Page 11 of Maybe, Probably (Love Me, Maybe #1)

There’s something on his snout. He’s moving too fast for me to get a good look, but when he circles around behind me, he angles his head down and uses his front paw to scrub at his face.

Crouching down to try and get a better look at his face, I softly say his name.

I manage to get his head up and see half his snout covered in porcupine quills.

“Oh my God, Winnie! Look at your face!” He makes a smacking noise and it’s then I notice porcupine quills in his mouth too. “Oh Jesus, okay. Come on my boy, let's get you out of here. Oh my God, we need to get you to a vet.”

I hook him back up to his leash and begin to race back to the car but that seems futile, as Winnie continues to stop and paw at his face.

Without thinking it through, I pick him up and make my way back to the car as fast as I can.

I haven’t even figured out a vet for Winnie yet.

Why didn’t I do this sooner? God I’m such an idiot. There has to be something close by.

As soon as Winnie is into the back of the car and situated, I jump into the driver's seat, pulling out my phone. I search “vets near me” in Google, and get a couple options. I choose the first one I see and press call.

It rings three times before someone on the other side answers. “Hawthorne Creature Clinic, my name is Todd. How can I help you today?”

“Hi there, I’m sorry to bother you. My dog just got attacked by a porcupine.

We aren’t a client, but you’re the closest vet clinic from where we are.

Do you offer emergency services? Or is there any way we could see someone today?

” I rush out. I’m not even confident that I have taken a breath since Todd picked up.

“Oh my! The poor thing! Let me just look to see if we can squeeze you!” He puts me on hold, and my knee bounces while I wait.

After what feels like forever, the receptionist returns.

“Good news! We can fit you in today, why don’t you make your way over, and we will get you all situated with everything once you get here!

I just need your name and your dog's name.”

Sighing with relief, I reply. “Yes of course!

My name's Harper Beckett and my dog is Winnie! I should be there in about twenty minutes! Thank you so much!” I end the call then turn the car on.

I put the location into my GPS and make my way over to the vet clinic.

I can hear Winnie pacing in the back seat, with the occasional whimper coming from him.

Poor guy must be in so much pain with all those needles in his snout.

“It’s okay buddy, we’re going to get you some help right now.”

Fifteen minutes later we’re pulling up to a little farmhouse.

It’s gorgeous. Though, it could use a little TLC.

As cute as the house is, I'm assuming that this isn’t the clinic.

Following around the driveway to the other side of the house, I see what looks to be a barn.

As I get closer though, I spot the sign Hawthorne Creature Clinic .

Thank God I’m at the right place and didn’t just drive into someone's property. That would have been embarrassing.

I park quickly and get Winnie out. Cold air rushes over my face as Winnie and I push inside.

The barn’s interior is a drastic change from the rustic exterior.

The muted colors of the office interior is just like any other– rows of chairs, a line of doors down one side, and people waiting.

Along the walls are cute black and white photos accompanied by a row of doors.

I assume those are the examination rooms, and across from the doors is the seating area.

Walking up to the front desk I’m greeted with a friendly smile. “Hi there! Welcome to Hawthorne Creature Clinic , do you have an appointment?” I look down at their name tag and see the name Todd labeled on there, in slightly smaller font underneath it says they/them .

“Uh hey, yes. I called about twenty minutes ago regarding my dog Winnie.”

“Oh yes!” They reply and stand up to look over the desk and pouts when they see the condition of Winnie.

“Oh you poor baby! Okay, I just need you to walk him over to the scale behind you so we can get his weight and then I’ll show you to the room.

” They point to the scale and I walk him over.

“Okay, looks like he is forty kilos. I have this form I need you to fill out, but you can do that while you’re waiting for Dr. Hawthorne.

” They motion their arm toward the second door and I follow behind them into the examination room.

After thanking them, they hand me the clipboard and shut the door .

The exam room is orderly with its metal table and a chair off to the side.

The room has a sterile feel and smell, but that’s a good thing for a vet’s office.

