“Because Arya has a crush on him and I’m a really good friend.” She pats my chest.
“It’s his freckles, isn’t it?”
“It’s definitely part of it.”
Quinn sneezes aggressively and the cat does a backflip out of his arms, tail poofed out.
“Okay! Quinn, you’re golden. Step outside and get some air. And maybe change out of that shirt,” Hemi orders.
He pulls it over his head, hands it to me, and rushes for the exit, still sneezing.
“Does anyone have an antihistamine?” Tally asks.
“I do!” Dallas digs his wallet out of his back pocket. “I’ll make sure Quinn isn’t going to blow up like a balloon!” Another cat swats at him from his perch as Dallas passes.
We spend the next hour enticing cats into our arms, laps, and onto our shoulders. Several kittens scale my legs in search of treats, which is apparently endlessly entertaining. There’s also a floppy-eared bunny named Bubbles who believes it’s a cat.
“I want you to pose,” I say to Tally once all the guys have had their time in the limelight.
“I’m not a hockey player, though.”
“I might want my own calendar.” I grab her hand and pull her toward the velvet chaise lounge.
“Hemi, tell him he can’t do this!” Tally calls out.
“He actually came up with this idea, so I’ll let him do whatever he wants.”
I settle Tally on the velvet lounge and pose her like a queen. The cats immediately rush over to her. “You’re like the pied piper of kitties, kitten.”
“Like I’m alone, look at you!” Two kittens are scaling my legs.
“You two need to pose together,” Dallas calls out.
Everyone else agrees.
I join her on the lounge and soon cats are climbing all over us.
I wrap my arm around her, smiling at her delight.
“Thank you for this,” she whispers.
“I love seeing you happy.” I tip her chin up and press my lips gently to hers.
Once the photoshoot is done, we change out of cat-fur-covered Terror shirts and head to Rix and Tristan’s for fajita night.
“I cannot believe how puffy your eyes still are,” Ash says as he assembles the ingredients for Rix’s famous seven-layer dip.
“I had no idea I was this allergic to cats.” Quinn blows his nose for the seven-hundredth time.
“Being in a room full of them is a lot different than just one,” Kellan adds.
“Apparently, yeah.” Quinn plucks another tissue from the box he’s holding, keeping a safe distance from the food.
“Do you need help with that, queen of the kittens?” I press my chest against Tally’s back and curl forward until my chin rests on her shoulder.
“I’ve got it, but you’re welcome to continue your human-cape impression for as long as you’d like,” she says.
I kiss the side of her neck. “You’re staying over tonight.”
