TIFU by not asking a girl out

This was in September of 2025 if I remember correctly, my mom had just picked me and my nieces up from a metalfest that my sisters were at. on the way back to my sisters house my mom saw an injured dog and I decided to make her pull over so I could inspect it. A few minutes after I got out, a girl pulled up in her car and asked if it was my dog to which I said no, she helped me comfort the dog and made sure it didn’t go anywhere else where it would get hurt, my mom decided to take my nieces back home while we called animal control and waited for them to get to where we were. While we waited we talked about things like pets, age, hobbies, etc… and while this happened I think I noticed her sneaking glances at me here and there as I comforted the dog. animal control showed up eventually and got the dog and told us they would do what they can. I called my mom and told her I was ready to go whenever she was ready to pick me up. after I called her we continued talking and even popped a few jokes (probably looking like we were maniacs while laughing as we had blood on us from the dog) and I think even slight hints of flirting were happening. my mom came back and got me and before I left I had tried to ask her if I could ask for her number, but my throat kept getting that tight feeling when you get nervous and don’t want to say something so I never asked. I eventually look at my mom and asked “do you think I should’ve asked for her number?”. My mom is the kind of person who thinks I shouldn’t find a girlfriend because she probably thinks I would have bad taste and bring a really immature and rude girl or something but she actually looked back at me and said “she seemed really nice and she doesn’t act like those other girls so… yeah you probably should have”. That’s when I felt really stupid for never grabbing her number, I remember thinking “if I liked her and even my mom liked her then it wouldn’t have hurt at all to ask her on a date and get to know her more, but it’s too late to think about that now.” It took me a week to get over it but I still think about it from time to time. I’ve really been wanting a serious relationship but with the few times I’ve tried I’ve been cheated on by one, sexually manipulated by one and one just made horrible decisions. I suppose that “trauma” (not the best word for it but it’s all I can think of) kind of popped into my head when I was thinking of asking for her number and that’s what held me from asking.

TL;DR: I met a girl while helping an injured dog, talked with her, popped jokes and even slightly flirted with her but stupidly never asked for her number because I got nervous and I still regret it.