Page 27 of Olivia’s Only Pretending (Sweet River #3)

Nineteen

Me

Victor, I took Watson to the vet! I think something bit his paw. Meet me there when you can.

W atson was limping along in the parking lot of Pawsitively Perfect Veterinary Clinic, trying to avoid using his right front paw, which he had curled close to his chest. We were not going to make much progress, both of us walking. I finally slung my purse over my back and scooped him into my arms.

He was a big, heavy golden retriever, even for only around a year old. I wobbled into the office, out of breath after fighting with the door.

“Oh, hi there,” the front desk receptionist greeted me with a sympathetic head tilt. “Is everything okay?”

“No,” I said, as Watson placed his paws on either of my shoulders.

“His name is Watson. He’s a patient here.

We were on a walk only half an hour ago, and he was sniffing in the grass and pawing at something, then jolted back.

Now he can’t stand on his right paw.” I reached for the paw to hold it up. “See?”

The clerk stepped out from behind the front desk to examine Watson’s paw.

I glanced around the clinic. It was a slow day, only one woman with tight blonde curls in the waiting room, with a sleeping cat on her lap.

“I’m Joanne, by the way,” the receptionist said as she walked back toward the office. “Watson, here, seems to have been bitten, but it looks manageable. Dr. Sanders can see him right away and get him all fixed up.” She started clicking on her computer keyboard. “And what’s your name and address?”

Oh. She probably thinks I’m his owner. My palms began to sweat. What if they wouldn’t see Watson without his owner present? What if they took him back there but wouldn’t let me go with him? He’d be so scared.

I was one of his favorite people now.

“He’s probably registered here under Victor Hernandez’s name and address on Cherry Avenue.

Victor’s the one who always brings him to his appointments.

” I swallowed. I knew the next words out of my mouth were ridiculous, but I said them anyway.

“But I’m Watson’s co-owner. I’m engaged to Watson’s dad, Victor, so I’m basically his mom. ”

If this was an odd way to put it, Joanne wasn’t fazed. She brushed a strand of her dark brown hair behind her ear. “Yes, I see your fiancé’s information here.”

My fiancé. I could hear Victor howling with laughter in the back of my mind.

My ring finger felt cold and bare as we wrapped up Watson’s intake form.

Why did I tell a lie that could be so easily disproven by one glance at my finger? I followed the nurse to an exam room, chastising myself for being dishonest.

But, as I rubbed behind Watson’s furry golden ear while he nervously nuzzled his nose against me, I did feel like his dog mom.

And I felt like more than Victor’s best friend.

I felt this even stronger while I discussed Watson with the vet and comforted him during the exam. I was so much more than Victor’s pal or renovation buddy. I discovered I knew more about their little life than I’d realized as I answered the vet’s questions.

We were about to discuss his recovery plans when there was a knock at the door. Quickly, it swung open.

“Mr. Hernandez, here’s your fiancée and Watson with Dr. Sanders,” Joanna said, her polka-dot scrubs rustling as she gestured toward us.

“My fiancée.” Victor’s eyebrow shot up, a grin spreading. Then his eyes fell on Watson. He hurried over to him as he said, “And my poor injured boy!”

“It looks like he found a garter snake by the river that bit him. It’s non-venomous, but I’ve cleaned it up and was talking through antibiotic cream options to ensure it doesn’t get infected,” Dr. Sanderson said from his spot on the silver rolling chair, his glasses sliding down his nose as he looked up at Victor.

Victor ran a hand through his messy curls. He had on his construction work clothes—a white T-shirt and baggy, torn jeans. “Is there anything we should look out for over the next few days?”

The we instead of I wasn’t lost on me.

“Yeah, I shared a list there in Miss Rhodes’s hands.” He gestured to the typed list I was holding. “Monitor any swelling, redness, limping. You two can call us if you have any questions at all.”

“Can we still walk him or play with him? Does he need to rest?” he asked.

“Let him rest today and then watch him over the next couple days. You can let him take the lead. I gave him a painkiller that might make him drowsy tonight,” Dr. Sanderson said.

“If you’d like, I can order a prescription for you to give him if he starts to show signs of pain again over the next couple days? ”

Victor looked at me, his brow furrowed, head cocked. “What do you think, Liv?”

I’d expected to be brushed aside once Victor arrived, but instead, it appeared we were making these decisions together.

I glanced down at Watson. His paw was still up against his chest as he sat on the exam bed, nervously panting. “He did seem to be in a lot of pain. Couldn’t hurt to have them on hand just in case. If he’s fine, we just won’t use them.”

Victor nodded. “Yeah, that’s the right idea. We don’t want you in pain, do we, bud?”

I reached my hand toward Victor’s shoulder, giving it a small squeeze, but then I remembered I was trying to refrain from touching. My hand dropped back to my side.

I tried to focus back on the appointment as we wrapped up, but the way my heart pulled to Victor like he was a crackling fire and I was just so dang cold without him was all too apparent with these new boundaries in place.

T he door swung closed behind us as we exited the veterinary clinic with a sleepy, drugged Watson in Victor’s arms.

“Well, fiancée , you may have taken this charade a bit far now.”

“I did have Joanne add my information to Watson’s account,” I admitted with a wince. The parking lot was still pretty empty and quiet. The air was cool with the sky darkening.

“I mean, it’s not a bad idea,” he said.

