Chapter 2

CHAPTER

TWO

MARTY

W ednesdays were one of my favorite days, because Dalton and I both only had one late class. It meant we got to study together in the morning—and I do mean study. Dalton liked to get his assignments locked down as soon as he could, and after the scare with my grades last year, I was determined to start off on the right foot this semester. So we'd started the habit of settling in with our books until around lunch time and then taking Squirrel for a decent walk through the wooded area at the furthermost corner of campus.

Which meant that Wednesday was the perfect opportunity to surprise Dalton with a picnic. My plan was to distract him from his study early by suggesting we take Squirrel for his walk, and when we got to the picnic he'd be super surprised at how thoughtful I was. We'd sit and eat and probably make out a little, and Dalton would get that dumb grin I loved that told me he thought he was the luckiest guy alive.

Which, for the record, wasn't true. I was the lucky one.

I headed out early and picked up some subs from the good deli that Dalton liked, along with some chocolate cake. When I got back to Alpha Tau, I grabbed a couple of beers as well. Once upon a time Dalton would have said no to a beer when he had classes, but he was a lot more chill these days, and it was already shaping up to be real warm so I knew he'd appreciate it.

I looked for a cooler but I couldn't find one, so I picked up one of those flexible plastic drinks buckets we used for our football games. I put the beer in first, then added a couple of bags of ice before wedging the food into the top layer. The weather was cooling off but the food was still gonna be outside for a while, and I didn't want Dalton getting food poisoning or anything.

I drove down to a nice clearing just off the path where we usually walked Squirrel and unloaded the car. I set out the rug and scattered some of those tiny glittery foil stars over it to make it really look special. Then I added the picnic bucket and stood back to admire the effect.

Yeah, Dalton was gonna be swept off his feet.

"Time to take Squirrel on his walk! He gets sad if he doesn't get his dose of sunshine." I rolled over where I'd been sprawled on Dalton's bed, trying and failing to read my English lit notes.

Dalton looked up from his laptop, a tiny furrow between his brows. "Marty, he's asleep." He nodded toward Squirrel who was lying on the floor with all four legs in the air, snoring loudly. I'd expected more from a dog who spent most of his time as a wingman.

I let out a dramatic sigh. "Fine. I need a walk in the sunshine. I can feel my vitamin D draining every minute we're stuck inside." I flopped back against the pillows and sighed again. "I thought as a future doctor that you'd care about my wellbeing."

That earned me a raised eyebrow. "Seriously, Marty. Ten more minutes." He didn't even make a joke about giving me his D later, which just proved how focused he was.

"Promise?" Dalton was proving harder to budge than I'd expected, and he was taking an age to finish up. I was starting to worry that by the time we got to my super romantic surprise picnic, the beer would be warm—which would not be cool.

Ha.

"I promise, babe," Dalton said, and turned his attention back to the screen, tap-tapping at the keyboard and biting at his bottom lip as he did so.

I let out a frustrated groan, and Squirrel took that as his cue to wake up. He got to his feet in a scramble of long limbs and trotted over to the door and whined, loud and insistent.

Best. Dog. Ever.

Dalton was instantly alert. "You need to go out, buddy?" It was amazing how stepping in cold dog pee that one time had made Dalton an expert on Squirrel's bathroom needs.

I leapt to my feet and grabbed the lead from the hook on the back of the door, clipping it to Squirrel's collar. "Come on!"

Dalton closed his laptop and stood. "Yeah, sure. I could do with a break anyway."

I headed downstairs before he could change his mind. I slipped my sunglasses down onto my face and Dalton followed me and Squirrel outside.

By the time Squirrel stopped to pee on the tires of a Dodge parked outside Kappa Rho, Dalton was smiling as he breathed deeply in the fresh air, and the tightness he always got around his eyes from studying too hard had disappeared. He took my hand and gave a soft squeeze, and I squeezed back as we walked down Fraternity Row.

The sun beat down on the back of my neck, and by the time we'd crossed campus sweat beaded my forehead. It was warmer than I'd thought, and I really hoped the ice hadn't melted. "What's the hurry?" Dalton asked, laughing, and I realized I'd been practically dragging him across campus.

We were almost there, so I figured it couldn't hurt to tell him. "I have a surprise for you. Come on."

Dalton grinned and let me pull him the last few feet into the clearing .

"Surprise! It's a picnic." I threw my arms wide, dropping the end of Squirrel's lead as I did so.

