The Haunted_Edit Copy 4-7-17

and pressed myself up against him, reaching up to touch his face
with both hands.
At this very opportune moment, the front door swung open
beside us with an obnoxious squeal. I jumped back from Tucker
quickly and wiped the back of my hand across my mouth, trying to
clear the imaginary evidence of what we’d just been doing. When,
other than in the movies, does crap like that actually happen?
Gunner’s eyebrows were hanging out in the air above his
head with mine from earlier. “Um, sorry, I, uh, thought maybe you
forgot your key, ‘cause you were, you know, uh, standing here for
so long.” His cheeks were a shade of red I’d never seen before.
Instead of getting annoyed by the interruption, Tucker let out
a good-natured laugh. “It’s okay, man. Gunner, right? I’m Tucker.”
He held out his hand to my little brother just as he would to any
adult.
The kid shook off the awkward immediately. “Oh! Hi,
Tucker. It’s nice to meet you.” He shook hands enthusiastically.
“How did the investigation go?” His head twisted from one of us to
the next and back again, awaiting an explanation.
“Do you want to come in?” I offered. “This might take a
while.”
Tucker’s smile faltered for maybe half a second. Was he
nervous? We’d been to his house before, but never to mine. He
didn’t let it stop him if he was. He nodded. “Sure, I can hang out for
a little bit. Thank you.”
As soon as we closed the front door behind us, Trouble
rocketed out of nowhere and crashed into the newcomer’s knees. I
held up my finger as a warning for him not to bark or jump, so he
just pressed his skinny body into Tucker’s legs and panted, staring
up at me innocently.
Most people tried to avoid the hyperactive mutt, but not this
one. He immediately got on his knees and started scratching behind
Trouble’s fluffy ears. “Oh, man. You didn’t tell me you had a dog.
I love dogs. Hey, little guy. What’s his name?”
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