“You definitely can,” he murmured. It wasn’t said loud enough for me to hear, but of course I did.
But did he mean me or the town? Was it a good thing that we could surprise?
He didn’t know this of course, but you would find a Cubs in most shifter towns since it was shifter-owned. I’d always found it amusing they’d called it Cubs since baby cats weren’t cubs and it was owned by cat shifters. You couldn’t really call them a pride since they varied in species. Cubs catered to shifters and stocked a lot of shifter-owned companies. They’d been one of the first to put the Crazy Bear Products in their stores.
Of course, this wasn’t a widely known fact, but my mate would soon be in the know. I hoped.
“Cart or basket?” I asked.
“Cart, I guess. Rhys doesn’t keep much in the house.”
Snorting, I nodded. “Yeah, because he eats at our parents’ most nights.”
“I know, and Jonathan and Stefan have been so welcoming, but I don’t want to put them out.”
My mate was so thoughtful. Still, I felt the need to reassure him. “Trust me, they’re very used to having us over most nights. You’re no trouble.”
“Thank you,” Kian said.
I grabbed the cart before looking over at him, “But let me guess—you still prefer having everything you need at home.”
He shrugged but nodded. “I like cooking too. Maybe I could invite them over to say thank you. You know for having me, welcoming me to their home…being so kind.”
“I’m sure they would love that.” And if I had anything to say about it, I would be there too.
Now that I’d met my mate, the thought of not spending as much time with him as possible wasn’t okay with me.
Everything I learned about him made me want to know more.
I followed Kian around the store and watched as he meticulously went through the list he’d made on his phone.
Of course, everyone who saw me at the store stopped to say hello, and they all looked at Kian with curiosity. If I had to bet, the news would be around town shortly. It wasn’t often I ventured into town during the work day unless it was to inspect one of the factories or I had meetings with new supermarkets or markets wanting to stock our products. So I could just imagine what the wagging tongues would say.
By the time we’d gone through the whole store, the cart was full. Finally, Kian stopped and looked at me. “I think that’s it,” he said.
I chuckled. “You sure? There might be some shelves you’ve not cleared out yet,” I teased.
He looked at the cart, then back at me. “I may have gone a little overboard.” His shoulder lifted, then dropped. “But Rhys won’t let me pay rent or any of the bills, so I figured this was a good way to help out.”
Yeah. The more I knew, the more I liked. He wasn’t someone that took advantage of his friends. That said a lot about a person.
“I’m sure Rhys will appreciate it,” I reassured him.
He shot me a megawatt smile. “You think? I figured since I work from home more often than not, I could make dinner for us. Did you know he has a Crock-Pot, and it’s still in the box? I could pop something in and have it cooking all day. His kitchen is amazing. And my room is huge. I wouldn’t feel right not contributing in some way, you know?”
Kian sounded so excited, and with every word he spoke, I may have slotted my house in the picture. Him working from the home office that was his. There was room in my house to convert one into a studio or whatever he needed. Coming home after work to dinner. Sitting down with my mate curled up against me watching a movie.
I could see it all so clearly. And I wanted it more than I wanted my next breath.
When we got to the till, I pushed the cart up to it and began unloading it for him. Kian was standing so close as he helped too, and all I could do was breathe in his scent.
Great Urs, he smelled good. I wanted to lick every inch of him.
Don’t go there. Don’t go there.
The last thing Kian needs is seeing you sporting wood right now. What would you say? The smell of fresh bread makes me hard?
Nope, that was the last thing I needed, for my mate to think of me as some sort of weirdo that got erections at inappropriate times.
