Page 20 of Anyone But Me

Even though work only got harder, my next week passed by much more easily than the first since the meals were already prepared.

When the following Sunday rolled around, Jax and I cooked together again, making my third week of work easier as well.

When I left work that Friday, I was feeling strangely refreshed, so I decided to take a walk through the city.

I studied each building I passed and did a double-take when I noticed an animal rescue. The smart thing would have been to keep walking, but my feet had other plans and carried me inside.

I had barely stepped in the door when a young guy with curly brown hair, who couldn’t have been much over twenty, ran over to greet me. “Hey, Ma’am. How may I help you? Are you interested in adopting?”

I nodded, because I figured it would seem strange if I was there and had no interest in adopting, which I obviously didn’t. I was much too busy to take care of an animal.

“That’s great! Did you fill out our adoption paperwork online?”

I shook my head and looked back toward the exit. What the hell am I doing right now?

If the guy noticed my trepidation, he certainly wasn’t showing it. “No problem at all. Why don’t we take a look at the animals first? That way you don’t waste your time giving us a bunch of information if none of these little cuties feel like a fit for you.”

“S-sure. That sounds great.” Must.escape.now.

The guy turned and faced me, walking backward as he led me down a long hallway. “My name is Trent, by the way.”

I pointed my finger against my chest before I could find my voice. “I’m Carter.”

“Nice to meet you, Carter. What kind of animal are you looking for today?”

“Huh?” I still couldn’t even comprehend what I was doing here or why I hadn’t left yet.

“Dog? Cat? That’s mostly what we have, but we also have a few bunnies and even a chinchilla.”

“Dog.” The word was out of my mouth before I even realized what I was saying.

Trent clapped his hands together as if my answer was very exciting for him. “That’s wonderful. We have a lot of really great pups here that could use a good home.”

I’m sure they could, but unfortunately, that’s not going to be mine. This was fine. I was sure people came here every day without any intention of actually buying an animal. I would look around and I’d leave. No harm done.

At least, that’s how I expected it to go until we walked into the room lined with cages, and every single dog in the room stared at me with their big puppy dog eyes as if they were putting a spell on me and summoning me to take them home.

One dog in particular caught my eye. His cage was all the way on the end, and he was the only dog in the whole place who hadn’t stood up when I walked in the room.

He was watching me like all the others, but he didn’t go through the trouble of pushing up against the cage to get my attention.

He didn’t need to. He had my attention without doing any of that, because he looked so much like the dog I had when I was little.

I didn’t remember a ton about Patch since he died when we were still pretty young, but my moms had plenty of pictures of him, and this dog was a spitting image of him.

If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought it was him.

He was tan and white, and according to the sign on his cage, around twelve pounds.

I instinctively walked over to his cage and put my hand against the bar as I stared in at him. “What kind of dog is this?” I asked Trent.

“Definitely partly Pomeranian. He’s mixed with a few other things, but I’m honestly not sure what.

His name is Speck. He’s a great dog. Completely potty trained to either go outside or use one of those indoor grass mats that so many people in the city have.

He doesn’t chew. He doesn’t bite. Pretty perfect, honestly.

Poor thing’s been here for over a year.”

“ What? ” My eyes shot over to Trent to see if he was kidding, but the forlorn look on his face told me he wasn’t. “How is that even possible?”

Trent sighed and lifted his shoulders, before letting them drop.

“He’s six and a half. His owner died unexpectedly a little over a year ago and no one in his family wanted a dog.

Unfortunately, most people who come to a rescue are looking for a puppy.

As morbid as it sounds, they want a dog who will last longer. ”

I could feel my heart splitting in my chest. I didn’t understand how anyone could look at this ridiculously cute face and not fall in love immediately. “What happens if no one adopts him?”

“I guess he’ll live out the rest of his days here. Luckily, this is a no-kill shelter, so he’ll get to live his full life.”

His full life stuck in a cage surrounded by animals getting taken home to their forever families. “I’ll take him.”

The words were out before I could stop them, but I oddly didn’t regret them.

This dog needed a home, and I needed to buy something on a whim.

Plus, having a furry companion would probably help to keep me from latching on to Jax even more.

