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Stiles knew it was weird. He knew he was weird. But if it worked…
Old Mrs Halliday was lucky to still be walking, all of Beacon Hills knew this. Which meant her little shit of a dog, Sherbert, wasn’t being walked as often as she should have been. Which also meant that if Stiles offered to walk the dog for her, she’d probably be grateful.
It was a public service, really.
Keeping the old folks in town happy meant they spent less time complaining about the boring stuff. That meant his dad wouldn’t have to deal with as many noise complaints and neighbourly feuds. If anything, walking Sherbert would help the sheriff get to a real crime much faster, and even save someone’s life! Stiles wasn’t self-serving at all, he was a goddamn hero.
*
“GOOD MORNING, MRS HALLIDAY!” Stiles tried for charming, but loud charming, ‘cause she was old.
“Sheesh, good morning, Mr Stilinski! I’m not deaf you know, though I might be now!” Yep, she was charmed already. “Is everything alright? How is the sheriff? He’s okay?”
Stiles smiled apologetically, “Sorry about that, Mrs Halliday. You have great acoustics on this porch though! And yeah, dad’s fine, the usual, off sheriffing and stuff. Say, I was just taking a walk ‘cause it’s such a beautiful day and I remembered Sherbert. Would Sherbert like to accompany me? I bet she’d like some fresh air.” He paused and took a breath, ready to keep trying to convince her as well as he could.
Mrs Halliday held up her hands to stop him speaking further and cackled loudly, “You are an odd one, son. No wonder your father is so quiet, I bet he can never get a word in edgeways! Though you’re right, Sherbert sure could use some exercise. How much? I assume that’s what you’re angling toward here, right?”
“Oh! No! Of course not! No, I wouldn’t charge you. I just know you’re not as, uh, well, able-bodied as you once were. And Sherbert has always been such a good girl, I thought I’d do something nice for her.” He smiled again, leaning against the doorway. Suddenly he was frowning and rubbing his hands on his chinos when some of the pastel green paint chipped off.
The old woman looked at him sharply, equal parts intelligence and sass in her watery blue eyes. “Well that’s very kind of you, Mr Stilinski. I’d say she wouldn’t mind a stroll, let me find her leash. In the meantime, how about you come on in and let me tell you about my rose bushes. How fast can you prune?”
*
Twenty minutes later, with a few more scrapes on his forearms than when he arrived, Stiles had the tiny fluff ball on the end of a purple rhinestone leash. Step one, complete. Achievement unlocked! For a small dog though, Sherbert sure seemed to be walking him.
He turned down his own street, and made sure to stroll by leisurely enough to give his new neighbour enough time to spot him. Hottie McHotStuff was washing his Camaro, his white tank wet and sheer in some places. Glorious places. They made quick eye contact and Stiles smiled, and continued walking past.
*
One week and seven walks with Sherbert later, and they’d graduated from eye contact and smiles to small waves and short greetings. This was it.
Sexy McBonerMaker stood at the edge of his garden watering some type of fern with a look that made Stiles wonder if the plant had personally offended him.
When Sherbet let out an angry yip because the leash wouldn’t allow her to investigate a lamppost a few feet away, Mr VeryNiceButt looked up from his garden bed and the two men made eye contact again. The eighth time, by Stiles’ count.
Stiles walked up to his crush, the man who’d occupied all of his fantasies for the last two weeks, finally.
“Hi!”
“Oh, hi.” Ohmygod up close he was even more blindingly handsome.
“I’m Stiles. And this,” he gestured to the cute pain in the ass at his feet, “is Sherbert.”
“Derek. She’s cute.” Derek bent down to pet her curly white fur and she lapped up the attention like she was starved for it. “Good girl! What kind of dog is she? Some kind of terrier?”
“You know what, I have no idea. She’s not even my dog. I’m just walking her.”
“Oh? Are you a dog walker then? I’ve seen you both a few times.” Those eyebrows seemed to do a lot of the talking for Derek.
Stiles’ smile grew wider. “No, nothing like that. I just read an article online that said that having a cute pet or baby can help attract babes and get a date.”
Derek laughed, throwing his head back to show the long line of his throat, leading from that beautiful face to that equally beautiful body. “Does that actually work?”
Stiles smirked and replied, suave as anything. “I dunno, does it?”
...It did.