Soft || 18+ Reverse Harem ||

5 - Tonight

I dressed in an all-black outfit, except for the coat that covered me - which was a dark shade of green. I grabbed my keys from the kitchen counter, made sure there was enough food and water in the feeder, kissed Bobby and Vaness' little heads, and left the apartment.

. . .

There was no text from him the whole day. I certainly didn't look at my phone every half an hour (or fifteen minutes).

I was disappointed. Maybe he had just said that he was interested because he, in some way, pitied me. Maybe he felt like he had to ask for my number after spending so much time together and decided he didn't want me after he went back home.

Or his ship.

Damn, he had a ship. I almost forgot that.

I spent half the day making journals and listening to Jason as he described the book he had bought a few days ago from the store.

"It's amazing," he finished, breathing heavily with his eyes lit up. It was weird - what a good book could do to a person. "You have to read it. It'd be a crime against everything to not read it."

I smiled, returning my eyes to the text block as I tried to arrange it nearly on the table. "I will. I promise. As soon as I finish my current read, I will pick it up."

He grinned. "You'll love it." His phone rang and he groaned, glaring down at the screen. "I...I have to go."

"Is everything okay?"

He gave me a firm nod, but I noticed the shake of it.

He walked out after muttering a goodbye.

And the very book he had been ranting about for the last half an hour was forgotten on my table, signaling the level of his distress.

I picked it up, setting it away to give it back to him.

. . .

I switched my phone off in the night as soon as I entered the shelter. I instantly made my way to Minnie, who was laying in her cage, appearing to be sleeping. I put a hand on my heart. Aw.

"She is adorable," someone said. I turned and my eyes fell on a girl who appeared to be as old as Emilia. Her sparkling green eyes were looking at the kitten, and her short, bright pink hair was tied away from her thim face. She was dressed in a graphic green T-shirt and baggy pants. She looked at me, grinning. "Can I adopt her?"

"Um, yes. But I have to mention, she is blind."

Her grip disappeared. "Well, that...I can't do that." She looked back at the kitten, now with a frown on her face. "I'm sorry." She turned and walked away quickly, her head ducked.

My heart squeezed...

I sighed and looked at Minnie. "You'll find someone worthy."

Her head moved just a little as if saying yes.

. . .

"Why are you biting me?" Marie grumbled. "No, don't you grin at me?" She pointed at the tiny golden retriever, Pluto, whose tail wagged. She glared, for a moment, and then melted into a smile. "I love you sooooo much-" She smothered him with kisses.

I laughed and sat down on the bench. Once in a while, we brought the dogs to the dog park which was conveniently right beside the shelter.

For now, we had just three dogs here. Marie and I couldn't really handle more, especially when two of them were puppies who weren't fond of listening listen.

I looked at the German Shepard sitting near my legs, watching the other dogs. His name was Jojo, and yes Marie named him.

He looked up at me, innocent eyes which melted my heart and made me want to cry at the same time. Jojo was rescued from the side of the road. He was found in a box with his dead siblings.

And later, when we examined the bodies of his siblings, we realized someone had stabbed them. All of them, some even had multiple fat stab wounds which signaled that whoever did it, they did it in such a frenzy they didn't even wait to see which one they were hurting. Jojo, by some miracle, got out of it with just a tiny wound on his leg.

"What?" I asked softly, bending a little to be closer to him. "You can play with them. See, Pluto, is having so much fun."

He looked at where I was pointing. Pluto was jumping around a great dane who seemed to not to know what was wrong with the hyperactive puppy. I laughed.

But Jojo didn't move. He started nipping at my heel, demanding to be picked.

I listened, of course, and set him on my lap. "It's okay," I said to him. "You can be social when you want."

He snuggled into my stomach, closing his eyes. I loved that he felt so comfortable with me.

I looked up, but instead of my eyes falling back on Pluto who was now playing with some Pitbull, my eyes fell on the man leaning against a car. His sunglasses were on his nose, his form was relaxed, and I could feel the weight of his eyes on my face.

I gulped, my heart thundering. I hadn't really checked my phone since last night. That meant it was still switched off. When I returned from the shelter, I had been too busy, and today I had a few shipments dropping off at the store, and then I had to take the dogs out...

He got back in his car and drove away. I watched his car till it was out of view, my heart beating out of my chest.

I fished my phone out of my pocket and turned it on.

Hello, Dahlia. The first message read. I could almost hear that in his voice.

He had sent it like a few minutes after I had switched it off yesterday. Damn it, Dahlia. Damn it.

There were only two messages after that, which he had sent a minute ago.

I don't appreciate being ignored.

Go out with me tonight. I will pick you up at 8.

. . .

Thots?

I've written quiet a few chapters but the others are grossly unedited so idk when I'll update again.

I'm halfway through the next HER update so that should be published soon.

AND, thank you so much for the love you're giving this book. Ily sm wtf 😭