Chasing Ivy (Oak Hill 1)

His dark brows furrowed and he bit his lip. The blank expression on his face told me that he had no idea what I was mumbling about.

I grabbed his hand, ignoring the stupid, giddy feeling inside my body and pulled him towards my house. We basically ended up jogging our way over there, me pretending that my feet didn’t hurt from running on the sidewalk and him questioning what the heck I was doing.

“Ivy, what’s going on?” he demanded the second we got to the bottom stair of my porch.

Mia was sitting on the porch, completely content with the fact that my house was literally flooded. It was actually almost funny.

“Ivy!” Dawson said again, but I just pulled him up further into my house.

He muttered, “What the fuck,” as we maneuvered through the living room and down the hall.

“Wet,” I croaked and he took in the spraying water with wide eyes.

Dawson quickly went into action. He took in the situation calmly (unlike me) and ran out of the bathroom into my living room, intently searching for something. He found what he needed and ran over to the toolbox that the workers had left. I had told them they could keep it there instead of dragging it in and out of my house every day, and I was thankful because Dawson grabbed what I guessed may have been a wrench, and ran out the front door to my small front yard.

I followed him briskly and watched as he lifted some lid-thing that was in the grass and lowered his long-limbed body down onto the ground. He took his one hand holding the wrench and shoved it down into the hole.

I heard the water stop spraying instantly and I had never been more confused in my entire life. So, that’s how you turn the water off? Some hole in my front yard? Who would’ve guessed?

I also had never been more aroused in my entire life. Dawson’s entire bare chest was glistening with water, and the way his muscles moved so languidly with the tool, I was pretty sure I’d gone to heaven. Picture Michael Phelps emerging from an Olympic pool, swishing out his damp hair, and his very toned torso shining with little beads of water. Just replace the speedo with low-rise jeans and boom – perfect visual.

If I died right now, I think I’d be okay with it. Wet house and all.

“What the hell happened?” Dawson asked, walking up to my porch and heading back into my house.

I followed after him, my wet feet slapping on the slippery floor.

Before I even made it into the living room, I’d slipped and fallen. I almost wanted to say “Ta-da!” after I fell because that’s how graceful the fall was, but the sudden tear of my groin muscle had me spewing a line of curse words instead.

Dawson flipped around quickly, his eyes wide. I fell onto my back, stunned because I was pretty sure I heard the ripping of my muscle.

Loud laughter came from behind me and I tilted my head back, my hair sliding on the floor. I stared up at my sister, who was laughing so hard her face looked like a freaking tomato.

“Shut up,” I grumbled, trying to sit up. A small grin formed on my face and before I knew it, I was laughing too.

Mia had one of those laughs that resembled a hyena (that was, when she truly thought something was funny. I’d heard her laugh in front of a cute boy before and it did not sound anything like it did right now). I reached my hand up, still laughing, and let Mia pull me to my feet.

“Seriously, that actually hurt. I think I ripped my vagina muscle.” My eyes grew large because with my back turned, I’d forgotten that Dawson was only a few feet behind me.

Mia’s mouth gaped and then she laughed even harder, her entire body shaking in front of me.

“How is it possible that you’ve become even more clumsy over the years, Ivy?”

I slowly turned around, still embarrassed, and smiled innocently up at Dawson.

“It’s a gift.”

The apples of his cheeks lifted as he threw his head back to laugh. I stared at him, basking in how my heart lifted at the sound of it. He had a nice laugh. Like you didn’t even have to know what he was laughing at to join in.

“Okay, before I ask what the hell happened to your house, are you okay? I wouldn’t want to overlook the fact that your vagina muscle may be injured.”

My face flamed.

Was he flirting?! God, this is taking me back to high school when I couldn’t decipher between him flirting with me and him just being… Dawson.

I coughed, clearing my throat. I nudged Mia with my elbow when she snickered. “I’m fine, and I don’t know what happened to the house. I came home and water was everywhere.”

Dawson rolled his eyes and then mumbled, “Fucking idiots.”