Page 56 of Never Kiss Your Brother's Best Friend

“You’re gonna have to open your mouth, Peter, unless you’d like me to do it for you,” Linda teases.

Peter’s eyes pop open and he cocks his head at her, clearly intrigued by her suggestion. Geez, I feel like I should leave them alone. Offering them slices of my pizza wasn’t supposed to take things in this direction.

“Just open,” I say. “I’m gonna throw up over here.” Linda giggles at my dramatics.

Peter closes his eyes again and opens his mouth just enough for her to give him a bite. He chews slowly, refusing to swallow, like she’s just given him a skunk sandwich.

But after about thirty seconds, his eyes open wide and he’s got a smirk on his face. “Not bad,” he says.

“See, I told you.”

Linda takes his slice and moves it toward her mouth to get her own taste. Peter playfully slaps her hand. “Nope, that’s mine.” Then he grabs it from her and shovels it into his mouth, barely stopping to breathe.

Linda and I howl. He’s got thousand island dressing everywhere and corned beef is falling off the slice and onto his lap. And is that sauerkraut on his neck? It is. Doesn’t look as appetizing when it’s on your skin.

Linda and I both notice the cabbage necklace he’s wearing, but we give each other a look that says neither of us are going to say anything.

He downs the slice in less than a minute, then turns and points to Linda’s plate. “You gonna eat that?”

She hands it over. Guess Peter’s found his new favorite pizza.

He only needs another thirty seconds to finish it, and then we grab our checks and head to the front to pay. When we hit the sidewalk outside, I turn to them, “Well, this was fun! Thanks for coming, you guys.”

I hug them both, making sure I choose the side of Peter that does not have the remnants of the Reuben clinging to it. “I’ll let you know about setting up for the silent auction, Linda.”

She gives me a thumbs up. They both wave goodbye and I head to my car.

But before I get in, I think back to Linda’s question, “Did you reward him for his service?”

Now I’m not going to do what she was alluding to, but I would like to thank him.

So I’m going to grab him some food from his favorite spot in town. And this time when I see him, I’ll make sure I keep a safe distance from his lips.

Chapter twenty-four

STERLING

My new assistant follows me everywhere but on four legs, not two. Buddy hates being left at home, so I’ve started bringing him to the clinic this past week. He loves people so much.

He’s so well behaved that I don’t even have to worry about him. It’s clearly just his nature because I haven’t done any training with him. He also loves every animal that comes in, and they love him too.

He’s started his own little routine the last few days. He goes to the waiting room with my assistant for every patient I’m going to see. When she calls the next name, he waits in the doorway to watch who stands up to head to the back.

Then he moves to greet them with a friendly butt sniff. Dogs, cats, parakeets, it doesn’t matter. Each one is getting Buddy’s hello sniff to the caboose.

Then he trots alongside the owner and the animal, following my assistant, leading them to their room. When he’s sure they’re comfortable, he finds me to let me know it’s time for the exam. It’s kind of awesome.

It reminds me of the time I was in Eureka Springs, Arkansas and went into this novelty store. There was a rabbit hanging out on the counter, a huge rabbit.

If you bought something with cash and you had change coming, the owner of the shop would put the bills in the rabbit’s mouth and then the rabbit would hand them to you. It was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.

I bet Buddy’s capable of learning some skill like that too. He’s a super smart dog.

It’s lunch time and I’m sitting in the back room taking a break. I always feed Buddy first so I’m grabbing some kibble from the cupboard when Sarah, my vet tech comes in.

“Hey, Dr. Cole,” she calls in a sing-songy voice as she knocks gently on the open door.

“Hi, Sarah. Taking your break?”

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