Page 26

Ember

I feel the bed move, and Trick’s scent starts to mingle with Rens, who seems to pull me closer into his chest. I doze off and on until the light in the room begins to change behind my eyelids. I wiggle a little, but neither of the hard bodies surrounding me moves. I mumble about needing to pee first in English, then in Japanese, and they both move. Well, I need to remember that one, I guess.

I pee and wash my face, my hair is falling loose from my braids, but I don’t want to make a noise while looking for the brush. I use Ren’s toothbrush and make a mental note to apologize. He shouldn’t complain after where he stuck his tongue last night. I shiver at the memory, dipping into his closet and grab a hoodie and some 'cropped' sweats. Well, they would be cropped to Ren. I pad across the room to the double doors that head to a balcony. I notice some sketchpads and pencils on his desk and swipe them, which is odd as he doesn’t draw.

I head outside. The balcony has three other doors leading to it. One looks like it goes straight onto the hall outside Ren’s room, and the other two go to bedrooms. I move over to the rail, leaving the door cracked so I can hear when they start to move. There is a table with four chairs around it, and some more chairs are dotted around. There is also a patio corner sofa with a coffee table and two matching chairs, but near the railing are four loungers. One of which I pad over to and sit with my pad on my lap. The balcony looks out over the back of the property towards the lake. We are more to the right than what I could see through the windows last night, and the Chalet looks more L-shaped from this angle, and another balcony serves as the corner pivot.

I'm going to have to explain the Dex/Levi thing to some people, so I start to draw the memories I have of them, starting with the first, one I remember.

We were 3 years old. I had been locked in the closet in the laundry room as visitors were looking for a child to adopt. I fell asleep, and Dex & Levi turned up to play! I drew the heather-filled clearing, me into dungarees that were too big, and the two wolf pups that kept falling over their feet.

By the time I had done some more sketches, including one where Dex is jumping off the dock, I can see from here,

I’m not sure how long I’ve been sat here, but I've half-filled the book, Rens scent starts to fill my senses, and he’s fully dressed.