OLIVE
I don't like Aaron. In fact, saying I don't like him is an understatement. I can't stand him. I tried to be understanding of his brash behaviour, putting it down to him settling down in a new place, but then his behaviour only got worse making me believe he's more than a little homesick - he's an arsehole.
Turning the television up, I try to block out the obscene noises coming from Aaron's bedroom. It's verging on disgusting and I know it's going to disturb me for a while. It's just plain disrespectful considering there's two more people living in this apartment. Not just him.
My coat lands on my lap along with Sed's dog lead, a frowning Dexter standing next to the arm of the sofa. "Come on, we're getting out of here."
I pull a face. "Thank god."
Clipping on Sed's lead, I follow Dexter out of the apartment and towards the staircase. We could take the lift, but the stairs are good exercise and Sed enjoys to leap down them. Dexter speeds off, encouraging the dog to pull out of my hand, so I let go, knowing he'd grab on to my boy as soon as they passed.
And he does, right away. I try to catch up. "I vote that we ditch Aaron."
Dexter keeps hold of Sed at the bottom step and waits for me to hurry my bum up. "We can hardly chuck the bloke out for having sex."
"Every day and most nights," I respond.
"Still," he lets out a long sigh, "It's not a good enough reason and he's tied into our contract too. I'm going to have to set up some rules or something."
I laugh. "I doubt he'd even read them."
"True," he snickers.
We stop by the reception to let an old couple by us when I say, "Can he even read?"
Dexter snorts, "Savage, Liv."
And there he goes again with the nickname. I struggle to stop my heart from pumping a little faster. I like it. In a weird way, it makes me feel special.
I let Dexter keep hold of the dog as we come out of the apartment complex and cross the road to the park opposite until Dexter releases him. Sed bounds over to two dogs who're play fighting near the big oak tree but then gets sidetracked by a bird that lands near the water fountain and takes off in that direction.
"That dog gets crazier every day," Dexter says, stopping to watch Sed run circles around the water fountain.
"You haven't seen nothing yet. You wait until he sees snow. Then he turns crazy," I respond, letting out a high-pitched whistle which gets ignored.
Dexter calls out to Sed and to my surprise my dog follows after us when we head towards the wooded area. "Come on, boy!" he shouts again, looking behind him to check his command worked.
I frown. "My dog listens to you more than me."
Dexter laughs, "Of course he does. I'm the master."
Snatching the lead from his hand, I let out a long-winded huff, "I think you'll find that I'm his master."
To prove a point, he puts two fingers inside his mouth and breathes out to whistle and to my mortification, my dog's ears prick on end as he comes bounding over here. Little traitor. As if he's listening to Dexter now. They've known each other five minutes!
"There's my lad," Dexter says, messing around with the fur on Sed's neck.
I frown at Sed's relaxed open mouth, knowing he's enjoying the attention. "Don't forget who buys your food, Sed."
His chocolate brown eyes fall on me for a second before his tail wags and he's staring up at Dexter again.
Dexter laughs, "This is brilliant."
"I think this is how a mother must feel when her son gets his first girlfriend," I say, pouting my lips for effect.
"Stop being so dramatic," he responds, picking up the stick that sits by his feet to lob it towards the water fountain.
I watch Sed chase after it. "I'm not dramatic. I'm hurt."
Reaching out for me, Dexter seals his fingers around my shoulder to pull me towards his body. "Don't be so silly."
Jabbing him in the ribs, I can't help but smile when he moves away, telling me that he's incredibly ticklish. He should have kept it quiet. I have a form of torture now.
"Olive," he shout-laughs, desperately trying to get away from my fingers that prod him.
"Who's the master now?" I snicker, catching up with him when he attempts to run away with his coat in my clasp, other hand still tickling him.
"Stop," he's beside himself with laughter now as he gasps for air. "I can't control my arms and I might hit you!"
I grab behind his neck which causes him to squeal like a girl. "This is payback."
"For what?" he squeals a second time, dimples denting into his cheeks.
Now he's asking, I come up short on things to say, knowing I'm only tickling him because I enjoy seeing this side of him.
So I come up with something random. "For leaving your dirty socks on the kitchen floor!"
"Wait," it seems he's almost to the point of gagging when his laugh turns into wheezing. "That isn't me. I swear it. Please just stop."
I know that he could get away from me if he really wanted to do, so I'm not too concerned by his pleas.
"Then why do they have DL sewn on as an initial near the elastic?"
"Olive, that's enough," he lets out a growl, turning me around and up in the air so he can trap my arms and hold me close to his chest.
Our breathing matches as we pant in the silence of the park. Dexter doesn't make any move to put me on the floor, probably petrified that I'll tickle him. So we stay in this position for a while, watching Sed still play with the stick in the distance, surprisingly not feeling one bit awkward.
"Never tickle me again."
I smile. "I can't promise you that, sorry."
"You need to promise me," he responds, sounding annoyed.
Trying to wriggle out of his grip, I stay still when he doesn't let go. "Let me down."
"No."
I try to mediate. "I can't breathe. You're cutting the air supply to my lungs with your freakishly strong grip."
He chuckles, "Don't care. Payback is a bitch."
"Your a bitch," I respond, starting to cough. "Are you trying to kill me?"
"Possibly," he chuckles in my ear this time.
Getting some momentum, I swing my legs back and forth which causes him to stumble back. "Then who would massage your calf muscles in the middle of the night when you get cramp?"
Yeah, that happened last night when he came hobbling into my room, almost crying with pain. I thought he was overreacting at first until I switched on the light and saw his muscle moving in waves under his skin.
"I don't know," he says, sounding like he already knows I won.
"Exactly," I sigh, turning a fraction to see the top of his head, "put me down.
Dexter responds, lowering me to the ground. "Okay."
My feet touch the grass and I turn to him. "That was silly of you."
I can tell he's confused because it takes him a moment to answer me, left eyebrow slightly lifted. "Oh, yeah? Why's that?"
Playing him good, I whistle to Sed, knowing that he's going to ignore me. True to my suspicions the dog carries on sniffing the ground near the oak trees.
I start to walk towards Dexter's back. "Call him will you?"
None the wiser, he smirks, "Oh so you're admitting I'm his favourite?"
"For today," I say, watching Dexter turn his back to me to shout Sed's name.
Sed makes his way over.
I make my way onto Dexter's back.
"Sucker," I shout, wrapping my legs around his hips and one arm around his neck so my free hand is able to poke him at the top of his ribs, my body not going anywhere when he jumps all over the place.
In the words of Dexter Larsson - payback's a bitch.
...
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