But I also knew he would’ve taken the lead and stepped in for me if he didn’t like what Gabriel said to me or how he looked at me. I needed to do this alone.
I heard shuffles across the rocks and panting and turned my head to see Will come out from between the cars with the rest of the animals. Though, they were doing a better job of pulling him.
“Nine dogs?” Kai bit out, fixing me with a glare. “They’re not staying here.”
“Of course not,” I said, trying to sound innocent. “I’ll call the shelter when they open in an hour.”
“Or we could keep them,” Will suggested. “I mean, look at this shit. He’s shivering.”
And he bent down to scoop up the beagle, the little guy squirming, because he was so nervous.
Kai looked bemused. And then he gave me a warning look. “Baby, I like it quiet. You know that.”
“Totally.” I nodded, trying to keep the grin off my face. “I mean they’ve been in cages all their lives. I could keep them down at the other house for like a couple days, too? Maybe fatten ’em up? Before the shelter just throws them in more cages, right?”
“Yeah, they could do with a little spoiling,” Will added. “Let’s just keep them.”
“Oh, my God,” Kai grumbled, turning back toward the house and shaking his head. “Nine dogs….”
I folded my lips between my teeth to keep from laughing.
Quickly handing Marina the cages, I chased after Kai. “Oh, and I kind of brought Gabriel’s cook,” I said, stumbling up to him. “We could use her, right?”
“Yeah, fine, fuck, whatever.” He entered the house and started pounding up the stairs. “Bring everybody. Doors are open. Why the hell not?”
I snorted behind him, his sarcasm not lost on me. He was coming apart, and I loved it. This was our life, after all, and we may trip over each other for a while yet, but we weren’t people who were okay with failing, either. We’d figure it out.
“Oh, and one more thing.” I ran, catching up to him and jumping up on the stair above him.
He stopped in his tracks, letting out another sigh. “I think I might cry.”
I tried not to laugh. Poor guy had had enough for one morning.
I stared down at his lips and broad shoulders and perfect hair and leaned in, desire heating my skin.
Wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my body to his, I caressed his lips with mine, feeling him shudder.
And I whispered, “I still need that shower.”
Then I took his hand, catching the heated look in his eyes, and led him upstairs.
Overgrown grass covered the soft earth as he stepped quietly through the headstones. A sea of plots lay beyond, over the hill to the left and behind him, spanning out as far as he could see. It really was the most peaceful place he’d ever been.
People were quiet here. Solemn expressions were as expected as angry ones, and talking to yourself was perfectly acceptable in a cemetery. Although, he could scream right now and no one would notice. No one else was here.
He looked up at the full moon, seeing the glow of a ring circling it and casting its faint light over the land. The granite headstone he looked for appeared ahead, and he approached it, a growing heat coursing through his veins as he fisted his cold fingers.
Coming to a stop, he let his eyes fall on the marker and then to his shoes and the land they stood on. And what was underneath.
He closed his eyes, letting everything wash over him.
Everyone thought he was inhuman. Incapable of feeling. Resistant to emotion. Sick. Unwell. A machine.
No.
He felt everything. He never shunned an emotion. Not one. He knew that letting it run its course was the only way to get rid of it.
Shame.