Austin fluttered his lashes over dark eyes and held the kitten next to his face.“C’mon, Joe.How would you feel if someone took your kids from you?”
“Mew,” said the black kitten.
Jesus.Fuck, how was Joe supposed to make good financial decisions faced with that cuteness?“Fine.Fine.”He huffed.“But I’m naming these ones.”
“Deal,” Austin said immediately.
“And you get to call Linda and explain we need to know how to look after three tiny cats.”
“Okay,” he agreed placidly.
“And none of them better need a leg amputated unless there’s another rare Beatles album in that Rubbermaid bin.”
“Mew,” said one of the orange kittens, which had rolled off the edge of the bed and was now attacking Joe’s work boot.
“God fucking damn it, that’s adorable,” he sighed, bending to pick it up.“Okay, seriously, call Linda so we can make sure they’re not going to die, because I need your help hanging floor joists if we’re going kitchen shopping on Thursday.”
Linda came over right away.Joe had the distinct impression she was laughing her ass off on the inside, but she let him maintain the illusion that this had been a joint decision.
“They’re not quite old enough to be on their own, but they’ll probably be okay eating softened kitten food.I’ve got a bag at home from some fosters a few months back you can have and a spare litter box that’ll do until you can get your own.We’ll do shots when they’re a bit older.”She stroked the creamsicle one under his chin.“Have you named them yet?”
Joe had spent the forty-five seconds between Austin’s phone call and Linda’s arrival coming up with the most vindictive names possible.“Ozzy,” he said, pointing to the black one.“Dallas.”Creamsicle.“And that one’s Walker Texas Ranger.”
Austin gave him a flat look.“Really?Not Houston?”
“The orange ones are trouble,” Joe said.“The whole internet knows that.”
He didn’t have brain space to defend his naming choice.He was too busy trying to figure out how to tell Starling, whohadlaughed in his face when he mentioned they’d gotten a dog and Austin had named it Pepa, that the number of legs in the house had just gone up exponentially.“Moving in together and adopting a three-legged rescue dog?You’re never beating the U-Haul lesbian allegations, babe.That’s straight out of the playbook.”
Naturally it was another twenty minutes before Austin was any use in the kitchen.Joe spent them on the phone with Starling so she could get the mockery out of her system before he had to see her in person.
“Are yousureyou didn’t run off to Vegas and get married without inviting me?”
“I wouldn’t go to Vegas,” Joe protested.“I’d go to Niagara Falls, it’s way closer.”
“But seriously.There’s nothing going on?I know I’m not the target audience, but I know when a guy is hot, Joe.Austin is hot.”
You should see him holding a tiny kitten.But the cuteness factor changed nothing.“There’s nothing going on.We’re basically business partners.You know I don’t like to make the same mistakes twice.Don’t shit where you eat.”If he hadn’t been dating a coworker, he wouldn’t have had to quit his job and start his own business.Sure, it had worked out okay in the end, but it had taken work and time and the money he inherited from his grandfather’s death—money he’d intended to put toward a house.
He’d still gotten a house eventually… half a house.
Whatever, that didn’t make it okay.
“I know,” she said softly.“It’s why I worry.”
“Well, please don’t.”
“Okay.But how are you going to divide an undividable dog when you sell?”
Joe had been avoiding that same question for the past few days.
Starling let his silence speak for itself.“Just remember, I’m here if you need me.”
“Yeah.Thanks, Star.”
When Austin finally joined Joe in the kitchen, sans kitten, his curls were a jumbled mess.He pushed them out of his face as Joe explained what he needed.As they got positioned to shift the hanger in place, Austin’s hair fell into his eyes once again.He grumbled quietly and flipped his head to clear his vision, and Joe broke.
Once their hands were free, Joe reached into his pocket for the hair tie he’d started carrying around and passed it over.“Seriously, man, just do us both a favor.”
