He doesn’t let her speak, just continues on and on about his own self-importance. I don’t like the way he touches her thigh. I hate the way he leans in close when he laughs.
She’s awkward; she doesn’t like him; I can tell. He needs to go. I’m trying to figure out a plan to make that happen when she, in pure desperation, suggests a movie.
He leaps at the chance.
She turns on a movie, and they both sit back, but still, he won’t shut up. He turns to face her again and keeps yapping. On and on. He’s got an education, a car, and an opinion on everything.
I roll my eyes and catch Hazard balefully glaring at the guest. Well, looks like I’m not the only one who dislikes him.
Louis leans forward, and he does it so naturally I almost miss the entire thing. His hand raises, and his thumb slides up his nose, hooks, and withdraws. He then inspects his thumb for a good three seconds before flicking his fingers.
What. The. Fuck?
He’s still talking. Casey’s gaze drifts to the carpet. She yanks it up again, but her gaze is pulled magnetically back down. I can see the horror in her eyes, carefully hidden behind that polite smile.
I catch a flash of red and turn my head. Hazard stumbles on stiff front legs, his rear ones spread wide and bent like his back end is about to collapse. His body see-saws up and down, and he makes this awful wheeze.
“Haaark! Haaark!”
Don’t do it, brother, don’t do it. Control yourself.
I stand up, staring at him. Alarmed now. I silently order him to get control of himself.
Oh, Hazard, come on, suck it up, man.
The sudden image of him sucking up Louis’ booger sends such a nauseous image into my mind that I start gagging on the couch.
I pant, shudder through the heaves, but I can’t stop because Hazard won’t stop, and every time I hear him, I get set off again by the picture of Hazard vacuuming up the filthy deposit.
Casey jumps up. “Outside!”
Louis flinches at the command in her voice, while Hazard and I don’t budge. I’m a miserable wolf right now. Louis stands up, turning in a circle where he flicked his booger, possibly grinding it into the carpet forever.
That’s it. The carpet burns tomorrow.
Casey opens the front door, and I leap onto the coffee table, crashing the coffee mugs and the bowl of chips to the floor. The coffee table cracks, and then I’m on the evil carpet. I scramble up, fighting to get off the floor. I make a mad leap and land in the doorway.
Louis follows me, his face white. I feel Khaos, Riot, and Angel behind me.
“You have five? Are those even dogs? Do you have a permit for a wolf pack?” Louis shouts, but Angel is pressed against my shoulder, and Riot is blocking the entrance to the house, his ears pinned to his skull.
“Maybe 2%. And I’m sure there are a few more around somewhere,” Casey mutters.
Casey is distracted, her eyes finding each of us, and unsure which one to help first.
I hear Hazard deposit a slimy addition of gross onto the carpet, and then he pushes past Casey and Riot and comes to flop beside me, breathing in haggard gasps with a whine of self-pity.
Louis moves towards Casey but stops when Angel, bristling and intent, stiffly intercepts. His pure white coat might make him look friendly, but Angel is almost feral.
To see him protect Casey…that’s something else.
Louis lifts a hand, kinda sorta almost waves, and then gets in his car and leaves.
Casey sits down on the cold ground. “Find something else I need.”
I’d love to, but it’s obvious that Casey was not meant to be alone. She needs love.
I close my eyes to block out the sight of her so I can try to kill the jealousy that is now burning for a man she hasn’t even met yet, and then scramble away as Hazard starts throwing up a second time.
