When Stars Collide (Light in the Dark #2) - Micalea Smeltzer Page 0,24
breathing has grown more labored and a desperate ache has seized my chest. I don’t want anything to happen to her.
When she’s lying down and I don’t feel like she’s just going to roll off onto the floor, I step back. Thea’s standing beside me, her t-shirt and jean shorts soaked through, with her hair plastered to her forehead but she’s still the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. With one look she steals my breath and seals my fate. I’m hers.
I want to take her face between my hands and kiss her beneath the pouring rain.
But we have more pressing matters at hand than me wanting to kiss her.
“I need to get my bike in the back,” I tell her.
Thunder cracks in the distance and she shivers, looking up at the dark and rolling sky.
“Get in the car,” I tell her, but the stubborn woman refuses. I’m not the least bit surprised.
I start for the bike and Thea calls out, “Can you lift that on your own? Do you need help? Xander, please don’t break your spleen.” She winces as I pick up the bike.
“Are spleens even real things?” I ask as I roll my bike to the back of the truck and lift it onto the bed. My muscles scream in protest from the weight of the motorcycle but I refuse to leave it here to be potentially stolen.
“I don’t know,” she answers honestly. “I’d have to Google it.” She shivers again as I pick up my jacket from the ground.
“I’ll drive,” I tell her, heading for the driver’s side.
She doesn’t object.
When we’re seated in the car and I’ve pulled back onto the road she says, “I already Googled nearby emergency vet clinics. There’s one about five miles away.”
“Perfect. You tell me the way.”
She gives me directions, and in no time, we’re pulling into the circular drive of the clinic as lightning strikes in the distance.
“You can stay here,” I start to say, but she’s already hopping out of the car.
I get the dog from the back and my stomach gnaws with worry. She doesn’t look good. Her breaths are feathering and barely there and her eyes are only open a slit.
When I get inside, Thea’s already there telling them what’s happened and in moments, a metal gurney is brought out and they instruct me to lay the dog on it.
She’s wheeled away from us like we’re in a real hospital and I watch helplessly, wondering if this is the last time I’m going to see her alive.
I mean, it’s not like she’s my dog, but she’s an innocent creature that’s been hurt and I care about her. I’ve always had a soft spot for animals, especially dogs.
The receptionist asks us a list of questions, ones I can’t really answer since she was a stray.
I catch the words, “—more than likely she’ll be euthanized—” and see red.
“No,” I say over the woman speaking. I know she’s only doing her job, reporting the facts but I don’t want to hear them.
“Excuse me?” She tilts her head up at me from where she sits at the desk.
“I said, no.”
“Sir.” She gives me a sympathetic look. “We’re a vet clinic, not a shelter. We can’t afford the cost of performing surgery on strays—”
“I’ll pay it,” I say, slamming my palms on the counter. “Whatever it is, I’ll pay it.”
She gives me a hesitant look. “It could be several thousand dollars.” Her cheeks flush, and I wonder why she’s blushing but then I realize I’m still shirtless.
“Xander—” Thea touches my arm.
“I don’t care. I can pay it. Do you need proof? Is that it?” I start pulling out my wallet.
“If you’d like to pay for the procedure we need a five-hundred-dollar deposit, and if it’s more, we settle that at the end, and if it’s less you’ll be reimbursed.” I hand her a card and she appraises me carefully. “I assume this means you’d also like to adopt her?”
I nod. “Yes, I would.”
Our rental house allows pets and I really don’t give a fuck if Rae and Cade agree. Probably the wrong mindset to have since they are my roommates, but there’s no way I’m letting that dog go to someone else.
She nods. “I’ll get the paperwork together for the deposit and adoption.”
Thea looks at me and her lips quirk slightly. “So … a dog?”
“Yeah, a dog.” I run my fingers through my wet hair. “You like dogs, right?” I rack my brain for any memory of Thea not liking them.