Page 24 of Before We're More Than Friends
I swallowed and pushed the sad thoughts away. “I’m about the feed the bunnies now.”
“Thank you.” She gave a nod of approval before looking down again.
I went to the food room to get the bag of bunny food and went over to their section. I opened Grey’s cage and fed him a carrot. “There you go, boy.”
As I fed him, Hayden Tidwell walked through the hallway, brushing his dark braids out of his eyes. When he saw me, he smiled and walked over. His dark eyes lit up. “Super cute.”
“It’s Raina, actually. I thought you’d know my name by now.” I wanted to joke that maybe he’d thought I was Arielle, but given that their relationship was complicated after their breakup before Christmas, it would’ve been way too soon.
He laughed. “Is Grey up for adoption? My parents finally agreed to let me get a bunny.” He stepped closer to the cage and waved at Grey. “Hey, cutie.”
“Now, now, let’s not hit on the animals.”
“I can’t help myself. His fur is such a beautiful color.”
“It is. Very wintery.” I admired Grey from floppy ears to paws, and he made a squeaking noise that melted my insides.
“He’s perfect,” Hayden said. “I can’t wait to adopt you, buddy.”
“Let’s hope that you’re finally responsible.”
“Rude.” He stood up again, flipping his hair back with no hands. Arielle found it hot, but it made me concerned for his neck. Then again, I was the last person who should pay attention to other people’s bad habits when I had way too many to count.
I twisted my bracelet around my wrist four times to make sure it was still there before giving the next rabbit, Popsicle, her food. “Just saying. Remember your two lizards?—”
“I thought they were friends.”
“Friends don’t get each other pregnant.”
“Well, I didn’t know what to do with a bunch of baby lizards!”
I rolled my eyes with a smile, but that was when a sharp pain shot to my hand. I jumped and dropped the rabbit food. I looked up at Popsicle, and I swore she was giving me an evil grin.The food wasn’t delicious enough, but your hand was right there.
“Are you okay?” Hayden asked. He took my wrist to examine my hand, but I yanked it back, causing him to stumble backward. “What the hell?”
“I-I’m fine.”
“Yeah, streams of blood coming from your hand is fine.”
“It is fine,” I snapped, though the words were more for myself.It’s fine. Accidents happen. You can’t prevent them. I covered the wounds with my hand.Please stop bleeding.
“I’ll get something to stop it,” Hayden said before running into the hallway.
“Thanks.” I removed my hand to see how bad the blood was and bit back a scream.Please, please, please don’t have rabies. Every animal got shots as soon as they came to the shelter to get rid of any diseases, and it was rare if they did have diseases in the first place. But something could’ve gone wrong, and?—
Stop spiraling. I checked the spot to see if it had gotten worse. It definitely had. I covered the spot with my hand again, but then I checked it again.Stop looking. But I looked again, the impulse growing as my thoughts raced.You’re going to get sick, you’re going to get sick?—
Someone made siren noises, and Ilooked up to see Caleb Branch with a first aid kit, Hayden running behind him with paper towels. “Help is here,” Caleb said as he placed the first aid kit down and opened it.
Hayden put the paper towels over my wound. “This is just until Caleb gets everything ready.”
“I’m the best doctor you’ll ever have.” Caleb started taking things out of the first aid kit and putting them on a table nearby.
“I would’ve preferred Oliver,” I said in an attempt for a joke to distract my racing mind. “He’s a lot faster.”
“Please, he’s too busy flirting with someone’s daughter in the lobby. I wonder how long it’ll take for him to get her number.”
“I’m betting four minutes,” Hayden said as he checked my wound. “It’s not bleeding as much anymore. You can clean it out.”