We exchanged a glance before bursting out laughing as we approached his truck. He tucked Watson into the backseat of his truck.

“How’ve you been, Rhodes?” Victor asked.

A couple days had passed since our last check-in. I felt filled to the brim with things to share with him.

“Give me the work update?”

“Well, I’m still stuck on my new class. I’ve been daydreaming about basing it around something a student said to me during office hours—about the romance book club.”

“A hit with the kids.”

“Says the young buck.” I chuckled. “It would be fun to explore history through the lenses of romantic literature through the ages. My mind’s been running away with ideas since that meeting.”

“If your mind is running with it, that’s a sign, Liv.” Victor leaned his shoulder against his driver’s side door, tan arms crossed over his chest.

I shook my head. “It’s not at all how I envisioned this next step in my career going. It’s a little risky. I’m not sure what the department chatt?—”

Victor broke through my storm clouds like a warm ray of sunshine. “Remember why you’re doing this?”

I blinked.

“Your students. Not your career expectations or timelines, or even your department—it’s about the students. That’s who you spend ninety percent of your time talking about when we talk about work.”

I could still see how Chloe’s face lit up when she let the literature infuse the history lesson. How it got her an A.

“I say, run with the daydream.” Victor shrugged casually, but his voice was rough with emotion.

“Speaking of daydreams.” I walked closer to him. Watson was snoring loudly inches away in the truck’s backseat. “I need to see a picture of the wedding arch. I was told you would send me a picture, and you still haven’t.”

He closed his eyes and let out a breath. “It’s not ready.”

“Not ready?” I cocked my head to the side. “Is this like an artist thing? Can’t-show-it-until-it’s-done thing?”

He set his eyes on me. My arms felt nearly bare where he’d usually have grabbed them in playful annoyance.

“It’s more of a terrified-to-show-my-work thing.”

“But it’s me.” I pressed a hand to my heart.

He chewed on his lip. “Yes, it’s you . I probably care the most what you think.”

A breath hitched in my throat. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “It’s me , the girl who loves everything you make.”

Victor ran a hand through his mess of waves. I reached up, grabbing his wrist without thinking, and pulled him a step toward me.

“I don’t have to see it to know it’s going to be one of Emma and Gabriel’s favorite parts of their wedding—because everything you make is my new favorite thing ever. Victor Hernandez is the most talented carpenter. Everything he makes is magic.”

“Magic.” He fought a grin.

“Magic.”

He took a deep breath in and out, then pulled his hand from mine to pull out his cell phone. “Man, your speeches always work on me.”

“Yay.” I clapped my hands eagerly.

He held his phone in front of me, open to a photo of the wedding arch.

Two teakwood triangles overlapped one another.

The smaller, wider triangle and the narrower triangle both shared a space in the center, both together, both separate.

Breathless, I zoomed in to see how he’d already begun his trademark engraving details—little vines of ivy.

I glanced up to find his eyes warm on me, studying my face as if my words were critical to him. A remedy he’d been waiting for.

“Like I said, magic,” I said, my voice tender at the core.

He sighed deeply. His relief was palpable.

“Get ready, buddy. Your inbox is going to be flooded with requests after the wedding guests see this. It’s …” I looked at the picture again. “It’s truly beautiful.”

A car rolled past us in the parking lot. Watson’s tail wagged in his sleep. He cleared his throat. “Thank you. But there’s still some work to be done.”

“I’d use it at my own wedding as is.”

The air went still. My wedding. I tried to imagine asking Victor to build an arch for my wedding to another man. The idea made me sick.

I tried to imagine him at my wedding just as a guest. Him sitting in the pew, that familiar smile on his face as I stood hand in hand with someone else. My heart collapsed in my chest.

Everything between us had grown so gray, muddled, and murky.

“Whatever you need, Liv,” Victor said, sliding his hands into his pockets.

“For you, too, you know?” I gave his shoulder a gentle shove. Because apparently, I couldn’t keep my hands off this man.

“I know,” he said, eyes twinkling. “You’re my biggest fan.”

I wanted to ask him about his job with city management. I wanted to ask about the hectic Hernandez wedding planning. I wanted to hear if he’d watched the latest episode of our favorite show and hear all his controversial opinions.

But the sun was disappearing from the sky far too quickly.

My stomach growled loudly.

Victor glanced at me with a knowing smirk. “You’re hungry, Liv,” he said. “You should head home.”

I wanted to ask him to come over and order a pizza with me. Put on one of our shows. Fall back into our usual rhythm. But our rhythm was lost in that muddled gray.

I was sure pizza and late-night chats were not within our new boundaries.

“I’m okay,” I lied.

“Nah, you should go eat some food. I should go pick up Watson’s prescriptions, anyway. Thanks again for being such a good fake fiancée and dog mom today. You rushed him straight to care, didn’t hesitate at all. I really appreciate it.”

“I love him.”

“He loves you, too,” he said, sliding into his driver’s seat.

I slowly dragged my feet over to my own car, the weight of unspoken things weighing heavily on me. Victor didn’t start his own engine until after I’d started mine and pulled out of the parking space, waiting for me like he always did.

I was confused about a lot when it came to Victor Hernandez, but a couple of things were achingly clear. How much I hated saying goodbye to him. And if I got him alone anytime soon, I’d probably kiss him again.