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“I spent every day in that kennel, getting those dogs to recognize me and to know I wasn’t a threat. I’d steal bits of meat from the kitchen and feed them. I would play with them, wrestle with them.” He rolls up his other sleeve. “This was from when the puppies were born and Milo got a bit territorial.”
I reach out and trace the marks on his skin. They must have been deep to still show up like this. “What was the point?”
“On the last day of summer…” He gently pulls his arm from my grip and rolls his sleeves back down. “I hid out here again. And when the nanny finally gave up looking for me, Uncle Tony set the dogs on me like he did the last time.”
I can feel myself tensing.
“But even though they were bred to attack, even though they were taught to fear my uncle and obey his commands, they wouldn’t hurt me.”
“They loved you more than they feared your uncle,” I slowly whisper.
Arnie stares at me, his dark eyes boring into mine. “Sometimes, when we assume too much about a creature’s nature, we forget that they can still learn to overcome it.”
For a moment, it’s like he’s completely paralyzed me. I can’t move, can barely even breathe, as his eyes flicker over my face, searching for something. But then the moment ends and I look away, clearing my throat.
My confidence in my voice returns. “Was that supposed to be insightful?”
Arnie’s eye twitches. “I thought so.”
I stare down at my hands, a ghost of a smile threatening my lips. He’s just too easy to wind up.
“Well, thanks, I guess.”
My words seem to have some effect on him because a second later, he’s tilting my chin up with his fingers.
“Will you come inside with me?” he pleads, though his eyes are doing most of the work.
It almost makes me want to trust him.
But alas.
“Don’t,” I sigh. Suddenly, I was absolutely exhausted.
“Don’t what?”
“Pretend that you’re like some knight in shining armor.” I gesture at him absently. “You’re as much to blame for this as the rest of them.”
He sits on this for a moment. “Would it make you feel better if I said I was just really fucking cold?”
I debate staying here, waiting the rain out, and making my escape. But the longer I stay here, the weaker I can feel my body becoming. The cold, the weariness, the emotional hell I keep putting myself through.
“Yeah, a little,” I finally conceded.
“Come on then.” He picks himself up and offers me his hand.
I take it reluctantly, letting him pull me up into a crouch. I don’t miss the way his hand feels so warm feels in mine, but I choose not to comment. Warm clothes sound pretty amazing right now, and I’m starting to feel a little light-headed after crying for so long.
After helping me down from the tree house, he escorts me back to the house, hurrying me through to a lounge area where a fire is already crackling. I’m already sitting myself in the armchair closest to it when I spot the pile of towels on the other couch.
Arnie wastes no time picking them up and throwing one over his own shoulders before approaching me.
He leans in close, bathing me in the scent of cedarwood. As he drapes the towel around me, his hand lingers on the back of my neck. My traitorous breaths hitch as I stare into his endless eyes…
He pulls away sharply, withdrawing to the other side of the room.
“Are you mad?” I ask quietly, trying not to feel embarrassed that he caught me ogling.
Arnie sits himself down on the couch opposite and runs his hand through his hair.
