𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞

Closer Than Blood.

(Edited)

𝐉𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞

We spent an extra hour at the beach, talking and enjoying the weather. I went for a swim with Sadie and Damen and Andrès came with us. At one point Andrès said something and managed to grate on Damen's nerves, resulting in him pushing his head under water.

Having witnessed this, I got furious with Damen and started to curse him in Spanish, yelling and pointing until Mom told me to simmer down and behave myself, leaving Damen dumfounded. Theodore recorded the whole thing, intent on showing it to everyone back home.

When the sun became too intense, we packed up our stuff and headed to the jeep. Mom said she took a taxi to the beach and that she'd take one back as well, but I insisted she and Andrès ride with us. Since there wasn't enough room in the jeep for all of us to fit, Valentino called his driver to bring a second car.

When it arrived, Valentino, Mom, Andrès and I went in that car and Sadie, Riley, Damen and Theodore stayed in the jeep. Bud, Lou and Mandy had fallen asleep in the back and when Mom saw them she nearly had a heart attack. Andrès was awestruck and complimented my courage to handle hyena pups, given how dangerous they were known to be.

Once everything was packed away, we started the journey home. It took around thirty minutes to arrive and when we did, Mr Guerrero, Enzo, Dean and Felix came out to greet us.

"I hate you guys. I can't believe you went to the beach without me," Dean was the first to complain.
"You were on a job with Felix, Dean—five miles away from here. It couldn't be helped," Valentino said reasonably.
"You still could've called, I would've met you there."
"Well next time we're going you'll be the very person we tell. Okay Deany boy?" I asked pinching his cheek.

Unamused, he slapped my hand away and turned his face to the side. I smiled at the equivalence he held to a fussy five year old.
When Mom came out of the car with Andrès, Mr Guerrero raised an eyebrow at Valentino. Silently mouthing the word 'later',  Valentino helped Damen and Theodore unload the cars.

Bud, Lou and Mandy started barking and jumping around, restless to get out. Sadie made the mistake of opening the back of the jeep, allowing them to fly out. They made a direct beeline to Riley who didn't see the assault coming and therefore had neither the speed nor the time to avoid it. Theodore was coming with the garbage from the left and the hyenas from the right with Riley in the middle.

BAM!!!

The trash flew up in the air and fell on top of Theodore, who was on top of Riley, who was on the ground being licked by the pups.
For a moment no one said anything. There was complete silence as we took in the scene that just ensued. Theodore and Riley stared into each other's eyes for a minute, not saying anything.

Riley swallowed heavily and reached up to take a pickle slice out of Theodore's sun bleached curls.
"Your tan looks gorgeous Riley," Theodore whispered softly.
"Your muscles are very eyecatching Theo," she whispered back.

I observed the exchange between them and felt excitement boil up. Nudging Sadie, I motioned towards them with my eyes and Sadie giggled and nodded her head in agreement. We were both thinking the exact same thing: Cupid was definitely paying these two a visit.

"Theodore would you mind getting off our sister please?" Dean asked folding his arms across his chest. Apparently now realizing where he was, Theodore rose to his feet and helped Riley up. I hurried to pick up the discarded trash before one of the pups swallowed any of it.

Before I could grab a fallen piece of paper, Bud grabbed it and ran off with it, shaking it between his teeth like a puppy. I dropped the rest of trash in the bin and tried to take the piece Bud had. He resisted and ran further away. I tried again but was met with the same result.