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?"