Too Close

Chapter 16

Olivia's P.O.V

I haven't had a full conversation with Tyler since that day in my room when I told him. Haylie told me he got a job working at the car shop Colton's dad owned so that he can start saving up for his own car. But she seemed almost bewildered when I told him about my mom and my adoption.

"You told him?" She asked.

"Yeah," I'd said, taking in her shocked face. "Why?

"You waited a whole year after we became friends to tell me. And you've only known Tyler for like...a few months." She had a point. I didn't say anything because I couldn't. I had no idea why I told him, it just came out after I told him Katie's story. I told Haylie a year after we were friends because I needed to make sure she was really a friend to me. Do I trust Tyler? He hadn't told me his story yet. I knew he lived with his grandmother but I had no idea if his parents were alive or dead. I wouldn't press him, maybe he wasn't ready to talk about it yet.

Since he started working, I was home alone after detention during the week. I was used to being home by myself but it felt odd not having Tyler around everyday like I was used to. When he was home on the weekends, we didn't really have any time to do much else than study for midterms. He agreed to let me help him study and he promised not to get me into any more trouble.

I even made my own promise to stay focused. Not that I would ever let anything get in the way of my grades and college, but I vowed to keep it that way.

On some days, like today, he was usually gone before I woke up. We had a flight to catch tomorrow so I would spend the day finishing laundry and packing my things for the trip in the morning. Jack and Mira arranged for Tyler, Haylie, and I to leave tomorrow morning and stay at a private house in Palm Beach, Florida just up the road from Grandma, who would be hosting Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night. Haylie always spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with us. Her parents never minded, her family wasn't big on celebrating holidays.

I pulled on a pair of tights and a sports bra and headed out for a jog. I started running only a week ago, but I was beginning to think it was something I could keep up with.

Before turning on the road that led back home, I stopped at the Wawa for a sandwich. I wound up getting one for both myself and Tyler. I'd drop his off at the shop after I showered in case he was still at work when I got home.

Who was I kidding? I just want to see him.

I was a street away from the house when I heard a whimpering sound. I unplugged one of my ear buds and stopped to listen. I heard it again coming from a bush behind me. Carefully, I approached it and cautiously moved one of the branches aside so I could peer around it. There was a chocolate brown Labrador lying on a dry patch of grass. A bright blue cape was tied around its neck.

"Aw, are you okay little guy?" the puppy looked up at the sound of my voice and slowly rose. The pup stumbled over to my feet with its tail wagging wildly and sniffed my sneakers. I bent down and scratched behind its ear. "You must be lost, aren't you?" I stroked its back and side and then it let out a whimper and I pulled my hand back. "Let me see." Turning it around, examined its side and inspected a dried layer of blood on its coat. Then I checked its neck for a collar. There was a thick band fastened around its neck with a piece of ripped paper stapled to it. 'I need a new home', it read.

"This is where you'll be living from now on," I whispered to the puppy as I shut the door behind me. I'd found out he was a boy when I lifted him up from behind the bush. If I was going to keep him, he needed to get checked out by a Vet before our flight.

"O?" I jumped at the sound.

"Holy! Gosh, you scared me," I heard movement coming from the living room and I walked toward it. "I didn't know you were home." I poked my head into the room from behind the half wall without showing the rest of my body. Tyler looked away from the TV to peek at me. I flashed him a smile.