Ellison
Me: I’m on my way.
Drix: Door propped open.
Drix and I exchanged numbers. It’s weird how that one little victory gives me a thrill. I’m officially floating on a cloud. Granted, he asked because there is currently a smuggled puppy in his room, but he still asked.
Drix’s room is two doors down from mine. Close, but not close enough. My parents made it perfectly clear I’m to keep my distance from Drix, and being caught coming and going from his room will be the equivalent of me being placed in boiling water. My parents also clearly informed me I was to no longer take in stray dogs. I’m also supposed to be playing perfect and no longer lying by omission. So far, me listening isn’t working out, but I’ll deal with that tomorrow.
Today, though, I’ve weighed my odds. The chances of me being caught with a puppy in my room are far greater than me being caught sneaking into Drix’s room. I’ve also taken emotional stock. Seeing this puppy, spending more time with Drix, it’s definitely worth the risk.
As Drix said, he’s left his door ajar, and I lightly knock before entering. Using my back, I press the door shut, and nervous adrenaline skips into my veins. I just entered a guy’s hotel room, and we’re alone. This is a first for me, and there’s this tickle under my skin. “Drix?”
“In here.”
I walk the short hall, past the bathroom, and stretched out on the king-size bed with the smallest, cutest little ball of black-and-white fur, is Drix. The TV is on, pillows are piled up at the top of the bed, and Drix is leaned up against them. In the crook of his arm, on his own pillow, is the puppy who is fast asleep.
Yes, the puppy is adorable, but that’s not what one million percent captures my attention. That would be Drix. He must be fresh from a shower. His blondish-brown hair is wet and is tousled in breathtaking spikes, like he ran his hand through it and it came out perfection.
And his naked chest. Holy mother of God in heaven, Drix doesn’t have a shirt on. His jeans are on, because if they weren’t I probably would have turned beet-red and ran into the wall as I tried to not look yet look because how could I not? Drix is ripped. Completely and utterly ripped. Muscles defined, lean stomach, tanned skin and very, very beautiful.
“How is he?” I ask as if my mouth hasn’t completely dried out.
“After a brief stint of exploring everything in the room? Exhausted.”
The puppy lifts his head at Drix’s voice, and I melt. His teeny tiny ears perk up, and he has a curious and confused expression. I kneel on the edge of the bed and hold my hands out to him. “Hey, buddy? How are you feeling?”
He does a head swivel toward Drix, as if seeking approval to chat with me, then stands on all fours. The puppy stretches each little leg individually and yawns so loudly I yawn with him. He stumbles off the pillow, and I flop onto the bed so he doesn’t have to walk as far to reach me. Our noses touch, and then he takes an interest in my glasses. I’m completely in love.
“I told my mom that I called in the drunk driver,” I say. “And, as promised, I left you and the puppy out.”
As soon as we saw that the puppy was breathing, I made the call to 911, much to Drix’s dismay. I don’t understand why we wouldn’t report someone so dangerous. Drix just mumbled something about not trusting the police.
To appease him, I kept his name out of it, and I also didn’t tell the 911 dispatcher about the puppy. I gave them the license plate, car description, description of the man and how erratically he was behaving. Drunk driving should be enough to put this man in jail.
“How’d she take it?”
“Fine. She asked me a few questions, but told me I ‘did well.’ She also told me that I shouldn’t leave any of the hotels we stay at anymore and instead should use the indoor gym to work out, so that sucks.”
I comb my fingers through the puppy’s baby-soft long hair. “He’s part border collie.”
“And part what else?”
“I don’t know yet.” I’m not sure I’ll have enough time to spend with him to figure it out. “I’ve made some calls to animal rescue groups. Hopefully we’ll hear something before we leave. We’ll have to get him something to eat. I bet he’s starved.”
“I gave him some water and part of my chicken from my sandwich. He gobbled it up.”
“Chicken?” A cocked eyebrow on my part. “Can puppies eat meat?”
“Puppy chow wasn’t on the room service menu. Maybe that’s a dining room-only thing.”
“Ha,” I say drily. “You’re so funny.” The puppy turns his head one way, then another, so I can scratch behind his ears. “Can you imagine the headlines if this got out?”
“Governor’s daughter caught in hotel room shacking up with juvenile delinquent. Love child expected next summer.”
“Good Lord. Am I an elephant? Last time I checked, human babies pop out in nine months. We’d easily have the twins by next spring.”
Drix chokes. “Twins? Are you trying to kill me?”
I bat my eyelashes and fake a pout. “You wouldn’t leave me and the babies alone now, would you? What would the press think then?”
“They’d think your father revoked my probation and threw me in prison.”
True. That’s if Henry didn’t kill Drix first. My parents aren’t the safe-sex-talk type of people. They were the refuse-to-sign-the-permission-slip-for-sex-education, have-sex-before-marriage-and-we’ll-be-very-disappointed parents. I’m still not sure how to put a condom on a banana. “I was talking about the puppy.”
“Governor’s Daughter Saves Puppy. I can see how you’d hate that headline.”
“They’d say, Governor’s Star Protégé Saves His Daughter and Puppy.”
“You helped.”
“Saving me and the puppy is a sexier headline.”
He has that skeptical expression most people have when I speak, and I hate it. The puppy slips away from me and bounds up the bed to Drix. I scoot up along with him, and if I wanted, I could rest my head on the pillow, but I don’t because while I’m brave, I’m not that brave.
Hanging out with Drix is easy, and I like how one thing in my life is effortless. “Did you honestly not see any of the headlines about the two of us?”
The annoyed set of his jaw tells me he did.
“Governor’s Daughter Saved by Unlikely Hero.”
Drix laughs bitterly. “Misfit on the Midway Changes Hearts.”
“Fair Fraught with Danger, Governor’s Daughter in Peril.”
“That one was a piece of work. I personally liked the ones that made me sound like a superhero. Crusader Comes to the Rescue.”
“Governor’s Daughter in Torrid Affair.”
Drix’s head snaps in my direction. “I didn’t see that one. I saw a few that questioned whether or not we would hook up, but I didn’t see that.”
I flip to my back, my head on the pillow, and I stare at the white ceiling. This has nothing to do with courage and everything to do with frustration. “That was my mother’s initial fear.”
“Her cold shoulder makes more sense now.”
“Yeah.” I lay my hands over my chest and stomach and feel the rise and fall of my breath. “I was on that midway because I wanted to be normal for a few minutes. I didn’t intend to be gossip for the media, and I never intended for what happened to be a constant examination at dinner of what I did wrong. Walking the midway wasn’t supposed to become a stain on my record to discount anything going on in my brain. I just wanted to be normal.”