Thinking of Your Skin: The Truth Behind Camren - Book Two

Chapter 52: The Calm Before The Storm

We both looked over at the dark haired woman only to find her with something completely unexpected in her arms. I cupped my hand over my mouth while my eyes widened at the sight.

"Oh my god." I mumbled into my palm.

I looked over at Dan and Ty who were both now sporting light grins.

"What is going on?" I asked, finally taking my hand off of my mouth.

Instead of waiting for their answer, I immediately moved towards Tara and bent down slightly to get a closer look.

"Hi, baby." I whispered to the sleeping puppy resting in her arms.

"So...meet your new dog." Dan spoke up again.

I looked up at him, the tips of my fingernails caressing the puppy's small stomach.

"Are you serious?" I scoffed.

"Yeah.", Dan chuckled, "You get to name her and everything."

"She's a her?" I squealed, returning my attention to the little angel in front of me.

"Yeah, she's a her." Tara said as she rocked the puppy back and forth.

I placed my hands over my mouth again and stepped away from Tara and the small creature. I slowly turned towards Dan, still in awe at everything that was happening. This dog was SO. Fucking. Cute.

"Why is this happening?" I asked, as if waiting for the punchline.

"Well, you've been talking about wanting a dog for a while now and...like I said, she's a solution." Dan explained.

I let my eyes wander over to Ty briefly. He was standing there with his arms crossed, cool as a cucumber. I had a feeling he had already been told about all of this.

"How is she a solution?" I asked slowly.

"She's not just yours." he said, looking over at Ty.

I looked back and forth between the two of them, waiting for them to say this was all some sort of joke. They didn't.

"Wait...you got us a dog?" I asked, putting the pieces together.

"We-" Dan started.

"You got us a fucking dog just to make people think we're still together?"

"Lauren, think about it." Tara chimed in, causing me to turn towards her.

"Think about it? Tara, this is like deciding to have a child after a fucking divorce! You all expect me to put this dog through this nonsense? Look at her, for fuck's sake! She's a baby!"

"Lo-"

"You know about this, didn't you?", I stopped Ty, "You didn't even stop to question this?"

"I did.", he said in a calm tone, "Lo, would you rather have her sitting around waiting to be adopted again? Or would you rather she's given to two loving people? And one who has a daughter who would love to take care of her. Besides, this is different than a kid and you know it. Don't be difficult for no reason."

"I'm not being-"

"Lauren, think about what this means.", Dan interrupted, "You and Ty get to go about your days but the second people see you with the dog, they'll be all 'oh yay Tyren's dog so cute blah blah'. You two won't have to see each other as much as long as she's around."

"And then what? Who gets her when all this bullshit is done?"

"You can have her." Ty huffed.

When I turned to look at him, he was making his way out of the room.