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The dog followed us and he sat by a crate that was leaning against the wall He waited, waging his tail In the shadows, he looked so big, and I could s my nose tickle

“Not right now,” the guy said, waving his hand at the dog The dog sank to the floor, head on top of one of his paws The guy hit the button for the garage door to close and the light went out, sinking us deeper into the dark, so much that I was blinded by it

“Come on,” he said He took my uninjured arm and pulled me inside I stumbled in behind him

Once we entered the house, there was a short hallith a wood floor at our feet The house was dark and I crept along behind hiht a gliot to it, he opened a door to the left just before the end of the hall It opened to a stairwell, with light blue carpeting covering the steps There was a diht on somewhere above

He started up the stairs I didn’t know if I should follow but I didn’t want to be caught downstairs if there were other people in the house

I that ere alone in the house also scared me

I followed hie was spacious There was door open to the left that led to a small bathroom There was another door next to it that was closed and I only guessed it to be a closet There s facing the driveway and one looking out onto the road at the front of the house There was a bench seat near the ard the front with a couple of neatly eainst the wall by aoverlooking the driveway, leaving a huge amount of space in the middle In the far left corner was a computer desk, monitor turned off A small bookshelf sat next to it

A brass la it a couple of tihtness increased He turned to me

His black-ri his eyes and alht brown hair stuck to his forehead and at the top of his ears If I had to guess his age, he ht have been a couple years older than I was, if that He was a head taller than I ith a led at the edges made him look curious and constantly interested His poncho had a Nike swoosh mark and his black Converse shoes looked brand new If my older sister would have seen hiht off She ht, shoulders back, with a cool confidence that I could only dreah, was the kind smile he had on his face It warmed me instantly

I blushed when I realized he was exained I looked like a complete wreck My dark blond hair was tied up in a s to ht red froreen eyes were probably bloodshot or had heavy bags or both I was probably as pale as a ghost with the dark poncho sagging around s,

“I’m sorry,” I said “I should probably have taken my shoes off They’re soaked”

“I’ at a ti on the floor by his desk and then moved toward the bathroom door “Take that poncho off and let’s look at your arm”

I followed hi over a little to pull it off of reen t-shirt underneath stuck to ht as well not have worn it at all It was up againstpushed up between the even the details of the underwire in the bra I earing The cloth sucked into my belly button

His eyes follohere I was looking I tried pulling the shirt away froainstitself to my skin His cheeks tinted red as he took the poncho fro it on the curtain rod over the shower tub on the right The bathrooh room for the tub, a toilet in the middle and a counter for a sink to the left with a wide mirror above it The powder blue floallpaper and a s made it feel cozy

He reached over for ht, I could see the blood that had dripped over ash I sucked in a breath Now that I saw it, the sharp pain in my arm felt crisp

He lifted entle forefinger to push at od,” he said “I’m sorry Really This was my fault”

I shookto look nonplussed about the pain “It was your dog Not really his fault He was excited, I guess”

“He was excited,” he agreed He moved away to open a drawer under the counter He lifted out a red and white first aid kit, and reached for a bottle of hydrogen peroxide “I’ve noticed the lead was getting thin in the middle for a while When he smelled or heard you, he took off and it broke” His eyes ently closer by the elbow so that I would be at a better angle for the light “He’s not usually that bad He needed to go out but he hates this weather So I’m sorry about that I should have replaced the lead before now And I don’t knohy he jumped on you He never does that”

His eyes were an eht fro a little lower on his nose, I felt eous From the depths of my mind, even while distracted, I kneas supposed to say so at me made my hear

t skip and my mind went blank I wasn’t even sure why I felt the way I did I only knew that he wasmy insides flutter “name”

A brown eyebrow arched “Hm?”

“I don’t know your name”

The soft lips sh He was pleased with me “I’m Kota”

Kota It was different like mine so I liked it

He waited patiently for a moment and then chuckled as if uncomfortable “What’s yours?”

It took y that following the conversation was difficult “Uh Sang”

“As in, I sang a song?”

I nodded “I know it’s weird”

“No weirder than ‘Kota’”

I sh”

The crest of his high cheekbones tinted to a pink that looked nice on him “It’s nice to meet you And please don’t hate me”

“For what?”

He applied a clean cloth with the peroxide to my arm I had been so distracted by hi went straight to my bones The chill from the weather outside only hto radiate through e to cry out in pain

As he cleanedout into his bedroo him not only relieved the pain but also the aardness I felt I wanted to look at his face but I was too nervous to face hi

After the blood and dirt ashed away, he applied a large square bandage to cover the spot with “I think you’re patched up” He gave the sides of the bandages a fewand then cru else broken or bleeding?”