5. DOGS AND HOUSES!

*Edited 

Maxwell's POV

"We are here." He announced, unfastening his seat belt.

She looked around warily. "I hope your new girlfriend wouldn't mind me being here."

He paused, glancing at her, trying to decipher her words. "What new girlfriend?, I'm single, as far as I know." He muttered slowly.

"Didn't mean to judge, but I've heard stories and I'm just trying to be careful."

Eyes narrowed, he tilted his head, didn't smile or frown, but waited a beat before speaking. "No, you're good."

The house was a small brown bungalow, the once pretty roses on the front porch now stood dying away in their pots. The roofs looked a little dated, like the other town houses that surrounded it, but the window and doors had been remodeled.

As soon as the door opened, a large hairy beast attacked Professor Caines' legs barking. The dog perked up at the scent of another person, she smiled softly at the black hairy Newfoundland, that was now going round her feet sniffling, then he stopped suddenly and wagged its tail, mouth open.

That seemed to be a tell, as Professor Caines started to call for after it, closing the door behind them. He pulled off his shoes and slid on a pair of crocs, the dog didn't listen. She watched and repeated his actions.

The house was clean, as far as she could see. It had brown wood floors through out, giving it a nice homey earthy feel.

The front door opened to a large living area joined to the kitchen in a nice modern open concept. The walls were white, with brown and grey furniture to go with the floors.

The living room had only two large grey sofas and a huge TV over a small fire place. There was a small brown coffee table sitting on a grey center rug stacked with papers and huge binders. Then there was a large backless shelf, that seemed to go on up forever, filled with a lot of books and awards.

The kitchen had a black functional granite top island with two stools on the other side serving as a dinning area/ cooking work space.

The cupboards and cabinets matched the floors, the appliances were new, but what stood out most was the huge fridge, she was sure she saw in a commercial a few weeks ago, standing arrogantly in the kitchen.

The home was nice, and exactly what she had expected since she entered his car earlier to the station. His signature fruity smell lingered in the air, mixed with something that smelled like a fabric softener and detergent.

The dog stuck out its tongue, jumping excitedly for some reason.

"Sit, Bear, sit." The dog completely ignored him.  "Bear, don't you do it!, Bear." This time he received a loud bark in return. Her face broke into a big smile.

"She's hurt Bear, she can't play right now." He shook his head at the dog, and lowered himself to lead it away to the kitchen.

"She wants me to play with her?." She asked.

"He." He replied quickly, still trying to get Bear's attention, snapping his fingers a few times, he mumbled a few words. But with another bark at its owner, he ran into her, almost knocking her over with his sudden weight.

"Oh, and he's a hugger." She squealed in delight, as the dog stood on his hind legs stretching out its paws to her, she took it laughing. She saw Professor Caines eyes snap to her at the sound, but she ignored him.

"Bear, sit down now!." Professor Caines ordered and tried to pull him away from her. But Bear barked again and tried to bite him.

He let out a fake gasp. "Really?!, that's how it is?!...you betray me at the sight of a pretty girl?." He asked the dog and walked away into the kitchen.

She blinked at his words. Pretty?

"He doesn't get a lot of visitors, but he's naturally too hyper." Professor Caines said in an apologetic voice. She nodded.

She leaned down which wasn't very far, considering that the dog was very big, very much like his owner, although she was tall, he was a taller and larger person of course. She stared at the panting dog with his tongue out and a little bit of drowl and smiled.

"He just wants a belly rub." She said aloud, kneeling before it. Bear quickly rolled over, legs in the air. She looked up to Professor Caines with an 'I told you so look.', rubbing Bear on his belly.

"He never lets me touch him, Traitor!." Maxwell called out to receive a loud bark as his reply.

"After all I've done for you?, guess who's not getting any treats?!." He stuck out his tongue at the dog tauntingly. Breanna laughed hard, till her side hurt.

She had never seen the silly side of her Professor before, she only knew the always angry, grouchy professor, that for some reason, women in the university seemed to dig.

"And I'm locking you out of my room tonight!."

"Oh grow up!...you wouldn't do that to this precious thing." She chuckled.

"He betrayed me first." He scoffed. "And precious is certainly not the way i'd describe him."

He reached for a cabinet and pulled out first aid kit to help her with her side, not before he gave the dog a squeaky toy to keep occupied.

"I'll need you to take your top off." He instructed, leading them to the sofa. She did as he said. He had already seen her in a thong, there was not much to hide anymore.

Wincing as she raised her hands over her head.

"Careful."

He unwrapped the soiled bandage around the large gnash on her side and tossed it. She watched him examine the long stretch of stitches, already bleeding out that ran along her torso.

"Are you a part time doctor or something?." She asked watching him clean her wound carefully, his every action intentional and detailed. He knew what he was doing.

"No, but I've injured a lot of people in my life." He answered her.

"What?, you fight a lot in your free time?." She let out a small snort, suddenly feeling chatty. He didn't answer right away, his eyebrows pinched in concentration.

"Try, for a living?." He pressed on a stitch and she cried out. "Sorry." He mouthed.

"For a living?." She repeated, slowly. "As in you fight for a living?......" She paused, waiting for him to say anything to contradict.

"Last I remembered, you are psychology professor. " She asked looking down at his large hands carefully cleaning her open flesh and as he wrapped her back up.

"I used to be a professional boxer." He motioned to the wall of awards with his head.

"Boxer?." She fixed her gaze on the wall.

"Yeah, um, so, I'm not much of a cook, can you do with avocado toast?." He answered dismissively, standing up, hands on his hip.

She thought about it for a while and sighed. "I don't want to eat right now." Her brother just died, she was in no mood to eat, she just wanted to crawl into a ball and die.

Her heart felt like it would burst open from her chest, her head felt like it would split open, her legs felt like it would give way. She was not okay, and the least of her problems right now was food.

"You have to, cos you need painkillers after."

She tried to put the shirt back on and he frowned. "You need new clean clothes." He commented, eyes still on her. "I think I can find you a shirt and a pair of shorts you won't drown in."

"No, its fine, I can go home, you've done enough." She rushed out to stop him, waving slowly.

"You can spend the night, I'm not going to send a kid out at night, and, I think a storm is coming, so its not up for discussion." He shook his head and disappeared down the hall but before he came back with the clothes, she had fallen asleep on the couch.