“Oh no! The dog is yawning!” Shepherd says in horror as he grabs the dog and drags him to the middle of the bed.
“Shut up. It looked like it was going to eat me!”
Shepherd laughs as he lies down beside me before rolling onto his side, facing me, with the dog between us. I also roll onto my side so I can glare at him and make sure he sees it. It only makes him smile more, which makes it hard to be annoyed at him.
“I can’t believe you don’t like dogs. That’s like the gravest sin of all.”
I glance down at the dog as he rolls onto his side then does this thing where he kicks out with his feet, digging his nails into my legs. “Did you see that?”
“See what?”
I narrow my eyes, fully aware that he’s lying at this point and taking the dog’s side. “This love triangle we’ve got going on just isn’t going to work for me,” I joke.
“Aw, I’m sorry to hear that. Bear, I’m sorry to say this, but I guess you get half a bed instead of a third since Killian’s moving to the other bed!”
“I’m glad to know where I stand in this love triangle.”
“It’s called the weakest link,” Shepherd says.
“I didn’t need further explanation! My heart is already broken as it is! I am doomed to be alone forever, and I have succumbed to the sadness.”
“Aren’t you kind of dramatic for being like twenty?”
“Maybe,” I say as I turn my attention to the TV.
“This is kind of fun,” he says.
I’m confused about what he’s referring to. “Which part?”
“All of it.”
“Do I have to remind you I nearly died, I got stabbed, you made me pass out in a parking lot, I’m being chased, and we’ll probably be hunted down?”
“No… I literally just said this was kind of fun. Did you miss that?”
“No, I didn’t. Are you naked?” I ask.
“I am.”
“Alright, you’re right, this is kind of fun.”
He starts laughing as he turns the TV up.
Fourteen
“How much do you have?” Shepherd asks.
“Twenty-three thousand. You?”
“Eighteen. And it’s all mine,” he says greedily before flopping down on the bed covered in money from the lockbox. “All mine. None of it is yours because you said that if I helped you, I got all the money,” he says as he starts making snow angels. It really would be better if he were making them while naked. “I feel like this would be more satisfying if it were one-dollar bills instead of hundreds.”
“I feel like it would be more satisfying if you had no clothes on.”
“You’re like a closet perv.”
“I’m aware,” I say as I watch him. “You want to watch me jerk off?”
“Sure.”
I snort as I roll off the bed and start collecting the money before walking it over to him. I start tossing it on him like they do in the movies. “I was hoping this would make you strip but it’s not working.”
“Wait…” He pulls his sock off. “I think it’s working.”
“Hmkay… I’m getting close to running out and you’ve still only taken one sock off. Does it bother you when I joke about things like that?” I ask as I realize that maybe he doesn’t even like joking about it.
“Nope. I promise that if you ever do anything that bothers me, I will let you know, okay?”
“Good. Because I don’t want to come off like an insensitive jerk.”
“Just a regular jerk, then?”
“Yes!”
He grins as he sits up and starts sorting the money. “While I hate to go out again, we do need to get more supplies. I want to get more bullets, I’d like to get you a gun, and we need more dog food.”
I stare at him as I try to comprehend that. “I… need a gun?”
“Yes. I probably shouldn’t have left Tony’s shit gun behind when I grabbed mine. And we really should have more than one gun given what’s coming for us.”
“Nothing’s coming for us because we’re going to hide and never be found again,” I say.
“You really don’t understand Tony’s control, do you? We’re not safe until he’s dead… well, unless we die first. Then I guess we don’t worry about it.”
I want to ask why he didn’t kill him then, but I know that’s not very fair. The man practically saved him. “Okay. I’m in your care. You tell me to jump, I’ll assess the situation and maybe jump.”
“And end up stabbed like last time. I’m thinking that maybe we should try flying.