Doesn’t make it less frustrating when practice suffers because of absences, but I’ve been trying not to let it get to me.Tryingbeing the key word. I should have guessed it would be hard to go from a world-champion team to one in a league so small it barely has a fan-base.
“His name is BeefWellington,” Savannah says, pulling my attention back to her and the cat complaining next to her.
Caught off guard, I huff out a laugh. “Do you know what that is?”
Her expression instantly shifts from remorse to irritation. “Of course I do.”
“Sure you do.”
“Just because I’m not British like you, it doesn’t mean I—”
“Oi, I’m far fromBritish, love.”
Red spots her cheeks, though I’m not sure if it was the ‘love’ or the growl in my tone that got to her. She stands taller, her chin in the air and a fiery look in her eyes. “Right. Well, I should get back to work.” As soon as her attention turns to Moxie, she softens and gives him a warm smile that’s so different from every look she’s givenmeso far. “Moxie, thank you so much for opening the clinic for me, and I’m sorry it was a false alarm. You’re seriously my hero.”
Moxie smiles back, but it’s not the charming smile I would have expected in this situation. He’s professional instead of taking his chance and flirting with the attractive woman in his exam room. “Better to be safe than sorry, right?” After placing a final bandage on my arm, he moves to the cat carrier and bends down. Almost instantly, the cat quiets, and Moxie reaches a finger through the bars of the door. To my surprise, the cat rubs his cheek against his finger rather than biting it clean off his hand. “You’d better stop getting into trouble, Mr. Wellington,” he says to the cat. Like a proper gent. “You’re going to stress out your mom too much, and then who will take care of you?”
I can’t believe what I’m witnessing. He’s talking to acat. When there’s a wildly attractive woman only a foot away. What’s wrong with him?
“How much do I owe you?” Savannah asks.
Moxie shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it.”
She pouts. “Moxie.”
“I didn’t do anything, Savannah. Just promise you’ll get wall anchors for your shelves, and we’ll call it even.”
Tears well up in Savannah’s eyes as she hefts the carrier off the counter. The thing is half her size, and she looks ridiculous. “Have I told you that you’re the best vet in the world?”
“Let me help you.” He takes the carrier from her hands and follows her out, leaving me rolling my eyes. If he doesn’t make a move when he gets outside, he’s more of a muppet than I thought.
Grabbing my phone, I use the camera to check for puncture wounds in my shoulder, but it looks like my arm took the brunt of the attack. I don’t know how I managed to spend more than twenty years of my life in Australia and never get on the wrong side of a dangerous animal, only to be attacked by a house cat within my first month of being back in the States. It feels like bad karma, and I only wish I knew what I did wrong to deserve it.
Maybe I’ll have to blame it on the several times I’ve had a go at the other starting wing on the team, the one everyone calls Bean. It happens more than it should, usually when I fly past him in sprints. He’s fast, but he could be so much faster if he stopped letting me get in his head and hurting his game. Reckon going forward I should be more helpful than hurtful and hope that saves me from future encounters with wannabe Tasmanian devils.
But that’s easier said than done. I’vetriedto be helpful, and Bean takes it as an insult every time.
“Ready to go?” Moxie asks when he returns far too soon. He picks up a coat rack that must have been the source of the original crash, then flips off the light.
As I follow him out, I can’t help but point out the obvious. “You’re missing your chance, mate.”
Pausing at the end of the hall, he waits until I pass before turning that light off as well. “What chance?”
“With the spitfire who’s using her cat as an excuse to see you.”
He laughs. “Savannah? No.”
“Yeah, mate.”
Flipping off the last light, he leads me outside and shakes his head as he locks the clinic door. “First of all, she’s a client.”
“It’s not likeshe’syour patient,” I argue.
“Second,” he continues, ignoring me, “I know nothing about her. She could be married for all I know.”
With the way she was looking at him, I’m thinking not.
“And third,” Moxie says as he unlocks his car and slips inside. He waits until I’m in my seat before turning on the car and finishing with, “There’s no way I’m losing the bet this soon in the game.”
