*Second Chance Romance*
Veterinarian Dante, and receptionist, Ellie's past is far from perfect. The tragedy, bad memories and misunderstandings are what ripped them apart. Back in each others lives again, they have two choices; work through the pain...
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Collins Harbour Apartment Complex, Bristol.
2013.
I definitely have a friend for life in Dante Berone. Our connection was pretty strong from the first lecture when he threw himself down in the chair beside me to spill the entire contents of my coffee all over the table and me.
I don't think he expected for me to find it funny, but I did. This big, smiley guy who was too busy introducing himself didn't notice his bag was halfway on the table until he swung around and sent the Costa cup flying into the air.
It certainly eased my nerves that day.
"Oh, my good God. I am so sorry," he'd said, cheeks tinting bright pink, eyes stuck on wide mode.
"It's okay!" I said as friendly as possible before routing through my bag for something to clean it up.
"Here." A pack of pocket tissues were handed over to me before he started cleaning up the coffee mess on the table. "I can't believe that just happened."
I giggled. "If you wanted to know my name, all you had to do was ask."
This brought out an even bigger smile from him, resting his hand on the soggy tissue on the desk, he looked up at me. "I'm Dante."
I beamed. "Ellie."
"It's crazy, but my nerves have all dried up," he said, still rubbing tissue all over the desk.
The lecture hall sure was filling up now, loud chatter and chaos all you could hear while we waited for the tutor to arrive. There was an electric energy in the air, a newness that was completely daunting, but I knew what he meant.
When I stepped through the doors of Bristol university, I wasn't sure what to expect. The degree would be hard, I knew this for certain, but also incredibly rewarding in more ways than one.
I nodded my head. "I feel the same. You're going to have to sit next to me all the time now, you know?"
He laughed. "Oh, I plan on it." ...
I hear the sounds of thunder rumbling outside my bedroom and crawl closer to Dante on the bed. It's way past midnight, we are studying for the GI tract practical test tomorrow and everything is blurry.
It's almost Friday, and this week totally screwed my body over. The amount of work, written and practical, was heavy, along with the work placement at a local vet hospital, causing me permanent tension headaches.
"You don't like the thunder?" he asks when I flinch, reaching out to pull me close to his chest. "I never knew this about you."
I press my face into the soft cotton fabric of his t-shirt and bring in his warm, fresh scent. "It reminds me of being young. A lot of the times, I got left alone, so had to deal with the scary weather on my own."
