Devil's Backbone (Muke)

11

"You'll like it here, sweetheart," I tell Pepperoni as I put him down on the living room floor. Michael and I both have bags full of pet supplies that we place on the couch.

Our new dog explores the house while Michael and I spend the rest of the evening setting things up for him. For dinner, we keep it simple with leftovers. I take a long shower, taking time to shave everything and get extra clean.

When I'm finished, I dry off and dress in some of my new lingerie. The chosen one is a light pink, and constructed of velvety soft lacy patterns. It consists of a short top piece and a tiny skirt that shows almost everything.

I fix my hair and put on a tiny bit of lip balm before going back to my shared bedroom with Michael. He looks up at me, though his eyes only catch mine for half a second. After that, his eyes are running all over my exposed body. He's biting his inner cheek and he reaches over to the nightstand to put out his cigarette.

"God damn, baby," he groans. I smirk and walk over to him, teasing him with exaggerated movements of my hips. Once I reach the edge of the bed that he's at, he all but growls as he pulls me down onto the mattress. Before I can breathe even once, he's on top of me and his lips are exploring my bare skin.

He makes it a good night. As I'm falling asleep in his arms a couple of hours later, I know that buying new lingerie was the right choice.

I wake to a cold, empty bed the next morning. Pepperoni is curled up at the bottom, muted snores leaving his parted mouth. I look at him with a fond smile and crawl out of bed. I go to the bathroom and take a shower that lasts four minutes.

Michael is still gone when I come out, so I grab Pepperoni's leash.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" I question. The adoption employees told us that he was abandoned and had never known a good home, so it doesn't surprise me when he shows no response to my question.

I fasten the leash to his collar, and that's when he jumps up. He doesn't seem happy like most dogs, though. Instead, he seems almost morose. It takes until we're halfway down the block for me to realize why.

Granted the employees are telling Michael and me the truth about our new adoptee, Pepperoni has no clue what a walk is. Not only that, but he's never been on a leash except to be rehomed or locked up in a cage. My heart falls a little for him as I watch him sniff around in the grass.

Spring is almost done shifting to summer, as we're just shy of June. A colorful array of flowers decorates tons of the grass outside, which I think is beautiful. Pepperoni takes no interest in the flowers except to taste them. He's more interested in peeing on stop signs and bushes.

When I get home, Pepperoni jogs to the kitchen to eat and drink. I start tidying the living room. Just as I'm starting, though, the doorbell rings. Pepperoni responds with a couple of barks, but falls quiet the moment I open the front door.

Ethan is standing on the porch, his eyebrows furrowed and his hands tucked into the pockets of his loose sweatpants.

"Hey, Luke. Sorry to disturb you, but this is important," he tells me.

I shake my head and frown. "No worries. What's up?"

"Is Mike home? We need him bad right now, and he won't answer his phone."

Fear is the first emotion I register. Then, a mixture of anger, worry, jealousy, and irritation fills my body.

"I haven't." I keep my voice calm and steady. None of this is Ethan's fault, no matter where Michael is. "I thought he was with you."

He shakes his head.

"If you see him, will you tell him to call?" He asks me. I nod.

"Sure."

"Thanks, Luke. See you around," Ethan says.

"See you."

I watch as he gets in his car and drives away, unable to move for a moment. Michael is supposed to be working. I woke up without him here, and now his fellow manager or whatever is searching for him. Even Ethan has no idea where my boyfriend is. Which means he's lying to both of us about his actual location.

I try to push the thought away as I finish cleaning the house. When that's done, I decide that I can't wait longer. I call Michael, but am not shocked when he ignores it. I try twice more and send him a few strongly worded texts before the tears start.

I collapse onto the couch, leaning against the back. The crying doesn't last long. It's replaced by anger. Then impatience and later agitation.

There aren't many places Michael could be. I decide to call Ashton to see if he's seen him.

Ashton answers on the second ring.

"Luke? Everything okay?" He wonders. I sigh.

"I don't know, to be honest. Have you seen my idiot boyfriend?" I check.

He chuckles before answering. "No, I haven't. Why?"

I look out the window to the soft blue sky as Pepperoni jumps onto the couch. He curls up at my feet and closes his eyes to take a nap.

"He wasn't here when I woke up this morning, so I assumed he was at work. But Ethan just came by looking for him. Neither of us have seen or heard from him," I explain.

"I'm sure he's okay, Luke. I'll try to get ahold of him."

"Thank you, Ash."

"Of course!" He exclaims. "I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Bye."

Once we've hung up, I cross my arms and train my gaze on the door. When Michael comes back, we'll sit down and have a serious conversation.

I'll wait all day and all night if I have to.