Chapter Sixteen
Bruce dips his head and starts whining while I harshly scold him. I decided to take him and Angel for a walk since it's so nice outside, and as a squirrel ran across our path Bruce bolted after it. I fell forward with the force of his run, and his leash caused rug burn on my palm as it was whipped away from me, and my knees barely avoided being scraped as I fell. Angel stayed next to me and made sure I was alright as Bruce ran down the road, barking up a storm.
He didn't even get the squirrel.
"Don't you dare do that again." I scold, tapping his nose harshly in his form of punishment. "No treats for the rest of the day."
He whines loudly with his ears down and I roll my eyes.
"Cry me a river, Bruce." I mutter as we continue our walk.
We reach the park within a few more minutes, and thankfully Bruce ignores every other squirrel we see. As I scan the park for where the three of us can hang out, my eyes land on a familiar six year old.
With a girl.
"Oh this is too good." I say to myself as I watch Elliot flirt from afar. I can picture what he's saying, getting cheesy lines from either T.V. or his brother.
The girl shyly moves closer to him and I can see his nerves starting to kick in. She's a pretty girl with a long blonde braid decorating her light blue dress. Her smile is shining from all the way over here, and I can sense how much Elliot fancies her.
Bruce and Angel must notice Elliot as well, because they start pulling me towards him, but I hold them back.
"Hold on guys, don't ruin his big moment." I say, and they glance up at me with their tails wagging, barking their agreement.
Before his big moment occurs, however, some kids that look a year or two older than Elliot come up and start messing around with him. Three of them walk up, definitely bigger than Elliot, and the 'ring leader' shoves him back. He lands in the dirt and the bullies start laughing at him, kicking dirt into his face while Elliot hopelessly tries to shield himself with his arms. The bullies stop and laugh at him before walking away, high-fiving one another for ruining a boys spirit.
The girl Elliot was with rushes to him to make sure he's alright, and from here I can see the humiliation in his once bright eyes.
Angel and Bruce notice too, because they start growling and baring their teeth in that general direction, unnerved that someone broke his spirit like that.
"Let's make Elliot a hero." I smirk, 'accidentally' dropping their leashes. "Oops!"
They instantly bolt towards the playground, ready to run to Elliot's rescue, and I wait a few seconds before running after them. They won't hurt the bullies, but they will definitely scare the shit out of them.
I arrive in time to see the bullies bolting away as Bruce and Angel let out threatening roars over and over again, barring their teeth to add to the effect. The bullies run away, not daring to turn around to see if Bruce or Angel are pursuing them, but Bruce and Angel know the drill. It's time to make Elliot a hero.
The two of them instantly turn and start growling menacingly to Elliot's girl, who is still kneeling on the ground next to him. I catch Elliot's confused gaze and wink at him, nodding towards my dogs in a silent way of telling him to be the hero here.
He seems to get my message and quickly jumps up. Angel and Bruce don't stop growling to dismiss the idea of Elliot already knowing them.
"Elliot! What are you doing?" The girl exclaims as he steps in front of her, keeping her 'safely' behind him. "You're going to get hurt!"
"Don't worry Lucy, I got this." He says, giving her a reassuring smile.
"Down, dogs." Elliot commands, and Bruce and Angel instantly listen. They stop growling and instead bow their heads respectively. "Sit." Elliot says, and they comply. "Now go!" He exclaims, and they look at one another before bolting away with their tails tucked between their legs.
Of course they never would have actually hurt anyone, they only were there to make Elliot a hero, and it worked. The little girl- Lucy- lunges into Elliot's arms, falling for my trick, and he smiles smugly over her shoulder at me.
I wink at him and he mouths a very excited 'thank you.' I chuckle and grab Bruce and Angel's leashes as we walk out of the park, praising them for their acting.
"Good job you two." I say, patting them on the head.
They bark happily and rub heads with one another to show their affection. Angel licks the side of Bruce's face and nuzzles her head under his neck, and in response he tenderly touches his nose to her jaw.
Too cute.
"Now I just need to hope no parents saw that and deem the two of you a threat..." I mutter, glancing back at the playground to make sure no parents are worriedly on their phones or chasing after us.
As I turn my head back to see where I'm going, my eyes snap to a mouthwatering sight on the other side of the road.
Hayden is jogging.
Shirtless.
Sweat is running down his broad, bare chest, gleaming in the sunlight to make his muscled body shine. His beautifully defined abs are on full display for the entire world to see, and I'm sure the entire world stopped whatever it was doing to steal a glance. The sweat on his chest is sliding down to the valley's of his abs, ending at his waistline that's slightly lower than it should be.
Oh my god.
I snap my eyes back up to his face, and my heart skips a beat when I see a giant smirk playing at his lips as he stares at me.
Shit.
Why? Why did he have to catch me staring?
He starts to jog across the street towards me, and I have to calm my racing heart and force my eyes not to stare at his toned abs.
"Hey Cupcake," he grins breathlessly.
I close my eyes and sigh. "Just go ahead and make whatever cocky remark you want for catching me staring."
I slowly open my eyes back up to see that stupid amused smirk still on his lips. "I think you embarrassed yourself enough this time." He winks. He glances down at Bruce and Angel and leans down, petting them as they attack his legs with kisses.
Reagan. Don't stare at his butt because he will catch you. I don't care how perfect it is- do not stare.
"I didn't know you ran." I comment to keep my mind elsewhere.
Hayden stands back up and shrugs, wiping some sweat from his temple with his arm.
"I always run to and from the gym." He says, still a little out of breath.
No wonder his arms look so big right now, he just got came from working out. I can see the veins dancing around them- the sunlight placing a spotlight on his muscles.
"What are you doing anyways?" He asks, drinking the last of his water.
