Bad Dog - Too Bad It's Fake

“I think he has a cold,” Sam said, distantly.

“Okay, let’s get him into an exam room, yeah?” I asked, turning and leading Sam down the hall.

“Right,” Sam said, picking up the kennel and following me into the back, staying a few paces behind me all the way.

Getting Benny out of the kennel, Sam set him down on the exam table and moved back near the door as I moved around the table, examining the pup. Not even thinking before I did it, I bent over, the material of the scrubs going quite tight across my body and giving him a generous view of my ass.

I straightened quickly, and when I glanced over my shoulder, I saw his gaze still glued to my rear.

I could feel the warmth rise up on my cheeks as my pulse quickened. I felt this crazy mixture of embarrassed and flattered feelings at the same time. I never really thought I was anything special, a notion that was reinforced by the fact I was twenty-six years old and still a virgin.

I mean, I’d fooled around a little in high school, but I’d never crossed that bridge. After that, it had been all about becoming a vet. The schooling had been incredibly rigorous, and since then I had been too busy at work to really date, let alone have sex.

After further inspection, I was pretty confident in agreeing that Sam was pretty much right. Stuff like this was extremely common in puppies this dog’s age, who didn’t have full immune systems yet.

“Well, it does look like a cold,” I informed Sam, “and unfortunately, just like with humans, there isn’t too much you can do besides give him the antibiotics we’re going to send you home with. Other than that, all you can do is try and alleviate the symptoms and keep him comfy. Just arrange for him to be quiet and warm with plenty of water until it passes. You can also put a humidifier nearby to help him breathe a little better.”

“You really know so much about dogs,” Sam said.

I smiled at him, not knowing what to say to that compliment, since it was part of my job.

“Thanks.”

“You know, Benny obviously isn’t up to it right now, but when he’s feeling a bit better, we should take our dogs to the dog park, if you live nearby?” Sam said, taking me by surprise.

I guess he thought that since I worked with animals and loved dogs so much, that I must have one. And I didn’t want to correct that assumption, because it was the perfect opportunity to have a date with this hot guy, when I hadn’t been on a date in so long, and neither had I had this kind of chemistry with anyone in a long time. It was off the charts hot, and I wanted to do anything to fan the flames.

“Yes,” I said, too eagerly.

So much for keeping things professional, I thought.

“Wait, is that a ‘yes,’ as in, you’d like to go, or a ‘yes,’ as in, you live nearby?” he asked with a laugh.

“Both,” I replied, with a laugh of my own.

It was an interesting suggestion, meeting at the dog park. It wasn’t exactly the ideal place for a date.

But maybe I was jumping the gun, and this wasn’t meant to be a date. Although the way he was looking at me made it seem pretty likely that he was curious about me, too, and wanted to get to know me better. It was already clear that I had passed the eye-ball test.

The only problem, of course, was that I didn’t actually own a dog. It seemed a bit weird for a vet to live without pets, but I paid so much attention to other people’s animals that I felt like I wouldn’t have the time to properly look after an animal of my own. I worked long and hard hours, to get my degree and then get my clinic up and running, and I didn’t feel it would be fair to leave a dog home alone for so long.

On the upside, though, I also knew a lot of people who did have dogs. Including my neighbor and friend Sharon, who even had a pit bull, like Sam. Suddenly a brilliant idea struck me.

I almost ran up the front stairs to the front door of Sharon’s house. Sharon lived across the street from me and we had been friends since I moved in, more or less at her insistence. I couldn’t tell if she was really friendly, or really lonely, but we had hit it off, either way.

“Ronda, come in, come in!” Sharon said, heading back into the house and leaving the door wide open, an invitation to come inside.

“Would ye like some coffee?” Sharon asked, her Scottish brogue sounding thicker than usual.