Puppy Love (bxb)

Chapter Nine

"Dude, you have got to come up with a more concise nickname for me," I advised. "Pick up lines is such a mouthful."

Henry walked alongside me, looking handsome as anything. He had this really nice serene look on his face, gazed fixed on the water. His mouth was soft for once, lips slightly parted and upturned in amusement. He was wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans, but he looked fine as hell.

Oh and he was also carrying the picnic basket and the blanket. Get you a man who does all the work.

"What do you suggest, then?" he asked drolly. "Dog fur? Mushroom head?"

I patted my hair self-consciously. "What's up with people roasting my hair? It's stylishly curled."

"It looks like a troll doll with a perm."

"Dude!" He was such a brute lately. Although I kind of liked that my soulmate was a cute little meanie. "It's straight on the top! Kinda. Well, it's wavy, anyway."

He actually ran his fingers through my hair, which sent a shiver though me and left me horny and overrun with affection. "Look at this ridiculousness," he teased, ruffling it a little. "There's so much of it. And it's all going in a different direction!"

I leaned in and closed my eyes. "Don't stop petting me."

He choked out a laugh and pulled away. I watched him walk away, and man oh man. His ass looked fine as hell in those jeans. "Look, over here! This is the spot."

I followed him down the path to an area where the trees parted and a little grove of grass sat beside the shore of the lake. Henry spread out the blanket and we settled down onto it.

The lake glittered a little bit under the sun. I so badly wanted to pull off Henry's shirt and jump into the water with him. I wanted his body wet and yummy up against mine.

...I was such a horn dog. Seriously.

"This is beautiful," I admired. "What made you pick this place?"

Henry got this bashful look on his face that turned his usual hard as iron features soft. "My mom showed me this place, actually. She used to take me here a lot when I was younger. She said that not too many people know about it."

I laughed. "I mean considering you had to pull over on the side of the road to find the path, I'd agree."

He shrugged and looked up at me through those thick and dark lashes. "Sometimes some of the best things in the world are things you just stumble upon. That's what happened with my mom. She found this place by accident."

My heart thumped in my chest. He definitely was not talking about only a lake.

"We kinda stumbled upon each other, huh?" I asked, risking the assumption. It was very possible that he totally was getting that look on his face just thinking about lakes.

"Yeah, you sort of catapulted into my shop and stumbled right into my arms, remember?" he chuckled. I remembered just how calculated running into his arms had been and awkwardly chuckled.

"...Yup, that was such a fun coincidence."

"You totally ran into my arms on purpose, didn't you?"

"Hey, it's not my fault that you weren't dazzled by my charm!"

He laughed and shoved an aluminum foil bundled pile of tortillas into my hands. "Dillon, you're ridiculous. Here, have some toppings."

This guy literally had topping-filled Tupperware. I loaded up my tortilla with beef and onions and peppers. I wasn't sure that it counted as a taquito, but it was delicious.