I sit down in the chair and start to fill out the information form.

I am so thankful I decided to keep the pet insurance the shelter offered, because it will help with some of this bill.

Winnie is laying in between my legs. He’s nervous, which is understandable.

He’s in pain, I took him to this strange building and I’m sure everything smells funny to him.

I give him a few pats on his head, avoiding any quills, and then continue filling out the form. I’m so consumed with all the questions, I don’t even realise the door opens until I hear the most soothingly, deep voice.

“I heard that we lost a fight with a porcupine today.” The vet walks in looking at his tablet, which I'm assuming has Winnie's basic information on it. He looks up at me, and I freeze.

No.

There is no way.

Because the man standing in front of me is no other than Xavier. Dalton’s new girlfriend's hot brother. He’s the man who is going to be taking care of my dog.

I’m sure I look like a fool sitting here staring at him with wide eyes. He raises an eyebrow, expectantly.

Shit. I should introduce myself.

“Hi!” I say as I stand up, “Yes, he most certai—” My sentence is interrupted as I topple forward. I was so flustered, I forgot that Winnie was resting between my legs, and as I stood up to shake his hand I completely tripped over my dog.

Everything happens in slow motion, and there’s absolutely nothing I could do to avoid what’s about to happen. Horror and panic wash over me as the hand that I intended to use to shake his drops to the front of his pants. I basically grab his crotch as I fall to the ground.

I let Jesus take the wheel and accept my fate of face planting on the floor. The floor never comes though, because suddenly I am suspended above the ground. My foot flies forward to balance myself better as strong hands grip my shoulders .

“Oh my God, I am so sorry,” I stammer, as I struggle to straighten myself out. Heat rushes to my face, and with my complexion, I probably look like a summer strawberry right now.

I hear a curt voice above me. “It’s fine. Really. So, tell me what happened.”

My eyes flick up to his face, and I'm met with a hard look. Deep midnight blue eyes piercing me paired with a sort of scowl on his face. Great. I’ve pissed him off. This is going so well. I start to wring my hands together, before sitting back down in my chair.

“So, we were out at the Sailors Point trail, I’ve been working on his off leash training.

On our way back, he just took off into the bush.

I tried to call him back then I just heard him yelp.

By the time I found him he was like this.

You guys were the closest place. Thank goodness you guys had an opening.

He’s the first dog I've gotten on my own.” I continue to look at my hands, knowing that the next words out of my mouth are just going to be pure word vomit.

“To be honest, I don’t know what I’m doing.

I adopted Winnie on a whim when I walked by the shelter and saw that they were having an adoption fair.

Not that I randomly decided that I was going to get a dog, I’ve been thinking about getting a dog for awhile.

My ex and I were talking about getting one.

Then that ended, but I still wanted to follow through and get a dog.

It was like fate when I came across this adoption fair.

When I saw Winnie, I just instantly connected with him.

He’s probably one of the best things to happen to me. ” I let out a big gush of air.

I’m met with silence. I haven’t looked up at him since I started rambling.

Giving myself the courage, I glance up, and what I see was not what I was expecting.

Winnie is on his back, getting tummy scratches.

If he didn’t have the obvious quills coming out of his face, you wouldn’t have guessed anything was going on with this dog. What a big baby .

But that isn’t what made me pause. What stopped me was the small smile that was on Xavier’s face when he was focusing on Winnie.

I’m amazed at how he was able to keep him calm and look at his face at the same time.

I didn’t even realize that he was checking him out.

I thought we were sitting in awkward silence at my accidental crotch grab.

“So, these don’t look too deep.” He says, snapping me out of my thought bubble.

“I’m still going to have to take him back and put him under anesthesia to get these quills out though.

It’ll allow him to be still and for me be able to take them out without possibility of any quills breaking and staying embedded.

Plus, this way he won’t react when I do it, which can cause him to tear things open more. We don’t want that.”

A million scenarios and questions run through my head.

“How long will it take?”