The Cop Next Door

seven

With only my finals left to complete the summer classes I was in, I shut myself into my room for days trying to study. Vivian occasionally popped her head in to give me a mental break, filling me in on the outside world. A stench began to fester from my clothes due to my lack of showering, but that seemed less of a priority at the moment. Riley had disappeared into his own studying meltdown, leaving me to suffer alone binge-reading textbooks with a plate of chicken nuggets at my side. 

Hearing the front door open and close was something I had come to ignore. Viv was always in and out, I didn't bother keeping track anymore. My bedroom door creaked open slowly, but I didn't look up as I replied, finding even a millisecond of wasted time to be earth-shattering. The springs of my bed shifted with weight and I sighed. 

"I can't really talk right now, Viv-"

"Good thing I'm not Viv." His deep voice chuckled. I whipped around, facing the dark-haired officer himself. He smirked at me from my bed, sporting a pair of dark-washed jeans and a plain white v-neck tank. 

"What're you doing here?" I quickly turned away to stop staring at the flecks of water dripping from his hair. Must've just gotten out of the shower...

"Bored." He shrugged, grabbing a stuffed Beluga whale I had gotten from Sea World when I was four. "Besides, it'd been a few days since I saw my Princesa." A thought crossed my mind to correct the use of his possessive my, but part of me felt comforted even thrilled by it.

"Oh." I replied simply, biting my lip and going back to reading. Dax stayed quiet, but I could feel his heated gaze on the back of my matted-haired head. Suddenly feeling self conscious, I shifted in my desk chair and looked up at the ceiling. 

"You may as well go, I'm no fun right now. I've been up for nearly forty-eight hours studying with no end in sight." 

"Let me help you." He stood, grabbing the beanbag chair from the corner of my room and throwing it beside me. Plopping down, he grabbed my textbook and I watched his eyes skim over the content. "Give an example of a Dorsal on a dog." 

"The backbone is a Dorsal to the dog's stomach." I shook my head. "Dax, you don't have to do this-" 

"I want to." He smiled promisingly. "Now, true or false: a dog's spleen is roughly the same size as its stomach and lies near it." We studied for hours, only breaking to grab a drink or heat up more nuggets. To my surprise, studying with a partner made the process go far faster. At the end of the fourth hour Dax had helped me, I slumped in my chair. 

"Thank you." I breathed in relief, a weight lifted from my shoulders knowing I had studied my butt off. Quite literally, my butt had fallen asleep with all the sitting I had done. 

"You don't have to thank me-" Standing and stretching my limbs to their longest capacity, I watched Dax's eyes flicker to the sliver of skin that showed between my pajama shorts and my shirt that had risen with my movements. "We're friends."

"Seriously though, Dax," I turned away from him, feeling my cheeks heat. "What we covered in four hours, I would've cover in eight on my own." The beanbag crumpled under his weight as he stood, approaching from behind me. My breath caught slightly as I felt his breath on my skin, starting from my exposed collarbones and fanning up my neck. "D-Dax-" His name stuck in my throat, large hands engulfing my waist between them. Thoughts began to cloud my mind, bad thoughts. "Dax, I'm gross right now..." 

"You are beautiful, Jane." And for some reason, hearing my name fall from his lips, caused my panties to flush. His lips ghosted over my skin causing goosebumps to rise on the surface. Swallowing hard, I found myself craning my neck to the side for more. His lips now at my jaw, I bit my lip in painful anticipation. As if he had a GPS for my body, he found the sweet spot just below my ear and I moaned softly. 

"Dax..." I mumbled, stumbling on every letter because my brain had checked out for the evening.

"Louder." He growled, his fingers digging into my hips. 

"Da-"

Bing 

My phone chirped from my desk and we froze and in that moment, feeling caught in the midst of our heated moment. And then reality dawned. 

"Oh my god." I gasped, pulling away quickly and throwing my arms around myself. "I'm with Riley, I'm his girlfriend - we are dating. I shouldn't be..." Daxon stared blankly at me, a look of indifference plaguing his normally beautiful features. "I'm tired and not thinking clearly-"

"I'm sure that's what it was." He said blandly, his tone laced with sarcasm. 

"Dax, stop it." I frowned, pacing the floor of my bedroom. "What do I tell Riley?"

"Don't." He shrugged, leaning coolly against the wall. I snorted in disgust. 

"Oh, okay!" I threw my hands up in frustration. "What if your girlfriend had done something like this-"

"I don't have a girlfriend." He licked the corner of his lips and I shivered. 

"Hypothetically." I grit, becoming furious at his lack of empathy. 

"Hypothetically; if I had a girlfriend, I'd fuck her. I'd fuck her every single day, any chance she'd allow. I'd worship her body, pray to whatever higher power is out there in thanks for her beautiful creation. She wouldn't have the leg strength to walk her ass anywhere after I'm done with her, much less mess around with another guy." His response had taken me aback, so much that we stared at each other in silence. After several moments filled with thick, uncomfortable quietness, I found a minuscule amount of confidence.

"I think you should leave." I whispered, my eyes glued to the floor. He opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut. I turned away as he walked out of my bedroom and slammed the front door behind him.