Claws // Colby Brock

💫 11 💫

☯︎☯︎☯︎☯︎☯︎

When I walked downstairs after a long, warm shower that started out as cold to wake me up, I was practically cut off by Tara at the door. She was gasping loudly, her eyes wide looking at me. "Is that pink?!"

I rolled my eyes. "Hardly. It's muted, and I'm still wearing black, Tara."

She grinned. "Oh, come on, you can't get away with that. You're wearing pink." She held her hands up in surrender. "I'm not judging, I love pink."

"You're about to make me go change," I complained as I slid passed her to sit on Colby's loveseat. His legs were stretched across it but that didn't deter me.

"Don't! You look good," Tara enthused as I actually sat on Colby's legs for a second. He snapped them out from under me, allowing me to sit on the cushion, but he kicked my thigh before shifting upright. I was snickering to myself.

"Thanks, I guess," I replied to Tara.

"You do look good," Katrina agreed. "Maybe you should wear colours more often. We say the same thing to Colby and Mike but they both ignore us."

"It's not my style," I reminded them, shrugging.

Colby grunted. "Should be. You look slightly less like a bitch."

My head snapped in his direction but he was staring down at his phone like he didn't care — or hadn't said anything. My arms came across my chest. "Awe, is that your way of saying I look nice, Colby?"

"As nice as a dog can look wearing a skirt," he confirmed, glancing up at me for only a second for my reaction. I was glaring.

"Watch it. Keep calling me a dog, I'll end up mauling you like one."

"Go ahead. Give me a reason to have you put down." He shrugged and I scoffed. I hated that he always seemed to be able to come back at me. It didn't matter what I said, it was a talent. And the dog jokes were getting out of hand.

Sam, for once, was actually laughing at our exchange. He looked at Colby with softer eyes than anyone else did, and I actually saw the friendship between them. It was hard to see with Colby acting so dickish all the time, but it was there.

"I don't know why you're being so hard on her," Sam started, softly smiling. "You love dogs. Don't you remember Foxy and Koki?"

"You had dogs?" The question came out before I could stop it, my voice an octave higher than usual as I looked across at Colby. He stared back at me for a moment, the whole room processing what I'd done as if none of them could believe it. I couldn't believe it myself. Crossing my arms and looking away, I muttered, "I don't care if you did."

There was a moment of silence, then, to not just my surprise, "Yeah, two, but I haven't seen them in years."

My head raised and I caught his gaze. He almost looked sad, but it was hidden behind his usual facade. "Why?" I asked.

Sam was signalling over Colby's shoulder for me to shut up, desperately shaking his head but I'd already said it, there was no going back.

"I killed the owners," Colby replied bluntly, and it took me a moment to realise what he meant.

"Were they small?"

"Yeah."

I flashed my eyes at him as I said, "I can bark if you need a reminder of what it's like to have a little dog."

He exhaled through his nose sharply, the corner of his mouth twisting up as he stared at me through his lashes. The expression was so innocent and unusual for him that I actually startled a little. And then I realised I'd made him laugh, even if it was only a bit.