Her Possessive VET || COMPLETED||✔

20

Donovan

One week later

“You’ve got somebody in the lobby with a question about puppies,” my assistant says.

“Sure.  Can you tell her I’ll be right there?”

“It’s a man, and I’ll tell him.”

“My bad.  Thank you, Summer.”

She leaves and I wonder why I automatically assumed it was a woman.  Maybe it’s because my mind is constantly on my woman these days.  Or maybe it’s the fact that I feel like I’m having all these thoughts that I never thought were masculine.

I just imagine us traveling all around the world, maybe doing something with animals at the same time, and just living our best lives.  Our best lives?  What’s wrong with me?  I sound like an Instagram quote and I’ve never even had that app.

And recently I’m having a hard time at work applying myself.  Sure, I’m doing my job and everything is running smoothly, but I don’t even feel like I’m here, at least not mentally.  I’m with her all the time.

Now I need to focus, and use the depths of my mental capacity to figure out how I’m going to smooth things over with her dad…assuming he blows his lid when he finds out.

It’s been a week already and I haven’t said anything to him.  I can’t do this behind his back.  It’s wrong for me and it’s wrong for her.  The last thing I need is to drive a stake between them.  She’s my family now, but she’ll always be his little girl.  I respect that and I need to figure out a way not to disturb and disrespect that.

I step out of my office and into the lobby, my clipboard nearly falling from my hands when I see the man Summer was speaking about.

“Hey Doug,” I say, extending my hand to Delaney’s dad.  “What’s up, bro?”

His eyebrow raises, but his hand doesn’t.  It’s just dangling there by his side with no intention of coming up to meet mine.

“Heard you had a question about puppies,” I say, completely avoiding the awkwardness of the moment as I pull my hand back.

“Yeah, they’re known to fall in and out of love, you know.  Fleeting.”

“I think that’s just a term that’s applied to people.”

“Because it’s true, especially when the weather heats up and people start acting like damn fools.”

“Not all of them.”

His eyes narrow as his body leans in closer to me although his feet stay put.  “You…sure about that…bro?”

I breathe in deep realizing that I don’t need to plan for this moment any longer…because it’s already here.  Now.

“How about we step outside.  If you want to talk about the birds and the bees and all that stuff.”

“So we’ve moved on from puppy love straight to the birds and the bees, huh?”

I move past Doug, but he side steps and blocks me.  I’ve had enough now.  “Outside, Doug,” I say between gritted teeth.

He doesn’t move so I brush past him, feeling the stares on my back as I push through the front door.

This is the moment I’m glad I don’t wear a vet’s coat, because I could never find one that fit me.  If I did, it would be coming off right now, sure as rain.

I step out the front door and on to the grass and take my stance.

When you’ve been friends with someone as long as Doug and I have there’s no point in pretending you don’t know what’s going to happen next.  It doesn’t matter if you’re five years old or I’m thirty-nine and he’s forty-two like we are today.  This is going to get settled just like the first time we met on a sports field.