Anxiety Attack

Chapter 36

Finley's P.O.V

Ace was adorable.

We had already taken him to the vet the next day to make sure that he didn't, in fact, have rabies and the vet had announced that he was in perfect health, just a little small for a Lab puppy. We had bought a collar and a leash at the vet's office and now Eli and I were shopping for toys and food and a dog bed for Ace (I was also going a little overboard, but Ace was my first pet, he was like my child).

"What about this?" I held up a stuffed frog and squeezed its tummy and it squeaked.

Ace immediately jumped on me, trying to reach the toy. I squealed as his little paws hit my thigh.

"Yeah that's good," Eli said, his eyes on the food that the vet told us to buy.

I tossed Ace the toy and he caught it, immediately shaking his head and squeaking it wildly. He yanked Eli's arm as he attempted to run away with the toy.

"Ow!" Eli exclaimed, turning to look at Ace, who looked at him innocently. "Bad dog!"

Ace immediately drooped his ears and his head, looking quite depressed.

"Eli!" I scolded. "Don't yell at him! Now he's all sad!"

I cooed at Ace and he popped up, tail wagging as he ran into my arms. I scooped him up and he licked my cheek. "Aw, who's a good boy? You are!"

"Jesus Christ," Eli muttered. "If you're going to coddle him, he's just going to be a bad dog. Like Marley and Me bad."

"But he's so cute!" I exclaimed. "Look at him! How can you stay mad at that face?!"

I held Ace out, shoving him in Eli's face. Eli met Ace's look with a blank stare at Ace wagged his tail hopefully.

"Yeah, you're cute," he muttered, rubbing Ace's head.

Ace wagged his tail rapidly and I set him down. He immediately pounced on the frog toy and shook it.

"Excuse me," a voice called. It was an employee, and they didn't look very friendly in their red PetSmart vest. "The toys aren't allowed to be played with by dogs until they are bought."

"Right, sorry," Eli said, shooting me a look and grabbing the toy, setting it back on the shelf.

Ace started to whine. "Shush," Eli scolded, pulling on the leash slightly.

"Eli!" I said. "He's just a puppy, he doesn't know any better!"

"That's why we have to teach him!" Eli said. "I can see you'll be the fun parent," he muttered under his breath.

I beamed. "That's right."

Eli put a bag of dog food in the cart and sighed. "Okay, that's that, do you want to get some toys now?"

"Yes!" I cheered, almost sprinting over to the toy section.

"Wait, Fin, come here," he said, beckoning me back.

"What?" I asked, turning around.

Eli pecked me on the lips and pulled away with a smile. "Okay, now you can go."

I rolled my eyes at him before taking off, Ace trying to follow me but Eli held him back, pushing the cart as I disappeared behind a stack of cat carriers.

As I grabbed the frog toy and two tennis balls, I heard a bark echo throughout the store. Eli appeared at the end of the aisle and shot me a look.

"That was Ace," he said. "And that mean employee from before told me I had to keep my dog quiet or we would have to leave."