Going Full Throttle

Chapter 10 - Tyler's POV

"So," I said slowly, "the dogs are like people?"

Finn rolled his eyes, clearly exasperated with trying to explain this to me. It was weird that without any blood relation, he looked scarily like his aunt when he did that.

"No, they'wre puppies but they pwotect the town with Wyder!"

I nodded as though I understood, mostly because I couldn't handle another lecture from this kid about Paw Patrol and why I should watch it. Twyla smiled over at us from the kitchen counter and I stopped myself from reminding her that she was Finn's babysitter, not me.

I guess someone at Pia's work got sick and she was given double-shifts. From what Twyla told us, Finn's usual babysitter Sara couldn't handle him for that long. So for the last week, I have had a shadow in the form of this talkative and energetic kid. The only time I'd seen Pia was when she zombie-walked into the kitchen to either drop Finn off or pick him up. Her tired, glassy eyes would barely slip over me as she'd hug Finn and talk to Twyla.

A weird churning feeling would settle in my stomach whenever that happened. The day we'd spent at The Platform was crazy confusing. Up until then, I'd managed to cool my physical appreciation for Pia. Her snappy attitude had definitely assisted in that department. But then I watched her with that guy—Ryan. His hands were all over her body and I couldn't help wishing that I could do that.

It wasn't jealousy. Jealousy implied some kind of claim, like I had a right to feel protective of Pia. Which I didn't. It was more like the beast I'd caged for a while saw something he wanted and had decided to let himself out. When we were playing that dumb game just happened to be the perfect place to test the waters.

I went to bed that night fully confident that my touch, my presence, had affected her. I fell asleep thinking that maybe this new truce wouldn't be so bad. I still hadn't known what my end goal was. A little playful flirting? Actually bedding the siren? Whatever it was, I hadn't expected her to disappear the next day and turn into an elusive ghost for a week.

"I wish I had a puppy," Finn said wistfully. It pulled me out of my reverie and I rubbed my beard with the palm of my hand to expel the guilt over the thoughts I'd just had about his aunt.

"Yeah, I miss my dog," I said with a sigh.

Finn perked up at the mention of my dog and wiggled excitedly in his seat. "You have a puppy? Whewre is he?"

"He's with my publicist for the summer," I said, slightly regretting bringing this topic up. I just gave this kid a new interesting topic to hound me about.

"Can I see him?" Finn asked.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket I got an idea. I clicked a few buttons and then held the cell up to my face, waiting for Facetime to connect.

"You have no idea the hell I've been through," Isla's voice came through seconds before her face popped up on my screen. "This animal of yours is driving me crazy T." Her annoyed grimace slipped into a devilish grin as her eyes sparked. "You are going to be grovelling at my feet for months to pay me back for this. In fact you could start by taking off your—"

I choked a cough out to cover whatever request Isla was about to make then flashed the camera towards Finn.

"Oh," Isla's tone dropped to a duller, more professional level, then she smiled sweetly. "Who is this?"

"I'm Finn," Finn said confidently. "Tylewr's bestfwiend."

I couldn't help but smile at how easily he had awarded himself that title. "Hey Isla, can we see Petey? Finn wants to meet him."