After All

“Ahhhhhhh!’ she keeps screaming, trying to turn around. “Get it off, get if off, get it off!”

I look around for the nearest branch even though hitting a three-legged raccoon seems kind of cruel. Then again, I can’t just let it mob her like this, what kind of man would I be?

In the end I reach over and grab the racoon by the scruff of its neck and yank him off her before throwing him to the bushes where he lands on his three feet.

Alyssa is still trying to spin around, flailing her arms. As she does, the piece of jerky goes flying to the ground, which Cyril scoops up with his hand before running into the brush.

“It’s okay,” I tell her, trying to calm her down while I grab her by the shoulders. “It’s gone. It’s gone.”

“I told you Cyril Sneer was the enemy!” she yells at me, almost in tears.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” I repeat. “Let’s get a look at you.”

She’s fairly scratched up on her arms and there’s a swipe across her chest, but there doesn’t seem to be any puncture wounds or bites. “Minor scratches,” I tell her. “But we’ll still get you to the hospital to get a rabies shot just in case.”

“No, no I’m fine,” she says, taking a step back from me and trying to compose herself. “I’m fine.”

“He could have rabies,” I tell her.

She inspects her arms briefly and then looks at me squarely. “I’ve had worse.”

“What do you mean you’ve had worse?”

“I’ve already had a rabies shot.”

“What? When?”

“Last year.”

“Last year? Why?”

“This isn’t the first time this has happened.”

I cock my head, trying to form words but the only thing that comes out is, “Huh?”

“I said this has happened before. I told you I’ve had bad experiences.”

As she’s saying this, I recall something that Tiffany had said at the wedding.

“Bad luck with animals?” I ask.

She shrugs and brushes a strand of hair from her face. “I love them but they don’t seem to love me.”

“Maybe they love you too much,” I tell her.

She laughs. “Yeah. Maybe.”

I grab her by the hand and give it a squeeze. “Hey. Let’s get out of here before the squirrels turn on us.” She visibly shudders when I say that, which makes me think it’s happened before too. “We’ll go back to my house and I’ll get you fixed right up.”

“I’m okay,” she says feebly.

But after the long walk back to the car, she’s too weary to put up any sort of argument.

I take her home.





Chapter 10





Emmett





By the time we’re pulling up to my place, Alyssa is practically asleep in her seat, yawning as we walk toward the house.

“This is where you live?” she asks as we enter the front courtyard.

“My humble abode.”

She snorts. “Good lord, to have this type of money.”

“Hey, this is my Degrassi money. I invested and I saved.”

“I’m not saying you don’t deserve it,” she says, giving me a quick smile. “I’m just saying…you’re lucky.”

In some ways, I think to myself. But the last thing I want to do is bring up the whole “money doesn’t buy you happiness” argument to someone who agreed to fake date me in order to get money. Alyssa doesn’t have time for my douchebag thoughts, she’d call me on it right away.

Which is one thing I like about her.

I open the door and we step inside.

My house is fairly simple. The best part is the open kitchen, living and dining area, with the massive patio over the ocean. Otherwise it’s a pretty small two-bedroom. I’m mainly paying for the view of the water, the city, the mountains.

“I’d give you the tour but there isn’t much to see except the view,” I tell her as I start looking through my cupboards for a first aid kit. Finally, I find it in one of the kitchen drawers as Alyssa slowly wanders along the white tile floor.

“Take a seat,” I tell her, gesturing to the couch.

She eases herself down, her eyes taking in everything. “All white. Don’t you find it so hard to clean?”

I drop to a crouch in front of her and fish out the iodine and cotton pads, then pull her arm out so the scratches are facing me. “To be honest, I’m just here to sleep. I’m on set most of the time or I’m out.”

“Out where?” she asks and winces as I press the yellow liquid into her.

“Sorry,” I apologize for the pain. “Out with you.”

“But we’re a new thing. So, you were out with other girls before me?”

I try and shrug it off as I dab it along her arm. “Yeah. I guess.”

“And Will.”

I nod. “Sometimes Will.”

“Who else do you hang out with?”

I pause, lick my lips. “I have a friend, Jimmy. Known him all my life.”

“Will I ever meet this Jimmy?”

I glance up at her face, her big eyes earnest and questioning. Despite the fact that she’s injured and I’m fixing her up, she looks so fucking sweet right now it makes my heart ache.

“Maybe,” I tell her. No one I know has ever met Jimmy and I can’t imagine how she would react. Then again, something tells me that maybe she might be one to understand.

I push the thoughts away, to dwell on for another time.

“Does this hurt?” I ask her, gently working on the other arm.

She shakes her head. “Not really,” she says softly, watching me as I work. Then she nods to the corner of the room where I have a few plants. “I like your cactus.”

I grin. “Thanks. I just got it. Named it after you.”

She laughs. “You did not.”

“I did. Alyssa the cactus. She’s a prickly one.”

“Oh come on,” she says. “You are too much, you know that.”

Too much and not enough all at once.

I ignore that sobering thought. “I thought when I start missing you, I’d have something just like you to talk to.”

She just laughs and I feel this strange warmth spreading in my chest, something I haven’t felt in a very long time. I like her. A lot. And I like being with her. A lot.

Maybe she can read the expression on my face or pick up on the vibe I’m giving, because she then lowers her voice and says, “Do you ever get lonely?”

I pause and meet her eyes. “That’s a bold question.”

“I know,” she says and see that she’s completely serious. Her questions are coming from a soft, kind place though.

I run my tongue over my teeth as I think. “Yes. Very much so,” I admit.

She nods slowly. “So why don’t you ever settle down?”

“You’re asking the thirty-eight-year-old man-child why he doesn’t settle down?”

“Yeah. I am. There’s a reason. What is it?”

I exhale, taking a moment to get a new cotton ball out. “Honestly? I just…I don’t think it’s in the cards for me.”

“Because you haven’t met the right person. Have you ever had a serious relationship?”

“Of course. I was even engaged.”