Murphy barked sharply and Thad glanced over to see he’d managed to bury himself in a snowdrift.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” he said, letting go of Graham’s hand and bending down to dig the dog out.
Murphy came out covered in snow, and when Thad picked him up, he shook, spraying snow all over Thad’s face.
Thad gave Graham an unimpressed look.
Grinning, Graham came over and kissed Thad’s snowy cheek before helping him brush it off. “You love him, and you know it.”
“I know I loveyou,” Thad shot back. “The rest is debatable.”
EPILOGUE
March
“Soooo, don’t be mad.”
Thad turned away from his computer where he’d been editing photos and swiveled his desk chair to see Graham peering around Thad’s cubicle wall, his hands behind his back.
Thad raised an eyebrow. “Well, that’s not concerning at all,” he said drily.
“I, uh, did something today.”
Thad lifted an eyebrow. “Whatkindof something?”
“I got you a friend.” Graham thrust something small in his direction.
Thad automatically reached for it, nearly dropping it when he realized it was fluffy and mewing.
“What the fuck?” he said, looking at the small tortoiseshell kitten in his hands.
“Okay, so she was the only one who hadn’t been adopted today, and I feltbadfor her.”
They’d done a charity photoshoot today, featuring pets from a local shelter. They’d been cute, but more difficult to wrangle than hockey players. And that was saying something.
Combining Tanner and cats had been a nightmare. Thad definitely wasn’t getting paid enough to deal with that shit more than once a year.
The kitten he currently held had been one of the hellions in question.
“And you got her for me?” Thad asked dubiously as he set her on his knee. She immediately dug in with her needle-sharp claws, and he yelped.
“Shit, sorry. They said she needed a trim.”
“You got me a cat?” Thad prompted because he still wasn’t entirely clear on this situation.What the fuck, Graham?
“Uhh, yeah. So, technically,Iadopted her. Actually, technically,neitherof us have adopted her yet. Paperwork has to be approved and all that. She’s going back to the shelter in like half an hour and if we—if I’m—approved, we can take her home in a couple of days.”
She clawed her way up Thad’s chest and bumped the top of her head against his chin, demanding attention.
“Why exactly did you do this?” Thad asked, although he was already smoothing a hand down her back. Damn it, he couldfeelhimself weakening.
“Because I thought … I dunno. She reminded me of you, I guess?”
Thad looked her over. “I mean, she’s gorgeous, so I get that part but …”
Graham rolled his eyes. “I meant theattitude. The shelter person called it tortitude. And that made me thinkThadditudeand …”
Thad snorted.
