The Boyfriend

XXVI: Dogs

Blake

Blake bit her lip as she dialed Liam's number, waiting for him to pick up. She was tired and frustrated, and a part of her wanted to ask him to help her decide what to do, but she knew that wasn't the right decision, so she had something else--

"Answer. Ugh--answer. Answer!"

Blake blinked, frowning, "Liam?"

"Shit. Hey, Blake. Uh, sorry for yelling. I'm out walking the dogs--"

"Wait, you have dogs? Two of them?"

"Yeah?"

Blake's eyes were about to pop out of her head, "Why is this the first I'm hearing about them? And why haven't I seen any pictures yet? You do realize that's like one of the quickest ways to get into a girl's pants, right?"

Liam laughed, "Tasha actually suggested sending Marie pictures of them last summer when I complained about still having a crush on her. Never followed through on it, though. I think it would be different if they were my dogs, but they're more family dogs. It's just my turn to walk them tonight."

Blake let out an exaggerated sigh, "I guess that's a somewhat acceptable response. I expect pictures, though, and what are their names, and what types are they?"

"Well, I can never remember Peanut's breed, but she's some sort of Korean hunting breed, I think. Maybe Japanese."

Blake's mouth fell open even as she grinned, "Okay, you're gaining points back. Peanut is a fantastic dog name. Did you pick it?"

"No, she's Kekoa's technically."

Blake frowned at that, but dismissed it, "Okay, and the other one?"

"Gilligan. She's some sort of Bishan-poodle mix. Peanut is medium-large, and Gilligan is like twelve pounds."

"Isn't that a boy name?"

"Meh. She came with it and we decided to keep it. The breeder had named the litter after the Gilligan's Island characters."

Blake giggled at that as the song started playing through her head.

"Those are both very good names, then. Now back to your story. I'm guessing you weren't yelling at the dogs to answer the phone."

Liam snorted, "No. I have my new headphones in, and when you called they said 'say answer' if I wanted to pick up, and...well, it took about eight or nine tries before I finally heard you. A little frustrating."

Blake smiled at that, curling up in her blankets a bit more and leaning back against the wall, "Don't worry, I probably would have been cursing out the headphones by that point. Especially after today."

"Are you alright? I know you said you were fine earlier, but..."

Blake swore she could actually feel Liam's concern across the hundreds of miles between them, and bit her hip, cheeks growing warm, "Didn't believe me?"

"Not really."

"I know you can't see it, but I'm sticking my tongue out at you right now."

"That, I do believe."

Blake smiled at that.

"I'm alright now, though. Better than I was before, at least."

"But frustrated?"

"Yeah, my grandparents finally went over some of the stuff from my mom dying with me, and I realized I might not have health insurance, so I've been online and on the phone all day trying to figure out exactly what I need to do and what the best plan is and all that stuff. You don't know anything about that, do you?"

"I do, actually. Our school's SHIP program is actually really good, so I'm on that instead of something else. Not as nice as having your parents pay for you, since you have to pay for it, but the copays are really cheap, and the school works with a lot of providers in the area. Plus, it doesn't hurt that they have the medical campus. I can send you the links with all the enrollment info and stuff once I get back to the house."

Blake smiled, "Have I told you that you're the best?"

"Maybe once or twice."

Smile broadening, Blake thought of what she'd done before her call, and flipped off the call screen of her phone and over to her pictures, sending two to Liam. She heard his phone buzz a second later.

"Was that you?"

"Yep. Check those out."

"Hold on. Gotta make sure I have a good hold on the leashes. Gilligan's no problem, but Peanut likes to bolt sometimes."

Blake waited as she heard him fumbling around with his phone. Then she heard his breath hitch, and smirked.

"Wow."

"I thought you might like those."

Blake glanced back down at her phone, flipping back and forth between the two pictures.

She'd sent Liam close-ups of her face from her chin to just beneath her eyes. In one, she wore bright red lipstick the color of her old hair. In the other, she wore lipstick matching her current color.

