Chapter 14
CHARLIE
“Is he chipped?” Pete asks as Jerry waves a scanner over the back of the dog’s neck.
He managed to fit us in before the surgery opened after Pete called him this morning. If he’s surprised that we both turned up, he hides it well.
“No.” Jerry sets the scanner down and fusses the dog, setting his tail going again. “Which makes it harder to find the owners.” He pauses, then sighs. “Assuming they want him back.”
“Wankers,” Pete mutters, and he’s not wrong. Part of me wishes that this lovely, friendly dog escaped by accident. That his owners are out there looking for him right now, because the idea that he was dumped makes me feel sick.
The other part, though, the part that notices how Pete’s shoulders relax, how his fists unclench at that bit of news, hopes that this dog is abandoned. Then Pete can keep him, like I know he wants to.
It might only have been hours since we found him, but Pete’s already in love.
I’m a little jealous.
Woah, where did that thought come from?
“What’s going to happen to him?” Pete asks, and I pretend I didn’t just think that.
“Well, I haven’t heard anything about a lost dog.
I can ask around the other local practices.
See if anyone’s reported a dog missing.” He sighs and strokes the dog a little more.
“He’s not chipped. Wasn’t wearing a collar.
” He shrugs. “There are some Facebook groups you can post in. But honestly?” He runs a hand down the dog’s back.
“I don’t like our chances of finding his owners.
” He steps back and crosses his arms. “Want me to contact a local shelter?”
“No.” Pete tickles the dog under the chin. “He can stay with me until we find who he belongs to.”
“And if we don’t?” Jerry asks, but everyone in the room knows the answer to that.
“Then he can stay with me for good.” Pete’s expression softens and Jerry smirks, like he’s not at all surprised.
“Get him on the scales so we can see how much he weighs. He doesn’t have fleas, but you will need to flea and worm him soon.” He frowns at the state of his coat. “And give him a bath. I’ll give you some shampoo along with the flea and wormer.”
As Jerry and Pete try and coax the dog onto the scales with treats, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out and see Seb’s name on the screen.
Seb: Can you call me? It’s about Dan and your flat
“Problem?”
I glance up to see Pete watching me. “Not sure.” I hold my phone up. “I need to call Seb.”
He smiles, and it’s the same soft one he directed at the dog. “Go. I’ll finish up here and meet you outside.”
“Yeah, okay.” I catch Jerry glancing quickly between the two of us as I walk out. Bet he’ll start with the questions as soon as I’m out of earshot.
I call Seb as I step outside the vets.
He answers after the first ring. “Hey.”
“Hey. Is everything okay?” He must hear the edge of worry in my voice because he answers quickly.
“Yeah, sorry. Maybe more than okay.”
“What?”
“Dan’s place won’t be ready for another few days, maybe a week. He wanted me to ask you if he could stay at the flat a bit longer.”
“Fuck.” I run a hand through my hair. “I really don’t want to have to spend an hour sharing with Dan. Let alone a week. Can’t he find a hotel or something?” I feel myself scowling.
“Well, he could. Or . . .” I can hear the smile in his voice. “Maybe you could stay there for a few more days.”
Oh.
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because.”
Seb laughs. “Because what? You’ve not fallen out with Pete, have you? I thought you were finally hitting that.”
I ignore the last bit. “No, we haven’t fallen out, but . . .” But what?
“Don’t you want to stay?”
“Yeah,” I say quickly, because the past few days have been amazing. But that was with the knowledge that I was leaving on Saturday. There was an end date. Will Pete want me to stay?
I think I know the answer to that too. He’s asked me to stay the night more than once this week. It’s me who said no. I wanted to, fuck, I can’t imagine anything better than falling asleep curled around him. And that’s why I said no.
I like him.
If I share his bed, I’m going to like him a whole lot more. And I’ll still have to go home.
“Charlie?”
“Sorry, I’m still here.”
“What do I tell Dan?”
Tell him to fuck off. That’s my first thought. But then the door to the vets opens and Pete steps out with the dog, who’s now sporting a collar and lead. Pete smiles at me, and yeah . . . who the fuck am I kidding? “One sec, Seb.”
I hold the phone to my chest. “Would it be okay if I stayed in your annexe for another few days, a week at the most?” His eyebrows rise to his hairline. “Feel free to say no, obviously, but I—”
“Yes.” His smile widens until his eyes crinkle at the corners. He steps closer and my breath catches. “Please.” Then he kisses me out on the street—it’s quick and chaste—before he pulls away and gestures to his car. “Let’s go get some dog supplies. Unless you need to get back?”
“No.” I shake my head, still floored from the kiss. Apart from the tree farm, I’ve only ever kissed him at his house. This feels different somehow.
