Page 7 of Zeke

I get the dog into the biggest bathroom that isn’t attached to someone’s bedroom and set him in the oversized tub. He eyes me apprehensively, and I look back at him with the same feeling on my own face.

“God damn,I hope you’re chill about this.”

Famous. Last. Words.

I turn on the water, which starts coming out cold, then adjust it to be warm but not hot.

And that’s when the little bastard freaks the fuck out.

He starts to thrash and cry as he puts too much weight on his injured leg in his desire to get away from the water. I try to grab him around the neck and end up getting pulled into the tub with him, clothes and all.

Thank God I’m not wearing my cut.

Once I’m in with him, he calms down a bit, but he still struggles like a maniac every time I have to put water on him. After a while, though, it becomes apparent that there’s nothing I can do about these fur clumps in the shower. They’re going to have to be cut off. I decide to try scissors first, but it barely makes a dent, and I’m worried I’m going to end up cutting his skin. So when that fails, I head to Zeke’s bathroom and steal his electric razor.

What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

I end up shaving down the whole dog to get those clumps out. I pick one of the ones from behind his ears, and its bigger than my fist and weighs about what a softball would. No wonder he’s in pain. He couldn’t even shake his head without pulling out hairs.

Once he’s fully shaved, I try to get him in a bit of water so I can wash what’s left of his fur, but it turns out he still likes to be bathed about as much as he did before, and I end up getting thick claw marks down my arms from where he tries to climb me to get out.

“Ow, fuck! Chill out, dude,” I tell him.

Which works about as well as you can imagine.

CHAPTERFOUR

Eli

Bastard.

That’s what I name the dog after the little bastard left me with huge welts and scratches on my arms. It’s not bad enough to call Charge to have him fix me up, but it still hurts.

Not as bad as being tortured with barbed wire and other horrible shit, which is still fresh in my mind. But it does hurt.

I have him in the kitchen, and Zeke comes by to meet the newest member of the club—assuming he’s okay when he gets checked out—right after I get Bastard dry from his bath, which had taken me damn near three hours.

“Wow,” he says, bending down to pet him on the back. “He’s a pretty good-looking dog under all that shit he had stuck to him.”

Zeke is right. He has a body kind of like a lab, but a face like a boxer and long, super soft hair like a chow or something. Now that he’s shaved down, he feels like a fuzzy blanket, plush and warm, because the fur is so thick and soft.

Suddenly, he stands up and stretches, then heads to the door.

“Where are you going?” I ask. Usually, Eden loops me in if Zeke has any jobs he’s running, and vice versa. But for him to be going somewhere alone, I feel like he’s up to something.

“Into town,” he says nonchalantly, but I read the implication of his words.

“Into town” means “to the bakery.”

To see Kira.

For a while, either of us even knew that we were both interested in her. When we found out, Zeke thought I would just stand by. But I know Zeke. He’s never had a relationship longer than a few hours, and Kira deserves a lot better than that.

I could give her that, but I’d need to show her that I’m the better choice.

Normally, we wouldn’t fight over a girl. We have a rule that if we both like the same girl, we both back off if we can’t agree on who should get to have her. But I couldn’t let Zeke have her, and for once, I wasn’t willing to let her go. I didn’t trust that Zeke wouldn’t hurt her. I’m still not convinced. After all, he’s fucked every female in the county at this point besides her. He doesn’t do commitment, and Kira shouldn’t be another notch on his bedpost.

Rebel comes by next, asking what we plan to do about Bastard. I tell him that we’re going to take care of him for now, at least until we know what the deal is. He might be a stray, but he also might belong to someone who’s looking for him.

---