"Definitely better than dog pictures," Liam breathed.

"Mmm...debatable. Dogs are pretty great."

Liam laughed, "Not denying that, but...You're really beautiful, Blake. These are amazing."

Blake's chest grew tight as that wonderful warmth only Liam could bring out spread through her, melting away most of the day's frustration and stress.

"It helps that I know how to take a good picture."

"Incredible pictures, Blake. Seriously. If I had any drawing talent, I'd want to try doing something with these."

Blake's cheeks were on fire, now. Her eyes were also starting to feel hot for some reason.

"I just thought I'd send you those so I could let you decide which one you want marking your skin the next time I see you."

"Oh."

Blake barely held back a giggle in the sudden thickness to Liam's voice.

"Yep. I'm pretty sure the combination of doing my shows and not being able to fuck you before or after is just making me more and more worked up. So I'm probably gonna just be a raging ball of horniness by the time I finally see you again."

She smirked, remembering what he'd asked about the other night, "Especially since you've given me the image of you playing with your ass to fantasize about."

"Blake?"

"Yeah?"

"You're making my jeans really uncomfortable."

Blake barked a laugh, then cackled, "Good. You've been too coddled over there without me to tease you all the time."

Liam snorted, "I definitely have not been 'coddled,' trust me. Tasha makes sure of that."

Blake had to force herself not to bite her lip at that. She liked Tasha and Sara so far, and she knew she didn't have anything to worry about with Liam, but what Marie had said about her...

"Did you do some Christmas get-together with your friends or something?"

"No. Everybody's usually pretty busy around then, so we usually hang out on New Years. Tasha and Kiki and I were going to hang out at the beach the night after I got back, but Kiki bailed, so it was just me and Tasha, and then she was having a little freak-out about her and Ryker on Christmas Eve before any of us were doing anything, so we met up in the park and I made sure she knew she had nothing to worry about."

That made Blake worry less, "You're a good friend."

"I try. Sometimes maybe a little to trusting, though."

Blake frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Since it was just Tasha and I hanging out at the beach, she asked how you and I met and ended up together, since apparently I hadn't told her...aaand now she has a lot of ammunition to tease me with."

Blake's smile returned, "That's your own fault. Especially since I'm assuming you weren't drunk like you were the last time she got a ton of dirt out of you."

Liam sighed, "Nope. Though she did bring that up. That was fun."

Blake laughed.

"I miss you."

"I miss you, too, Blake. I can't wait for you to get my present."

Blake smiled at that, wiggling around in her blanket.

"I can't wait for you to get mine, either."

She'd worked really hard on picking out just the right thing for him.

I really hope he likes it.

"We can't open them until we both have them, though, remember. I want to video-call you so we can open them together."

Why does something as simple as that make me so fucking happy?

Blake supposed she probably shouldn't question that. So, she decided not to. She'd had other plans in store for tonight, but...

Not while he's walking the dogs.

"Deal," she said, "How much time do you have left in the walk?"

"Probably about fifteen more minutes around the block."

"Good."

"Good?"

"Mhm. Because I'm going to hang up in a minute, and you're going to walk the dogs, and then when you get home, you're going to send me puppy pictures so you don't forget, but then you're going to get in bed and call me again. And by that time, I'll have been laying in bed, touching myself and thinking of you for about fifteen minutes, and I'm going to want to hear you cum. I know it's not the same as locking us in my room, but think that can work for tonight?"

The line was silent for a moment, then:

"If I run, I can be home in eight minutes."

Blake laughed, "You're such a dork."

"But a hot one, right?"

"Apparently."

"Hey."

Blake laughed again, "Go walk your dogs at a normal pace so they get to enjoy their outside time. I'll talk to you after that, okay?"

"Can't wait."

A/N: Do Liam's dogs make him more attractive? What do you think they got each other for Christmas?