Different good though.
“Supplies?” I ask, following him to the car.
“Food, toys, a bed.” He’s grinning now, and it’s contagious.
Then I suddenly remember I was talking to Seb. “Shit.” Pete laughs as I put the phone to my ear again. “Seb?”
“Still here.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I’ve already texted Dan that he can stay longer.”
I groan. “You heard?”
“Yep.” He sighs. “Enjoy the week, Charlie.”
I’m not sure what that sigh means, and I’m not asking. “Thanks. Talk to you soon.”
We say our goodbyes.
I glance at the dog now waiting patiently at the car by Pete’s feet. “He needs a name. I can’t keep calling him dog.”
Pete bites his lip, eyes full of an uncertainty that wasn’t there a moment ago, and I suddenly feel shitty for putting it there. “What if we find his owners?” he says quietly.
“Then you’ll have to give him back. But it won’t hurt to give him a name in the meantime.” I want to reach for his hand. I second-guess it for about three seconds, then do it. His fingers tighten around mine. “And if no one claims him, then he’ll be yours.”
He rubs the back of his neck and glances at the dog. “Is it wrong that I hope no one’s looking for him?”
“No.” I edge close enough to gently bump his shoulder with mine. “Let’s not think about that now. Come on. Let’s go shopping.”
“You sure you don’t have work to get back to?”
I do, but no part of me wants to right now. “I’m sure. What about you?”
He looks sheepish. “I already texted Sadie and told her I had an emergency.” He points at the dog. “I had to send her a picture because she started to worry.”
“In that case, what are we waiting for?”
“What about Bailey?” I offer as Pete walks the dog inside, and I carry in all the shit Pete’s just bought for him.
“Nah. I had an Uncle Bailey who was a raging homophobe.”
“Ugh.” We’ve been running through names all the way back from the pet store. I’m secretly delighted that he’s letting me be a part of this. “Samson?”
He just laughs at that one.
I set the bags down on the worktop. “I don’t hear you coming up with anything.”
Pete bends down to unclip the dog’s lead and take off his collar. To the dog, he mutters, “I came up with about five on the way home, but he vetoed all of them.”
I huff out a laugh of my own. “You can’t call him George.”
“Why not?”
We both look at the dog.
“Because it doesn’t suit him.
“Mm, maybe not,” he grudgingly agrees. Then he taps his chin, brow furrowed in concentration as he absentmindedly strokes the dog. “What about Cooper?”
Oh. I actually like that one. “Yeah.” I smile as Pete’s eyes light up. “Perfect.”
“You hear that, Coop?” Cooper licks his face and Pete laughs, gently easing him back a bit. “First things first: you need a bath.”
Contrary to what I’m expecting, Cooper is so eager to get in the bath we don’t even need to use the treats Pete brought up with him. Absolutely no coaxing required. I sit on the toilet while Pete carefully massages the shampoo Jerry gave him into Cooper’s coat.
The water coming off him is filthy.
“Christ,” I mutter, and Pete hums in agreement. “I wonder how long he was out there?”
“Too long.”
“Thank fuck we heard him.” I shudder to think what might have happened if we hadn’t.
Pete makes soothing noises, Cooper putty in his hands as the water finally runs clear. His coat is so much lighter than I was expecting.
He looks like a different dog.
“There,” Pete coos, turning off the water and drying Cooper’s face before booping him on the nose. “Bet that feels better.”
Fuck me, it’s the cutest thing.
What isn’t cute is the way Cooper shakes water all over me and the bathroom as soon as we get him out of the bath. Pete laughs, hiding behind the towel he was supposed to be wrapping around the dog.
“Thanks for that.” I wipe water out of my eyes and mock glare at him.
He shrugs, eyes bright with amusement. “Sorry.”
“Sure you are.”
Downstairs, I set up Cooper’s bed in the kitchen while Pete prepares his food. It’s all very domesticated and it hits me hard in the chest as I realise how much I’m enjoying myself.
I’ve never been more grateful for Dan’s inability to plan properly. I’d be going home tomorrow if he weren’t still in my flat. And I can honestly say it’s the last place I want to be right now.
“All right?” Pete asks as he sets Cooper’s bowl on the floor.
“Yeah. Just thinking about my book.” It’s only a little white lie. I was thinking earlier about how I could incorporate a dog into my story. Dogs make everything better.
We both step back as Cooper tucks into his dinner like he’s starving, which I guess he probably is, even after the food he had at the vets.
Pete’s phone chimes with a text and he sighs as he picks it up. “Sadie,” he says, like he owes me an explanation. “I’m going to have to go into work soon.” He looks at Cooper and frowns. “I don’t want to leave him here on his own, but I’m not sure how he’d be at the tree farm.”