Chapter 32 Travis
Travis
Iknock on Anna’s apartment door. When she answers, my breath gets stuck in my throat.
She’s wrapped in a towel, her wet hair dripping down her shoulders.
A water droplet trails down from her neck, disappearing into her cleavage.
Raw want surges through me. She’s soaking wet, looking like the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
“Sorry,” she says in a breathless voice. “I lost track of time in the shower and—”
I crash my mouth against hers, pressing her against the wall. I tease her sweet lips open with my tongue. I grab her chin and tilt her head up, deepening the kiss.
A rough noise rips from my throat. “Fuck, you look good,” I mutter against her mouth.
The sound that slips from her lips is something between a moan and a whimper. She smiles against my mouth.
“Let’s take a shower,” I grit out.
She giggles against my mouth. “Wow. Someone’s impatient.”
“I wanna see you wet and naked, Anna. Now.”
She makes that whiny moaning noise again, and my dick stiffens.
I walk her into her apartment, still kissing her, then I kick the door shut with my foot.
I’m sliding my shoes off when her phone starts ringing.
“Ignore that,” she says against my mouth.
She’s pulling off my clothes when her phone stops ringing, but then it starts up again.
She lets out a cute, soft growl, breaking our kiss.
“Let me silence my phone, one sec.”
She walks over to her phone on the kitchen counter, but then she stops when she sees her phone screen.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“It’s the animal shelter I volunteer at. They don’t call me unless it’s an emergency.” She answers the call.
I stand there shirtless with my pants unzipped, listening to her end of the conversation.
“It’s okay…oh my gosh, that’s terrible…yeah, I’m on my way. Thanks, Gloria.”
She ends the call and looks at me. “I’m sorry, but I have to go.”
“What happened?”
“The volunteer who normally shows up this afternoon can’t make it because she got into a car accident.”
“Shit, is she okay?”
“Yeah, thankfully, she’s fine, but her car got totaled, so she’s dealing with that the rest of the day,” Anna says. “She walks the dogs in the shelter so they can get extra exercise, and they asked if I could come in and fill in. I’m sorry, can we hang out some other time?”
“Yeah, of course. And you don’t have to be sorry.”
She kisses me and smiles. “Thanks for understanding.”
I pull my clothes back on and put on my shoes. A few minutes later, Anna walks out of her bedroom wearing denim shorts and a Hollis U T-shirt, her wet hair up in a bun.
She gives me an apologetic smile as she slips on a pair of white sneakers. “I’ll text you when I’m done.” She hesitates for a second. “Unless you want to come with me?”
“You want me to come with you?”
She bites back a smile and nods. “I mean, only if you want to. I’m sure you didn’t plan to spend your afternoon walking a bunch of dogs. I’d understand if that doesn’t sound like much fun.”
“I’d love to come.”
* * *
Twenty minutes later, I follow Anna through the entrance of Alpine Animal Rescue.
She stops by the desk in the front. A woman who looks like she’s retirement age smiles up at her.
“Oh, Anna! I’m so glad you’re here. Thank you so much for coming on such short notice. The pups are excited to see you,” the woman says.
She looks at me. “It looks like you brought a friend with you.” Her smile grows. “Possibly boyfriend?”
Anna’s cheeks flush. “Well…he’s actually…”
She looks at me as she stammers, an adorably flustered look on her face. Almost like she’s nervous that this woman has mistaken me for her boyfriend.
But I’m not nervous. I’m not upset or mad or anything like that. I’m happy that she thinks we’re a couple.
It’s not something that I expected to feel…but I like it. I like that this person I don’t even know looks at the two of us together and assumes that I’d be able to get someone as smart and beautiful as Anna.
“Yes. I’m Anna’s boyfriend,” I say. I stick out my hand. “I’m Travis.”
I don’t miss the surprised and intrigued look that Anna gives me as I introduce myself to the receptionist, whose name is Liz.
I fight a smile as Liz tells me how this works.
“It’s super easy. Just grab a leash from the wall and check on the sign at the front of each kennel to see which dogs are due for a walk,” she says. “Take them out, bring them back, then walk another dog. I’m sure Anna can show you the rest if you have any questions.”
She hands us a roll of plastic bags. “In case any of the pups need to do their business on the walk.”
I thank her and put the bags in my pocket.
She looks between Anna and me, her gaze landing on Anna.
“It’s about time you dated someone. You’re such a lovely and smart young lady.
You deserve a handsome and sweet young man in your life.
” She turns to me. “You must be special, Travis. Anna told me many times that she wasn’t interested in dating.
But she said yes to you, so you must be quite impressive. ”
“I just feel lucky that she gives me the time of day.”
When I look at Anna, she’s rolling her eyes, but she’s smiling. She drags me by the arm away from the desk. “Thanks, Liz,” she says before leading me to the far side of the building.
Anna turns to me. “What was that about?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why’d you tell her that you’re my boyfriend?”
“You didn’t know what to say when she asked who I was. Figured I’d help you out.”
“By lying?” She’s still smiling.
I shrug. “It’s just for fun. Besides, did you really want to tell her that you brought your fuck buddy to walk dogs with you?”
Her head falls back as she laughs. “Okay, yeah, I see your point. Boyfriend does sound better, even if it’s technically a lie.”
She pushes open the glass door to the kennel. Dogs start barking the second we walk in. She stops at the first one on the right, where there’s a cute chihuahua mix.
“This is Norman. He only needs a fifteen-minute walk,” Anna says as she opens the kennel door.
He runs up to her, his tail wagging. She crouches down to pet him.
“Here, why don’t you pet him for a bit and then get his leash on him.
I’m going to grab a couple of the smaller dogs that get short walks too. ”
I crouch down and reach out my hand. “Hey, buddy,” I say softly.
He sniffs me for a few seconds before his tail starts wagging again. I give him another pat before attaching the leash to him and leading him out. Anna walks up with a small shaggy dog and a dog that looks like a dachshund mix.
“Meet Cookie and Rex,” she says.
I lean down to pet the dogs. The two of them lick my hand before stepping over to Norman so they can sniff each other.
We all walk to the entrance of the building and head out toward the sidewalk.
“How long have you been volunteering here?” I ask.
“Almost two years. I try to come once a week, but sometimes it’s less often if school gets busy. But when my schedule is more open, I come twice a week. It’s one of my favorite things to do.”
She chuckles as the dogs zig-zag ahead of us, tugging their leashes as they smell the grass and bushes and flowers lining the sidewalk.
“I can see why. This is pretty awesome, taking cute dogs on walks,” I say.
“It’s such a stress relief from studying and writing lab reports and papers,” she says. “I hope wherever I go to medical school, I can find an animal shelter to volunteer at. I’d love to keep doing this whenever I have the time.”
We head to a nearby small park and walk through the grass. I watch Anna’s whole face light up as she watches the dogs run ahead, bumping into each other because they’re so happy and excited to be outside.
I think about how, even though she’s busy with school and studying and work, she makes time to do something kind for others.
“You’re amazing, you know that?” I say.
She starts to laugh, but I shake my head. “I’m serious, Anna. You make time to volunteer here when you’re already so busy. You have a perfect GPA, you work as a tutor, you study hard, you get an insanely high MCAT score, and you help animals in need. You’re perfect.”
She stops walking and stares at me, her cheeks flushing once more. “I’m not perfect.”
I step closer to her and reach out to brush a chunk of her thick hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. “You are.”
I hold her gaze. This amazing, perfect woman likes me. I get to hold her and kiss her and touch her and be with her…
As friends with benefits, nothing more.