the way you'd love her

T W E L V E

GAGE

I held on Bailey's leash tightly with my right hand, and held Blair's tiny hand in my left. We were almost at the local dog park that was a couple blocks away. How was I going to do this? Belle was in every part of my life, for fucks sake. We're neighbors, our parents are close, we go to the same school and there's a memory of us at every corner.

For example, I'm thinking about the time we almost got kidnapped in middle school. We were walking down this road when a man came up, asking for directions. When we got closer to the car, he tried to pull us in. He even caught Belle's hoodie. But I grabbed her and we ran like crazy. I was laughing the entire way, but Belle burst into tears the second we were safe. Her mom called the police and we filled out a report. I don't think anything happened.

"This is so far." Blair sighed dramatically. Like sister, like sister. I stopped walking and picked her up, holding her with one arm. She was really light, so it wasn't a struggle or anything. I could lift her weight in my sleep.
"I got you, B." I told her.
"Thanks Gage. You're so cool." She gave me a kiss on the cheek. I chuckled and turned the corner. We had finally arrived.

The fence was already open, which was a big no, but it meant Bailey got through without me having to put Blair down. I let him go, knowing he wouldn't run off like he used to. He was fully trained now. I shut the fence behind us and walked to the bench, placing Blair there.

"Are you going to marry my sister?" Blair asked innocently, peering up at me. I froze.
"Um, no. Why?" I responded.
"I wanna get married. Like Anna and Kristoff!" She shouted happily, clapping her hands.
"You will one day." I chuckled.
"You should marry my sister." She nodded.
"Maybe I will. One day." I grinned.
"Good. I can be the flower girl! I could wear a big, pretty dress!" She yelled with excitement.

Blair is seriously the cutest. I love her, she makes me wish I wasn't an only child. My mother had told me she got pregnant when I was about ten, and we had even had one of those gender reveals with a cake. She sliced it open, and it was blue. I was the happiest guy ever. I wanted a brother so bad. So when she told me my brother had went by God, I was pretty mad at God for a while. I refused to go to Sunday school for like, three weeks.

Suddenly, Bailey started barking loudly. I looked over and saw there was another dog nearby. Actually, a very pretty girl was walking a dog near us. I helped Blair jump down and took Bailey's leash, just incase. He wasn't a vicious dog, he was very friendly. Maybe a little too friendly sometimes. He tends to get overexcited. That's why I was holding his leash right now, waiting for the girl to pass by. As she did, I couldn't help but widen my eyes.

She had strawberry blonde hair, with stunning green eyes. She was very tall, only a couple inches shorter than me. But her body was very slender. She could definitely work a runway. She had on skin tight leggings that flared at the end, with a workout jacket on. Her hair was tied out of her bare face. She was seriously pretty.

I got sucked back into reality when Bailey tried to run to them, but I held his leash tight. I smiled as she walked past by, and she cringed.
"Sorry!" She squealed in a southern accent. Woah, okay. Her German Shepard was calm, not barking at all. Big dog.
"Don't be. He gets a bit too excited sometimes." I chuckled. I figured she would walk away and just be a memory, but she surprised me by coming over and bending down to pet Bailey.

"Boy, right?"
"Yeah. Yours?"
"Same." She stood back up after a minute and came over to me. "I'm Dylan. Nice to meet you." She held out her hand. I smiled and shook it. Was she forty years old? Who the hell shakes hands anymore?
"Gage. You too." I said, letting go of Bailey. He was sniffing her German Shepard.

"I just moved over here, this summer. Down Miller road." She told me.
"Ah, gotchu. I live over there on Charles. How you liking it so far?"
"It's okay. More cute boys in the dog park than the one back home." She smiled sweetly. I chuckled, smiling back at her. "How old are you?" She asked me.
"Seventeen. I'm a senior at Willow. You?"
"Me too! Except I'm sixteen. Late birthday."
"I'm glad to hear that. I can show you around the first day if you want. Place is like a maze."

"I'd love that." She said in her sexy southern accent. She looked over to Blair, waving. Blair had on a face.
"Blair? You good?" I asked her.
"I thought you were gonna marry my sister. Not her!" She pouted. I widened my eyes at her and turned to Dylan, who had a horrified look on her face.

"I'm single. Very single. Blair, you know Belle is just my friend." I said to her slowly, although it pained me to admit that. "I'm not marrying anybody." I laughed to Dylan.
"Got it. Scared me for a second." She laughed. "I should get going. Charlie and I are on a tight schedule today. But I am free tomorrow." She smiled. Score.
"Okay. Are you going to give me your number or would you like me to knock on every house down Miller?" I smirked at her.

She paused for a second, as if she was pondering that thought. Oh shit. Please give me your number. I really don't want to do that. As if she could read my mind, she smiled and reached for my pocket, grabbing my phone. Damn. She was bold. She knew she was hot. I like confidence in a girl.

She typed something, and a second later some country song started playing from her phone. She handed me back my phone and pressed a kiss on my cheek, then grabbed Charlie and walked away without another word. Damn. This girl is just what I need right now. I haven't had a girlfriend since sophomore year, and that was Kylie. Why not try this out?

"Can I take Bailey by the tree?" Belle asked. Okay, good. She got over that whole marrying your sister thing. I nodded and took a seat on the bench, watching them closely. I pulled out my phone and saw that I had a text notification.

It was Dylan. She was telling me my contact name was 'cute boy from the park.'