The thing about Squirrel was that apart from being the best dog in the world, he was also the greediest. He shot across the clearing like a rocket, buried his face deep in the picnic bucket, snuffling and snorting. When he raised his head, he was holding both sandwiches in his jaws, and I swear to Baby Jesus he was laughing at me.

"Squirrel! Drop that!" Dalton said, voice stern. I could have told him it was a waste of time. Squirrel didn't share.

Dalton took a step forward.

Squirrel bolted into the woods.

Well, shit.

I took off after him, the undergrowth whipping at my calves as I leaped over low bushes in hot pursuit. Squirrel let out an excited yip around his mouthful of sandwiches, like this was the best game ever. He probably thought it was. I just wanted our subs back.

"Squirrel!" I yelled, out of breath. The dappled light filtering through the trees overhead camouflaged him for a second, but then I spotted the blur of his furiously wagging tail. I stopped moving so I didn't spook him, but Squirrel wasn't paying any attention to me. He was fixated on something in the undergrowth—something small and furry and familiar.

A squirrel.

Several things happened at once.

Squirrel let out a whine and dropped the subs.

I reached out to grab them and the squirrel darted forward.

And then the little fucker bit me.

I yelped as sharp teeth sank into the meaty part of my thumb and when I jerked my hand back I felt the skin tear. I managed to fall backward and land on my ass, the jolt sending vibrations traveling up my tailbone.

"Fuck!"

The squirrel stared at me for a second with its beady black eyes and scurried off into the undergrowth, and my Squirrel grabbed the bag from my hand and ran in the other direction, stopping a few feet away. He dropped down onto the ground holding the bag between his paws and tore through the paper wrapping, giving me epic side-eye the whole time.

But I didn't care about the sandwiches anymore. My ass throbbed, and my hand stung like a motherfucker. Blood welled to the surface and ran down the heel of my hand and wrist in a messy trail.

There was the thud of approaching footsteps and then Dalton was next to me, kneeling in the dirt, eyes wide and face flushed. "Marty! Are you okay?"

"Squirrel bit me," I said.

"Squirrel bit you?" His brow creased in concern. "Squirrel's never bitten anyone! Wait, do you need a rabies shot now?"

"Not my Squirrel," I said. "He would never. A wild squirrel." I lifted my bleeding hand to my mouth and poked out my tongue to lick it.

Dalton grabbed my wrist. "Marty, no!" He wrinkled his nose at the smeared blood before turning my hand palm-up and examining the bite. "It doesn't look too bad." he pressed a kiss to the crook of my elbow.

"That's not where it hurts."

"Yeah, but your hand is gross as hell. I'm not kissing that."

"But when you're a doctor you'll see gross shit all the time."

"And I won't kiss those injuries, either." He helped me to my feet and led me back to the blanket, one hand in the small of my back, and sat me down. "Seriously though, you might need a rabies shot."

"Squirrels don't carry rabies." I shoved my hand into the bucket of half-melted ice, hissing at the sting. The cold did help the throbbing, though.

Dalton pulled out his phone. His fingers flew over the keyboard. "Huh. They don't." He looked up. "How can you possibly know that? "

"Dalton. Please. You don't think Grandpa let me have an entire squirrel army without doing his research?"

He glanced down at his phone. "Speaking of shots..."

I groaned. "No, don't make me."

"Then tell me your tetanus shot is up to date."

"But Dalton, tetanus shots suck!" I protested, sidestepping the question.

Dalton gave me a look that said he wasn't falling for my bullshit. "Yep. And so does tetanus, which is why I'm driving you to the campus clinic."

I sighed and pulled my hand from the bucket and dried it on my shirt. I hated it, but Dalton was right. Besides, I'd heard that tetanus used to be called lockjaw, and I didn't want to catch anything that might stop me sucking Dalton's dick. I leaned over and bumped my shoulder against his. "Fine. But just so you know, this wasn't the plan. This was meant to be a romantic surprise picnic."

Dalton laughed and pressed a kiss to my temple. "Well, the last thing I expected was for your dog to steal our lunch and a squirrel to bite my boyfriend. So you nailed the surprise part."

He stood and grabbed our stuff, then called Squirrel who came immediately, refusing to look me in the eye, traitor that he was. Dalton snagged his lead and walked me back to Alpha Tau.

Once I'd had my shot, he distracted me from my picnic injuries by taking me back to his room, where he told me that nobody had ever taken him on a picnic before and that I was the best boyfriend ever. Then he jerked us both off, nice and slow and lazy. And you know what? Lying next to him after we'd both come, I forgot that the date had been a disaster.

And that right there was why Dalton was the best.