Way Back into Love ↪ Owen Grady

three ↪ pachy

    I arrived at paddock twenty-one in less than ten minutes. Who I supposed was Dyson was standing against the wall, his arms folded over his chest impatiently. He looked a bit older than me, with pitch-black hair, dark skin, athletic. As soon as he spotted me, he walked towards me with a beaming smile.

    "You must be Elle" he offered his hand for me to shake. "Welcome to the best enclosure. You want to meet the Pachys?"

    "Wait, I can?" my anxiety disappeared in no time, leaving an empty spot for excitement to take.

    "Sure thing! Welcome on board!"

    The electronic gate loudly opened after Dyson slid his ID card into the security system's device. He signaled me to follow him so we stepped into what looked like a mini jungle. I stared in awe, analyzing my surroundings, every single detail of the environment.

    "The littlest one is a Stygimoloch and doesn't have a name yet, you can name him" Dyson shrugged as he moved a huge leaf from a gate.

    "Can I name him Pachy? I know, so unoriginal"

    "Sure you can" he grinned. The large gate behind our backs locked us in, so a smaller one in front of us could open. "Give them time to adapt to you, don't be afraid if they make the mad face"

    "The mad face?" I allowed myself to smile, trying to imagine how a dinosaur could even make a mad face.

    "You'll see, kiddo"

    A family of Pachys sprinted in our direction before they ran wildly around their artificial habitat. Dyson greeted them all, one by one, and fed them while I stared in amazement. The littlest one moved closer to me and sniffed me up from head to toes, tilting his head to both sides.

    "He's studying you" Dyson informed me. "He's deciding whether he likes you or not"

    "What if he doesn't like me?"

    "You'll get used to it, he doesn't like anyone" he laughed cheerfully.

    I mimicked Pachy's movements and tilt my head to the side. I then stretched my hand very slowly so I could touch his big head and eventually touch him, which he surprisingly let me.

    "What?!" Dyson yelled in frustration with a funny smile. "He actually likes people?"

    "He definitely likes her" a deep voice spoke from behind the fence.

    I snapped my head up in the voice's direction and gulped. Owen Grady. He had his arms locked around the bars and a smug smile on his face. He moved his eyes from the dinosaur to me and back in amazement. — "Is that the little one?"

    "The one and only" Dyson laughed.

    "And you are..?" Owen laid his eyes on me and furrowed his eyebrows in surprise.

    "Uh, Elle" I stuttered awkwardly.

    "Great job, Elle. That's a tough one" he smiled slowly, his head gesturing to the little dinosaur walking around me.

    I glanced down at Pachy, who was resting his heavy head against my leg and smiled. He was quite tall, for being the littlest one, almost as tall as me. I looked over at Dyson and caught him fixing some more leaves, ready to make the dinos go back to their little homes. "C'mon, buddy, let's go help" I patted Pachy's head and stepped towards the rest of the pack.

    "Not bad for being your first day" Dyson laughed a little. "Can't wait to see what you have to offer, kiddo"

    "So now I go back to the staff facility or what?" I nervously tapped my feet against the hard ground, anxiety coming back, right on time.

    "No, it's okay. Owen will drive us back." he just smiled as he unlocked the security gate with his ID and let us out. "The badass guy over there"

.

    I awkwardly stumbled and almost tripped on my own feet on my way to the jeep. It was totally going to be chaotic, I felt it in my bones.

    "So, Elle, what brings you here?" Owen asked when we both hopped on the vehicle and buckled up our seatbelts, waiting for Dyson to reach us. I automatically sat in the backseat, in the middle.

    "Dinosaurs" I blurted out without even processing.

    The wind suddenly blew through the car's windows, causing Owen's dark brown hair to fly in every possible direction as he cheerfully laughed at my answer.

    I chuckled slightly. "I'm, uh, here with my brother and my dad"

    "That's good" he nodded thoughtfully before smiling a little.

    Dyson got on the jeep at that exact moment and let out a sigh. "Roger just called and I feel pretty offended by your behavior, Elle"

    I gaped my mouth open in confusion and so did Owen. The car eventually moved slowly through the empty streets of the park. "He told me your favorite dinosaurs are Raptors" Dyson continued, trying to hide a smile. "How could you?"

    Owen's face lit up in a matter of seconds as he glanced at me through the car window, clearly excited. "You like Raptors?? Awesome! Why?"

    "I guess I never thought about it" I admitted. "They're pretty clever, that's definitely cool"

    "Ah, you would love Blue" he excitedly grinned. "I've raised her with her siblings but she-, man, she's so smart and sweet"

    "Is it still a Raptor we're talking about?" I slightly gasped.

    "Yeah, she's great! Why don't you stop by some time? I can show you all about it"

    "S-sure, yeah, totally"

    I could tell by the way his eyes sparkled how much he cared about his raptors, and that's something you don't see on a picture on a stupid website. Not to mention how he was much taller, muscular, and had such a good scent. Like a very good scent.

    "That's our destination. Right on time, Miss" Owen playfully stated when the car stopped.

    "Right, I-, uh, thanks for the ride" I clumsily unbuckled my seatbelt and literally jumped off the vehicle. — "It was nice meeting you, both of you"

    "I'll see you tomorrow, kiddo" Dyson smiled widely.

    And with that, the jeep moved forward. I froze in place for what seemed like forever, my cheeks warmer than usual, a cheesy smile plastered on my face. — "So that's a win, huh, weirdo?" Nick's voice broke down my fantasies in less than a second. I growled and faced him.

    "Don't you have better things to do?" I sighed, walking past him by the double front door of the visitors' hotel.

    "Nope" he shrugged with a smirk I could easily slap out of his face. "Do you think he's into younger or older girls? Do you think he's into girls at all?"

    "Can you just shut up and move on with your life?" I shut the door closed behind me, heading to our room.

    "Will you be seeing him tomorrow?" Nick continued, following closely.

    "Nicholas, cut it off"

    "Woah there, no need to get personal. I hope you're not as stubborn with Owen boy."

    "Nick!"