The fact that I was looking for companionship was most likely the reason for my confusing feelings. This was the perfect solution.

“Really?” Trent sounded so giddy with excitement, it confirmed my decision even more.

He clapped his hands together and did a little jump.

“This is so great. I just need to have you fill out the adoption application, which our system should hopefully immediately approve. If it doesn’t, barring anything particularly worrisome, I should be able to override it. ”

He led me back to the lobby, leaving Speck behind, but promising him that we would be right back.

He went behind the desk and pulled out an iPad, which he hit a few buttons on before handing to me.

“It’s kind of a lot, but I promise it’ll be worth it.

Once that’s approved, all you’ll have to do is sign a few things and Speck is all yours. ”

I grabbed the iPad and took a seat across the room.

It took almost a half hour for me to complete the form, but seconds after submitting it, a message popped up telling me I was approved.

I gave the iPad back to Trent, who hit a few more buttons, then had me sign it in multiple different places.

It was hard to keep up with everything he was telling me, but I did catch that I had thirty days to return him and get half of my adoption fee back, which turned out to only be one-hundred-fifty dollars.

There was no way I was going to return him, but it was nice that they offered that.

Less than an hour and a half after walking in the door with no plans of actually adopting, I was leaving with Speck and a bag full of toys and food.

I moved the bag onto my shoulder and used my hand that wasn’t holding Speck’s leash to take out my phone and send Jax a text.

Jax—the girl I really should have asked before getting a dog that would live with both of us.

I had never seen Jax mad, but I hoped this wasn’t the time it happened.

Carter: So, I kind of did something crazy. I hope you’re not mad…

Jax: Mad?! Definitely not. I love crazy.

Carter: Okay… but this is CRAZY!

Jax: I’m intrigued ;)

Jax: SO, WHAT IS IT?!!!!

Carter: Are you home?

Jax: Yes!!

Carter: I’ll be there in about fifteen

Jax: YOU’RE MAKING ME WAIT?!

Carter: Patience…

Jax: Can I get a hint?

Carter: I fulfilled a list item

Three little bubbles appeared and disappeared a bunch of times before Jax’s next response finally came through.

Jax: I’m going to be really disappointed if I find out you DIDN’T skinny dip in a puddle in Times Square…

Instead of responding, I put my phone back in my pocket and continued the trek back to my apartment with my dog. My dog. Holy shit. What was I thinking?

Once I was outside of the apartment building, I hoisted Speck into my arms and carried him inside.

We rode up the elevator with him in my arms, and when we arrived at my floor, I situated him somewhat behind my back.

I used my foot to knock on the door, and when Jax opened it, I pulled out Speck from behind my back.

Jax’s eyes went wide as soon as they landed on Speck.

“Holy shit! You got a dog?” She threw her head back in laughter.

“Out of all the things I thought you might have done, I can honestly say this one never crossed my mind.” She reached out her arms and grabbed Speck away from me, immediately hugging him tightly against her chest. “Is he ours?”

Ours. That word had my heart practically beating out of my chest. “Well, I technically own him and will be taking responsibility for him, but yes, he will be living with us. That is, if it’s okay with you.

I know this was a pretty stupid thing to do to fulfill buying something on a whim , but when I saw his cute little face, I couldn’t help myself. I really hope I didn’t piss you off.”

The way Jax laughed as Speck placed kisses all over her face told me she most likely wasn’t pissed off, but I had to make sure.

“Pissed? No way. He’s adorable. Sucks that the apartment doesn’t allow pets, though.”

Fuck . Now my heart was beating fast for a completely different reason. Why didn’t I think of that? I was sure Jax would say we should keep him and hide him away, but we couldn’t do that. What if they found out? What if…

Jax interrupted my internal freakout when she broke into a boisterous laugh. “Carter… I was kidding. There is a dog like two doors down from us. Don’t you hear it barking all the time?”

Of course I did. I also saw dogs in the lobby on multiple occasions, but my anxiety didn’t allow me to think rationally when I was worried. I took a deep breath, and while I was blowing it out, I started to laugh and couldn’t stop. “I hope you know how much I hate you,” I said between laughter.

Jax held Speck up so their faces were touching and pushed out her bottom lip. “You can’t hate us. We’re so cute.”