Page 6 of Deep Fake

He didn’t seem sick. No screaming signs of sickness. The animal stilled like a statue and stared into my eyes.

I didn’t think animals were really into eye contact, but this one was proving that wrong.

“Are you hungry? I don’t know what you can eat?”

Some kids with backpacks started toward us, but the parent quickly rerouted them back to the sidewalk and on their way to school, I assumed. The mother said something about a dirty, filthy rat.

“You’re not dirty or filthy. How about bread? I have sourdough. Don’t know if you eat that.”

Why in the world was I having a conversation with this raccoon? Never considered myself an animal person, but this one grabbed my heart.

I pulled out a piece of sourdough, tore off a piece, and offered it to him. With shy steps, he came forward and sniffed the bread. He? I wasn’t sure of the gender, but he seemed like a boy. But then again, I didn’t even really know what species he was.

One sniff was enough. He turned up his nose and scampered away before I could say goodbye.

I crouched there for another few minutes, hoping he would come back. The encounter was a little light in my day.

And, lately, I could use every ray of light I could get.

Shoot. I should’ve taken a picture of him.

“Taken a picture of what?” Footsteps came from the alley where the raccoon had gone into, and I looked up to see a man who made me gasp. Goddess, he was gorgeous. Dark, shiny hair, cut short on the side but wavy at the top. Thick, black-rimmed glasses. A jaw that chiseled from stone.

Taller than me by at least six inches.

“Oh, you didn’t see it?” I craned my neck to look down the alleyway. Shadowy, unreached by sunlight, and occupied only by trash and a dumpster that had seen better days. I even looked up, wondering if the little guy had climbed a fire escape or a pipe. Nothing.

“See what?”

“The raccoon. He was white and…”

The man couldn’t have looked less interested.

“You know what? Never mind.”

“Yep.”

The handsome man sidestepped me and, when I looked over my shoulder, he walked away and turned the corner. Maybe I should’ve asked for his number, but he probably thought I was nuts.

I went home and deleted all the messages I’d received thus far without reading them. They only scared me more, and whether or not I read them didn’t determine how fast more would come in.

Tonight, I had no work. No plans. No dates, unfortunately. I hadn’t dated in months, no, years. Not because I didn’t want to or had no interest in finding an alpha, but I wanted something real. A relationship and the alphas I’d dated last seemed to all have one-night stand on their minds.

I was looking for long term.

Something lasting.

Love. Romance. Friendship.

But right now, I was a mess. Not good to put on the lap of anyone else.

After a good dinner, I decided to get online and try again for some help. I wasn’t one to give up on the first try, and just because this Sketch guy turned me down flat and blocked me didn’t mean there weren’t more fish in the sea.

Still, once I was back on the forum, I clicked on his profile anyway.

None found.

Either he still had me blocked, or he disappeared.