Gravensnod (manxman)

Chapter Three

Alexei

A tongue was licking over my face before a wet nose was sniffing my neck. My eyes slowly opened to see Winston playfully wagging his tail before slobbering over my face again. Winston had been mine since he was just a baby Westie so many years ago. He'd been waking me up like this practically his whole life and I loved it. There was nothing greater than waking up to my best friend.

"Okay, okay I'm up," I said with a yawn while getting up and stretching my limbs out. Slipping my glasses on I yawned again before grabbing my robe and grabbing Winston's leash. "Let's go!"

His happy barking was filling the still quiet hallways as I wandered down the stairs and out to the back patio. After doing his business he came back inside, yipping back up the stairs. Once opening my bedroom door again, Winston barked louder when he saw Ari sitting on the bed.

"Hey," I said while shutting the door with my foot. "When'd you get here?"

Ari laughed as Winston started licking his neck. "Was just wandering by and wasn't sure if his royal highness was up yet."

My eyes rolled while running a hand through my shaggy hair, knowing I'd have to get it cut soon. "You look tired; did you not sleep last night?"

With a shrug he gave Winston's head a pat as the dog rested his head into Ari's lap. "Insomnia is a bitch." He heavily sighed before looking up and smirking at me. "Your royal bodyguards actually let you leave your room with your glasses and robe?"

I couldn't help but chuckle while leaning against the large dresser behind my body. "Ari, you're allowed to walk around comfortably." My smile faded as I stared at him. "I wish you'd stay here longer. I wish I had my best friend back and come on, what's so great about London?"

Ari gave me a look before saying, "You know why I left Alex."

"You know that people have changed since then," I said while coming over and sitting down next to him. "And you know that Fyn has changed too."

His eyes glared at me before he looked away, his right hand starting to flex against his leg. "I don't care about Fyn and he doesn't care about me."

"Ari, he was young and confused and I swear he's changed."

He snorted while rolling his eyes before looking back over at me. "Because you kicked the shit out of him."

He laughed when my arm landed onto his shoulders and pulled him into my body. "Because no one makes my best friend cry."

"Well, maybe I'd visit more if you didn't make him one of your uppity guards."

"For the last time, you know my dad did that. Fyn has really matured and grown over the years and you know my dad's all about second chances." When he remained silent I nudged his shoulder while saying, "And he isn't a guard to anyone in particular, you know he stands guard down at the dock. He never complains though so he must be okay with it."

"I didn't see him at the dock last night," he whispered.

When he realized what he said he jumped up and wandered over to one of the many windows in my suite. "You were at the dock?"

"Just wanted some alone time on the water."

"If you want alone time Ari can you please humor me and stay on the island? I don't want anything to happen to you. Plus, Fyn wasn't here yesterday. His aunt is in the hospital." My mind instantly wandered to the guy who got hurt yesterday, Philo. When I went to check on him he was asleep as was his sister. I needed to make sure he was okay. "I'll be right back."