JOYRIDE*

"Jesus!" Gigi gasped, practically flying back a few feet at the rustling sound beside her. Her fingers latched onto her pink pochette in minutes, fishing around for her bedazzled mace. She would've nailed her assailant in the eyes too if she hadn't registered in the last fleeting second that her assailant wasn't, in fact, an attacker, but Sawyer Grady of all people. "Stalker much?" She exclaimed as she moved to put her pepper spray back away in her bag. "I could've maced you. You were almost maced in the face," She huffed.

He had caught her in a rare sight. Her typically overly curated appearance was more relaxed than usual. Her hair had been swept up into a loose bun. Pink athleisure shorts hung low on her hips, her heels had been swapped out for a more comfortable pair of pink wedged flip-flops, and she had been walking her dog outside without her wings out or her chair for a change. She figured the chances of her being at risk of being rained out or splashed with water from some unsuspecting resident were low given how quickly she was planning to be in and out of the house. But the moment her eyes settled in on the familiar blonde, she unfurled her wings from her back, thankful to have worn her white cherry cami so that she could quickly do so. And she didn't seem to be the only one who had been caught off guard. Her American Cocker Spaniel started growling Grady's way from where poor little Lady was still shaking in the grass. "Yeah, get him Lady," She grumbled under her breath as Gigi's eyes finally swept over Sawyer's disheveled state from where he had come around the side of her neighbor's house, and she found herself making even more of a face. "Oh god! Don't tell me. Are you fucking my neighbor?!"

"What in the sam hill-" Late-night runs were one of the few small luxuries Sawyer had found in Lunar Cove. Sawyer thought the transition from a life in the fast lane to the mundane was going to be an excruciating one. There were moments when it had been. The fiery turmoil of losing everything all at once. Pieces he had yet to pick up and just placed in a box under his bed, labeled for later. Then there were moments like this, before the screeching he just encountered, when the soft summer heat brushed his skin, and the world around him felt small. No screaming fans were bombarding him or paparazzi chasing him. It was just Sawyer. His only company was the stars in the sky and the lightning bugs coming out to dance in the dark.

Leave it to his peace being interrupted by Gigi. "Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart, I wasn't stalkin' you." Happened to him a couple of times, and he wasn't a fan of it. "Heaven forbid! Whatever would I do if you maced me? I hate to tell you this, but there are worse things in life than getting maced." He said in a very matter-of-fact tone, if only to push Gigi's buttons. "Now, if you stabbed me, well, that would be worse, but you'd fear more for those gaudy shoes than me."

The blonde head tilted as Gigi's wings came into view. He hated the way he felt a tug at his heart. The shape reminded him of his mother's wings. The feeling left just as fast as it had come on. It felt weird to think Gigi's wings reminded him of home; the thought made him shiver. His arms crossed in front of his chest as he looked down at the dog with a raised brow. "Calm down, Miss Priss, I come in peace." One hand came up to be held in faux defense, though the gesture was half-hearted. He had little concern over the dog's bite; its bark hardly struck fear. "You'd be so lucky, wouldn't you? No, I'm not. I'm just jogging. I was having a peaceful time, actually, until someone got all jumpy. If you wanted my attention so badly, you could've gotten it in other ways that didn't involve lightly veiled threats."