It would be an excellent morning to jerk off, even as Dumpster Kitty joins me on the bed. I consider it, but as usual, there is no arousal. My head wants to go back to Matt looming over me at the bar. Matt sitting in the snow with me outside. That puts butterflies in my belly, but nothing comes of it.
If he were here, though, I would get hard in an instant. I wouldn’t be able to help it. I think of those big hands and how much of my body they could cover. A little shiver runs through me.
Just facts.
When he lets his scruff grow out a bit . . .I sigh at the image in my mind. Deep blue eyes flash with humor in my mind’s eye, and I wonder what they would look like heated, not just flirting. My brain is too overloaded to get fully aroused. It’s for the best not to go there with thoughts of my flirty friend, anyway. Matt’s handsome. Any gay guy would think so. Those are facts.
It doesn’t mean anything. It can’t.
“Tell me you got some sleep, sweetness.” Matt tilts up my chin, studying my face.
I suppress a little thrill running down me. I don’t know what it is about him touching me like that—my heart swoops in my chest, and my ears roar with my heartbeat. I’m grateful my body didn’t cooperate this morning with playing out any fantasies of those hands on me. “I did. Thank you for letting me stay at the condo.”
Matt grins, raising one eyebrow as he looks out the windows making up the front of the waiting room at the vet clinic. “Buses still aren’t running, so, thank you for agreeing to stay.” He removes his hand from my chin and wraps it around my shoulders as Dr. Follett takes us back to the waiting room. I am surprised Matt is staying. I thought he would make the introductions and then split, but he guides me and Dumpster Kitty—safe in the hood of my backwards hoodie—in front of him and follows us.
While looking her over, Dr. Follett asks some questions and builds up a chart while looking her over. “What are we naming her?”
“Going to have to do better than Dumpster Kitty.” Matt smirks.
“Ah. Well, I can tell you that she’s safe enough for a real name,” Follett assures us, “assuming her origins were dictating that one. I wanted the extra tests, but she’s in no danger. I’m sorry if you worried.”
“Mulder,” I say, not thinking too hard about naming the cat after a guy who wants to believe. Just a fact, I remind myself—it doesn’t mean anything.
Stupid, stupid hope in a world full of maybe.
“Mulder Mann,” Matt says. “I like it. And, Tim, this is on Quinn’s dime, or mine. The cat still lives at Black Diamond, but Theo is the guy you will need to contact for anything she needs. Just bill me.”
“A joint custody situation, I see.” Dr. Follett types in the information.
After that, he looks over the kitty. I don’t know anything about veterinary medicine, but it seems like a lot, since she was already here about a week ago. I start to get concerned when he asks me about the amount of water Mulder drinks and a few other questions about her habits. He also pulls out lab results from Mulder’s file. “Here’s the thing. Mulder is diabetic.”
I must tense up at his words because Matt puts a steadying arm over my shoulders and pulls me back against the safety of his chest.
“No need to be concerned. There is a course of medication, but that wraps up in a month of giving it a few times a day. After that, you just need to manage it with food. Wet cat food, mixed with the dry is all it takes for her to be healthy. I will send you a list of which kinds and anything you should look out for. She will live a happy, full life.”
I blink at Mulder. I knew something seemed. . .off.
“Mulder will need to be indoors, too.”
“Theo,” Matt asks, “can you have pets at your place?”
“No.” I hear the misery in my own voice. I can’t imagine her staying in Quinn’s office. That was temporary at best and has lots of traffic. She’ll be able to get out like she did on New Year’s Eve.
“She can stay with me, then. Just explain the medicine to us.”
Dr. Follett walks us through the process fairly quickly, and before I know it, we are being packed up and sent on our way.
Once I am distracted putting a collar on Mulder with her identifying information, Matt hands over a sleek, black credit card to Dr. Follett.
It doesn’t matter, though, because I see the bill.
I couldn’t have afforded that month of medicine if I tried.
Chapter 5: Matt
“I thought you lived at the farm like Baylor.” Theo follows me into my one-bedroom condo. I don’t stop smiling at the idea that he has paid attention to things about me.
“I do. But when Summit House opened, I took out a long lease for this condo. It helps to not have to drive twenty minutes out to the farm, almost thirty to get to my place. I split my time here and home, depending on the Summit House schedule.”
