Sin and Sinner

21

~Darlina's POV~

The next day I glanced over at Atlas as he sat in the beanbag chair that I usually sat in, pouting at the fact that he'd unknowingly stolen my seat. I loved that beanbag chair.

Buddy was right alongside him, wagging his tail as he stared up at Atlas' brooding figure. When he and I had come in this morning, Buddy had gone right for Atlas instead of me, which made me sulk a little bit. "You're staring." Atlas told me in a grunt, crossing his arms over his chest as he lulled his head over the back of the beanbag. I flushed, embarrassed, and looked down at Buddy. "He wants your attention." I merely responded.

Atlas lazily flicked his gaze to me. "So do you, evidently." He muttered.

My cheeks burned with humiliation and I curled my fingers into slight fists. "I-I do not!" I exclaimed defensively, flustered. His lips just tipped up in a sly smirk as he chuckled, staring up at the ceiling. "Then quit staring at me. You did it all day yesterday too." He retorted, only embarrassing me further.

I went quiet, plopping down in the chair behind the front desk. Jonah wasn't here today, unfortunately, so it was just Atlas and I. Diya would come in occasionally, but not super often.

While many of the other dogs were playing with one another or sleeping, Buddy had been sitting by Atlas' side all day and hadn't gone anywhere unless the large man moved. Still, Atlas refused to engage with the sweet dog, so by now I had come to the conclusion that he must not be a dog person. Quite frankly, the idea of that was absurd to me. Who doesn't like dogs?

As I was playing a game on my phone, I began to feel soft pawing at my ankles, causing me to peek down. It was Torpedo and Pepper, a cute Miniature Schnauzer, that were staring up at me while wagging their tails. I smiled, finding the two of them cute. "What's wrong, hm?" I cooed at them, cocking my head to the side curiously as if they could respond. "You need to go outside?" I asked, knowing I was right when the two of them began excitedly jumping around my feet.

"Okay, let's go." I told them, hopping off of my stool. The sound of me getting up seemed to catch Atlas' attention because he looked up, his deep blue eyes following me. "Where are you going?" He immediately asked, suddenly sitting up a little more. I turned around, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "Just to take them outside." I answered, a little confused as to why he was asking. Every time I would get up to go somewhere, Atlas would immediately ask where, a slightly frantic tone to his voice. I wondered if maybe he didn't like being left alone.

That's a silly assumption, Darlina, I told myself with a shake of my head. As if Atlas would be afraid of something like that.

I spared him another glance before I left with a trail of dogs behind me, the lot of them sprinting out the door when I opened it for them. Unsurprisingly Buddy had stayed with Atlas, however what I wasn't expecting was the sight that I came back to.

Atlas, who had been practically ignoring Buddy for the entirety of yesterday and today, was quietly nuzzling Buddy's big head. The large dog leaned into the tattooed man and Atlas actually accepted it, pulling him closer with a muscular arm thrown around the animal's side. I just stood and stared for a second, somewhat taken aback by how much different he was acting. He placed a hand on Buddy's head and rubbed affectionately, causing him to lean his upper body into Atlas' lap. "What a good boy, Buddy." He muttered to him, leaning over slightly to look down at Buddy's face laying in his lap very happily.

Admittedly a little endeared by the sight, I smiled to myself but didn't interrupt or say anything out of worry of making him stop. Clearly I had been misunderstanding him because he seemed to actually like dogs, unlike what I'd first thought.

For a while I just quietly stood off to the side, taking my fair share of glances at the large man hugging on Buddy in the front of the room. My heart did a funny thing in my chest and I turned away to let in Gus and Torpedo, biting on the inside of my cheek. The two of them ran in, immediately catching Atlas' attention and he moved away from Buddy like his butt was on fire, stretching his long limbs out. He obviously wasn't aware that I'd been watching the entire time.

The rest of the dogs came in pretty soon after and I returned to my stool, my legs dangling above the floor when I hopped up onto it. Atlas noticed and didn't bother trying to hide his amused snort, which just made me frown. "What?" I said defensively, crossing my arms as I leaned onto the counter. He shrugged his shoulders and looked away, lazily crossing his ankles. "Nothing." He said simply. I didn't buy it but I didn't press it either, not wanting to chance getting teased.

"How tall are you?" Atlas asked me after a few moments of silence, as if unable to help himself.

My cheeks burned. "5'2." I answered meekly, embarrassed. I pinned my gaze on his and almost pouted when I noticed the mirth in his eyes. "What about you?" I flipped the question back to him. "You're very tall." I pointed out.

He cocked an eyebrow. "Everyone is probably tall to you." He retorted, raising an arm behind his head. I hoped he couldn't see the color in my cheeks because I could certainly feel it there, heating my face up. "I'm 6'2." He answered nonetheless.

Surprised, my lips parted. We were exactly a foot apart in height difference. "Wow." I said dumbly, unable to say anything else.

Atlas leaned his head back and peered up at the ceiling. "Mhm." He hummed, as if having lost interest in conversation. I pursed my lips and stared at him for a moment, studying the slope of his tattooed neck and the way his adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed. He really made simple things look good, and it made it hard for me to want to look away.

"You got a staring issue or something, smalls?" Atlas sighed out, glancing over at me. I pursed my lips and tilted my head down to look at the surface of the counter instead. "Do you have to call me that?" I asked with a frown, tracing my finger over a chip in the counter.

"Suits you perfectly, so yes, I do." He said in a mutter. Letting his eyes flutter shut, he draped his other arm over his eyes to cover the light. "That doesn't seem like a good reason." I whispered to myself, absentmindedly kicking one leg. "No?" He chuckled, a dimple poking into his cheek as a side of his mouth lifted in a smile. My eyes zeroed in on it for the split second it was there and I blinked, wondering if I'd imagined it. I didn't know he had a dimple.

Having forgotten what we were just talking about, I just nodded. "Right." I said distractedly, trying to decide if he really had a dimple or not.

Confused, he lifted his arm and looked at me through narrowed eyes, sitting up with his forearms braced against his bent knees. When he noticed me just staring, he scowled. "What?" He snapped, seemingly having forgotten the conversation as well. I pointed up to his cheek. "You have a dimple." I said, though it clearly wasn't visible now.

Atlas paused, looking stumped, and then glanced down at his hands as he shrugged carelessly. "Yeah. So what?" He muttered. I grinned, glad that I had spotted it. "Dimples are so cute." I told him, causing him to give me a wicked stare that made me consider taking my words back. "I'm not cute." He stated flatly, earning a nod of agreement from me.

Despite having said it himself, he looked somewhat offended that I agreed. "It's true." I said, frowning in confusion as to why he was offended. "You're more rugged." I added with a nod.

He just looked at me and sighed, standing from the beanbag chair. "I want to go home." He muttered, wandering outside by himself.

I stood there quietly behind the counter by myself, wondering if I'd said something wrong.