“I know you’ll still be brutally honest, because that’s just who you are, and honestly, I wouldn’t want it—or you—any other way.”
Eve was quiet, but the fight seemed to have gone out of her. Now, she just looked tired. Josie could relate. They needed to sleep before it got any later.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m about to keel over,” Josie said, rubbing beneath her eyes, suddenly desperate to scrub off what remained of the makeup theDo Overteam had applied.
Eve nodded. “We should sleep. But we should probably feed them first.” She tipped her head toward the kittens. Hamilton and Phantom were awake, crawling around their playpen on wobbly legs.
“Sometimes, I think you know their schedule better than I do,” Josie teased as she stood and went into the kitchen to prepare bottles, bringing their dinner trash with her. Her body felt sluggish, like she was walking through mud, fatigue weighing her down now that she’d finally slowed down enough to feel it.
“I have a knack for schedules.” Eve joined her in the kitchen to help. The T-shirt swamped her petite frame, effectively obliterating the razor-sharp armor she wore day-to-day with oversized cotton and a rainbow-colored cat.
“That you do.” Josie leaned in to kiss her, and Eve sighed as she relaxed into the kiss, her body swaying against Josie’s. Josie slid her hands over that hot-pink cotton, soft from countless washings. It was her comfort shirt, her sleeping in on a Monday morning shirt, and she’d never wear it again without picturing it on Eve.
She also had a feeling she wasn’t going to be ready for this thing between them to end on Monday, but that was something to puzzle over later. She and Eve carried bottles into the living room, each lifting a kitten from the playpen.
Eve held Hamilton, positioning him effortlessly over her knees as she gave him the bottle. She was good at this, although Josie wasn’t sure she’d appreciate having it pointed out to her. Instead, she focused on Phantom. When he was fed and cleaned, she rolled him over, tickling his tummy as he wiggled around on her legs, yawning contentedly.
And then Josie was yawning. “It’s contagious,” she said, giving him a quick kiss before she set him back in the playpen.
“Don’t start that,” Eve warned as she swapped Hamilton for Blanche. “At least not until we’ve finished feeding them.”
Josie watched her, wondering if Eve realized she always reached for Hamilton and Blanche first.You like them, she wanted to tease. And suddenly, she pictured Eve taking them home in a few months. Adopting them. Full circle from the moment she’d pulled them out of that trash can.
Josie lifted Pippin, stroking his gray belly until he woke. He was sluggish this morning, much like Josie herself, and by the time she’d finished with him, Eve was already done feeding Blanche. She’d leaned against the couch with Blanche on her stomach, eyes closed. Blanche had curled up beneath her breasts and was fast asleep, toes twitching.
Josie pressed a hand to her mouth. If she wasn’t so absolutely, positively sure Eve would hate her forever, she would have grabbed her phone and snapped a picture. Instead, she sat there for a moment, just watching them. Eve had to adopt Blanche. It just had to happen.
“Finished yet?” Eve asked groggily without opening her eyes.
“Mm-hmm.”
“Let’s go to bed.” She sat up, sliding Blanche onto her palms and depositing her into the playpen in a move so practiced, it couldn’t have been the first time she’d done it. And the mental image of Eve at home in her apartment, snuggling with Blanche on her couch, was now permanently etched into the mushy, romantic part of Josie’s brain.
“She likes you,” she couldn’t resist saying as they stood.
“Who does?” Eve asked, looking confused. “You mean Blanche?”
She nodded, taking Eve’s hand as they walked to the bedroom.
“She’d like any warm body at this point, I think,” Eve said, and then she softened. “That first night, it was so hard to get her to eat. She was so much smaller than the others.”
“I always have a favorite too,” Josie said, giving her fingers a squeeze. These moments when Eve let her guard down and offered little bits of raw honesty felt like being given a huge compliment, like she’d received something rare. “It’s hard not to.”
“They’re just kittens,” Eve deflected, and Josie let it go.
They took turns in the bathroom washing up. As Josie crawled onto the bed beside her, Eve’s ankle tattoo caught her eye. She traced her fingers over the infinity symbol, thrilled with the newfound freedom to touch her.
“Lisa and I got them together,” Eve said quietly. “Matching tattoos.”
“Oh?” Josie had wondered at the meaning behind it. She paused with her fingers pressed against Eve’s inked skin, hoping to encourage her to continue.
“There was a long time when we weren’t sure when or if we’d be able to get legally married, so we got them to show that our love was forever.”
“That’s beautiful.” Josie slid up to press her lips against Eve’s. Maybe it should bother her that Eve had her love for another woman tattooed on her body, but it didn’t. It seemed like a fitting tribute to the woman who would forever be a part of Eve’s heart. “Thank you for telling me.”
Eve nodded, giving her a quick kiss in return. She was quiet, but her body was relaxed, her eyes calm. Josie rolled over to turn off the light before pulling the sheet over them. Nigel hopped up, landing between them, but she nudged him onto the floor.Not tonight, dude.And then, with Eve curled at a polite distance on the other side of the bed, she closed her eyes, falling almost immediately asleep.
When the alarm on her phone buzzed three hours later, the first thing she registered was an arm tucked around her waist, a warm presence at her back, and the whisper of breath in her ear. Josie grinned. Who would have guessed the ice queen liked to snuggle in her sleep? Careful not to wake her, Josie silenced the alarm and slipped out of bed, tiptoeing to the living room to feed the kittens.
