God, that’s kind of pathetic.
Milo seems to read the confusion on my face, and he touches his ear with his finger, dragging it to his lips. ‘Deaf.’
That’s…oh. I look at Dennis’s fact sheet. He’s six years old, abandoned in a park, had mange. Gross. I didn’t realize cats got mange. He likes the smell of old books and hot coffee in the mornings. He’s also profoundly deaf and missing an eye.
I glance over at Dex, who’s making doe eyes at me. ‘He likes you.’
Oh no. Absolutely fucking not. ‘I don’t have time for a cat.’
Dex pushes out his lower lip, and I want to bite it. ‘Cats don’t need that much time.’ He starts listing things on his left hand. “You can get an automatic cat food dish, a water fountain, and?—’
“No,” I say aloud for emphasis.
He blinks in surprise, then sighs. Milo appears again with a small index card and hands it to me, but I refuse to take it. I will not be handed things in this café.
Dex rolls his eyes and grabs it for me. ‘Thanks.’
Milo nods. ‘The adoption fee is forty dollars.’
‘Forty dollars is nothing!’ Dex emphasizes.
‘Then you adopt him.’ Dennis is a literal garbage cat who did nothing but knock my drink over and embarrass me in front of Milo and in front of the man I want to…well. Do a lot of things with.
Dex tucks the card into his pocket alongside the damn notebook. ‘Maybe I will.’
God, I hope he doesn’t actually take that as a challenge. I sigh and thank Milo, then take Dex’s hand. ‘We go now?’
He glances behind him at all the cats. None of them look like they give a shit that we’re leaving. Dennis is sitting a few feet away with both his back legs in the air, going to town on his butthole. The half-tailed cat is cleaning her paws.
The rest are warily eyeing the other visitors, who seem about as confused as I am. Why are there no tiny, cute kittens to pet? Only Dex seems thrilled with this whole thing. He doesn’t put up a fight about leaving, though, and takes my hand as he leads the way to the front doors.
Outside, it’s a little cooler than it was when we first got there. There’s a bit of a breeze, and I can smell a hint of brine on it from the ocean.
Leaning against my car, I stare at Dex, who stands a few feet away, watching me carefully. He knows I’m waiting for my grade, and waiting for what he’s willing to give me as my prize.
He takes a step closer. ‘That was nice.’
I shrug.
‘You had a bad time?’
I shake my head because no, in fact. I did not.
I got to flirt, and get to know him, and hold his hand, and watch him be cute with small animals. Not the worst date I’veever been on. Before him, it was mostly me and Robbie trying to find odd hours to tear each other’s clothes off and orgasm enough that it took the edge off how stressed we were.
I know I didn’t give Robbie any indication that I was in love with him at the time, but he didn’t seem particularly keen on knowing that. He never asked about my day, and I never asked about his.
He was my best fucking friend, but for years, we never talked. Not really. Nothing deeper than gossip and how bad things were going at work. And it’s strange now to realize how much easier this all is with Dex. How much easier it is to want more than just stress relief.
He’s in my space now, close enough to touch but with enough space between us to sign. ‘I wonder if any of those cats will get adopted.’
‘Probably not. They’re ugly.’
His lips turn down. ‘I know, but even ugly cats are beautiful. Their little furry faces and big eyes…’
He kind of has a point, even if I won’t admit there was some kind of charm to those little trash goblins.
‘They deserve to be loved, don’t you think?’