Of course some of it misses his mouth and lands on his lips. It slowly slides down his chin and falls onto his chest, literally evaporating as it lands.
"Uh, I'm just w-walking Bruce and Angel." I stutter as he shakes his water bottle to see if there may be a swash of water left that he missed.
Really Reagan? Stuttering?
I shake my head to get my thoughts off of Hayden's body and swallow to take away the dryness in my mouth.
"I just saw Elliot, actually."
Hayden glances at me in surprise. "Really?"
I nod and look down at my dogs. "Bruce and Angel made him look like a hero."
Hayden cocks a brow and crosses his arms in amusement, "I'm looking forward to this story."
"Well we got to the park and I noticed him flirting with a girl. It was super cute and I could barely contain a squeal, but then some boys a few grades above him came and starting shoving him around." I explain, and his easygoing smile disappears as he tenses.
Hayden runs a hand down his face with a deep sigh. "Bullies?"
I frown and nod, "Yeah, but we handled them and turned the situation around. Angel and Bruce noticed what was going on and pulled out of my grip, chasing the bullies away. But then they made Elliot a hero and pretended to advance on his girl, to which he 'stopped them' and made them run away." I finish. "She jumped into his arms and thanked him for saving her."
Hayden pushes his frown away and replaces it with a smile. "He was with a girl?"
I chuckle and we start walking. Hayden takes Bruce from me as we walk and I nod. "Oh yeah, he was flirting his butt off."
He laughs, "What did she look like?"
"Blonde, single braid, really cute." I say and he nods with a laugh.
"Yeah, that's the girl he's been gaga about the past few days." He says, and I can see the tender tinge in his eye as he talks about his family.
I laugh, "Well I'm glad I could push their relationship forward. I bet he even got to first base because of me."
Hayden looks down at me and starts laughing. "He's six!"
"Hey, age is just a number." I shrug, quoting Elliot's words from when I first met him.
Hayden chuckles and walks closer to me, his arm brushing mine as he playfully nudges me. Normally I probably wouldn't have minded, but his entire body is still drenched in sweat, including his arms. Therefore his wet and sticky sweat just transferred from his arm to mine.
"Oh my god Hayden that was gross!" I exclaim, pulling my arm away and surveying the single, wet spot.
He snorts, "You didn't seem to mind my sweat a few minutes ago."
I snap my eyes to his and I can feel myself blushing. "Shut it."
He places his hand up in surrender. "You're the one who's always blatantly staring."
I narrow my eyes at him from my embarrassment. "You mean to tell me you don't stare at girls?"
He chuckles, "I never said that. I just know how to be discreet or at least a little flirty."
"I can be flirty." I mutter, kicking a rock. It hits the back of Angel's leg and she yelps, glaring at me over her shoulder.
Hayden raises a brow. "You're not flirty, Reagan."
I pout at him. "Well not to you."
"You stare at me like a fish out of water. That's not flirtatious."
"I do not." I defend lamely, but he doesn't buy it. "Okay fine, then how does one stare in a 'flirty way?'" I ask, crossing my arms as I stop walking.
He stops walking as well and smirks, his eyes instantly trailing down my body at an agonizingly slow pace. He softly raises one brow as he expertly trails his eyes back up, lingering on certain places before meeting my eyes. His eyes are a shade darker than they were before as he gives me a smoldering wink.
I stare at him for a few seconds, at a loss for words before I break the stupid silence he effortlessly created.
"Okay, fine, whatever. You win." I mutter, shaking off the effect his stare had on me as I start to walk again.
He barks out a laugh and catches up to me with a quick jog. "To be fair, you make that stare easy. I mean, you have an amazing figure, Reagan."
I skeptically narrow my eyes. "I can't tell if I should be flattered or disgusted."
He shrugs, "I meant it as a compliment."
"That you give to every girl." I point out.
He sighs and shakes his head. "Not every girl." His eyes say more than he does, but I can't seem to hear what they want to tell me.
He looks away from me as we hear an old and clanky engine start to roar down the road. I instantly recognize the old Jeep that coughs into view, and I cringe before Logan even opens his mouth.
"Hayden and Reagan sitting in a tree! K I S S I N G!" He yells, getting cut short as I throw a rock through his open window. I don't know if it hit him, but from the surprised yelp I hear I assume it did.
Hayden looks down at me with a shocked, smug smile. "What was that all about?"
I let out a small, disbelieving laugh and shrug. "Honestly, I have no clue. Logan is an idiot."
---
As I walk up my front porch steps, unhooking my dogs from their leashes, I can hear my parents arguing through the front door. I sigh and start to open it, but they continue to argue until I physically get in their sights.
"No Tucker!" My mother exclaims as I hang up the leashes by the front door.
"Why the hell not?!" My dad yells back. "You aren't the boss of me, I don't see why you think you are!"
She laughs humorlessly. "When did I say I was the boss of you? Quit putting words in my mouth!"
Once I reach the kitchen, the two of them bite their tongues to avoid whatever else they wanted to say and look at me through surprised eyes.
"What's going on?" I ask quietly, afraid of the answer.
My parents look at one another and instantly look apologetic. My dad walks to me and messes up my hair, smiling at me.
"Nothing pumpkin, your mother and I just had a little disagreement. Everything is fine." He reassures, kissing the top of my head.
"How was the walk?" My mom asks, sitting down at the dinner table as she offers me a glass of lemonade.
I take it from her with a smile and my dad joins her.
"It was fun. We saw Elliot at the park," I start and then go into the story.
As I tell them, I make sure to cherish this moment of them forgetting their differences to smile and laugh with me, and I disregard all the problems that they have. Instead, I just focus on sharing a fun afternoon with my parents.
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