Rough [H.S.]

three.

"You're staring again."

My eyes immediately dropped, looking once again at the dog that had now chosen to lay down at my feet. My cheeks burned with embarrassment.

"Are you going to say anything or are you just gonna stand there?"

I was about at my breaking point and I'd been around him for approximately 30 seconds. I felt tears form at the corners of my eyes, mostly as a result of frustration with myself. I couldn't figure out why Harry had such a hold over me and why I let him continually berate me. It was one thing to let him call me names in bed to fulfill a kinky fantasy, but to allow him to treat me like this outside of sex was idiotic on my part.

Swallowing the lump that had formed in my throat, I spoke up.

"If you're going to be mean, I'm leaving."

"I thought you liked it when I was mean, princess." Harry challenged, stepping down onto the platform, making his way closer to me.

"When we are fucking. Not now." I'm not sure where this new-found courage came from but I was tired of him treating me like shit.

"Her name's Stella." Harry changed the subject, nodding down at the dog who was continuing to sun herself at my feet. "She's really friendly. She loves belly rubs. Come on, let's get going."

Striding past me, he stepped into the dock and untied the ropes from the cleats, tossing them onto the boat before jumping back on board and making his way to the cockpit, Stella following on his heels. Sighing, I thought about his last statement. Inviting me to pet his dog and come with him on his boat was probably as close as I was going to get to an apology. Taking a steadying breath in, I followed suit and headed for the cockpit.

Approaching Harry, I saw him at the steering wheel, starting the engine and pulling the yacht carefully out of the slip, Stella panting happily at his feet.

"Is she yours?"

"Who, Stella?" Harry asked, continuing to focus on maneuvering the boat out of the marina and into open water.

"Yes."

"Yeah. I brought her over with me from England. Had her since she was a puppy. She's three now." I could hear a slight softness in his voice as he talked about his pet.

I crouched down again, calling her over to me to give her pats and kisses. Honestly, I was kind of surprised that someone as callous as Harry had a dog. I couldn't really imagine him showing love or affection to any living creature.

"I take it you're a dog person?" Harry asked.

"I love all animals. But yes, I do love dogs. The way they are so loyal and love unconditionally. Makes me wish humans were the same sometimes." Stella had rolled over onto her back and was now graciously accepting the belly rubs I was giving her. When Harry didn't respond, I looked up to see him staring at me, the look on his face unreadable.

"What?" I questioned, cocking my head to the side.

"Nothing." Harry quickly turned his body back to the control panel of the boat, putting it into a higher gear and cruising out into the open water.

"Where did you learn to drive a boat?" I changed the subject, sensing that whatever was on Harry's mind was something he didn't care to talk about. What else was new though?

"'S not that hard, is it?" He said, his voice returning to his usual indifferent tone.

"I dunno. I've never driven a boat." I shrugged, matching his tone with my own voice, trying to make myself appear less affected by him than I was.