of Whirlwind
I pick up the yappy little thing and turn around to find a familiar face.
“Hey, you’re Willa’s friend.”
“Oh, Tyson. What are you doing here?” she asks, taking the dog from my arms.
“I live here.”
“Oh,” she repeats.
“I’m sorry, what was your name again? Kat?”
“Kit.”
“Right, sorry. And that’s Nightmare?”
“Yeah, I recently bought my house,” she says, pointing to a small, black brick house across the street. “Thought it would be good to have a guard dog.”
I laugh, because what the actual fuck? Nightmare weighs maybe six pounds, and considering I can’t see his face under all the fur, I’m not sure he could find an attacker if he tried.
“Probably a smart move,” I say.
Kit smiles at me, and I wonder why I never noticed how pretty she is. Her skin is flawless bronze, her hair is dark and falls thick past her shoulders, with a thin nose and full lips, she’s truly stunning.
“What?” she asks after a moment, scrunching her nose in the most adorable way. Except, she’s looking at me like she said something that I should have responded to. Did she?
“Sorry?”
“You’re staring.”
“You’re staring,” I say back like I’m a four-year-old with an undeveloped brain.
“Oh my God,” she says with a laugh. “Okay, I’m going to go back home to my pizza andBaldur’s Gate. See ya, Tyson, I’ll try to keep my dog out of your hair.”
“Wait,” I say, stopping her. “Console or PC?”
“Xbox.”
“What’s your gamer tag?”
She narrows her eyes at me, but eventually answers. “HookersNBlow.”
“Shut the fuck up, seriously?”
Kit smiles and shrugs before crossing the street without another word.
3
Tyson
Waking up this morning was like a rebirth, as fucking dumb as that sounds. I don’t know if it was my chat with Coach, or with Cillian, or just having a great practice with all the guys. Whatever happened yesterday was the reset I needed that allowed me to get the best night’s sleep I’ve had in months.
Like every morning, I roll out of bed and onto my yoga mat. Twenty minutes, the same routine, no variations. Like the good, weirdo hockey player that I am. The great thing about Calvin’s house is that there is a small sunroom off the primary bedroom, just big enough for my mat. Which means, I get to do my morning stretches with a view of the lake. And Kit’s house, apparently. Moving into the warrior pose, I watch her as she takes her Pomeranian out for his morning wee.
She’s either an early riser or the dog can’t wait any longer, as the sun is barely up. She laughs as Nightmare zooms around the small yard, jumping as high as he can, which isn’t high at all.
Maybe I should get a dog. Nah, that’s a horrible idea. I’m away from home way too much. Still, it’d be nice to come home to someone who is excited to see me. Towake upto someone excited to see me. Other than the random nameless woman who I then promptly kick out.
Kit bends to pick the puppy up, but he darts off before she can nab him. Her hands find her hips, as if she’s annoyed, yet the smile still clearly stays. Nightmare runs back to her, bouncing until she grabs him, then he starts licking her face.
