“Humane Society?” Noah looks confused. “Are we volunteering? Did I miss something?”
He takes the cup of coffee from Graham and sips on it.
“Nope. I’m adopting a cat today.”
Both of them stare at me, unblinking.
“You? Adopt a cat?” Noah says before bursting out into laughter.
“Why’s that funny?”
“I think what Noah means is that you don’t seem like a cat person,” Graham says.
“Or an animal person in general.” Noah laughs, wiping a fake tear away.
“Fuck off.” I flip him the bird. “I’m an animal person.”
Well, considering I’ve only ever owned a goldfish, I don’t actually know. But we’ll see. Once Quinn floated the idea, I couldn’t shake it.
“What if cats aren’t a Jasper person?” Noah asks, still laughing.
“How do you put up with him?” I ask Graham, ignoring his boyfriend.
“Do you really want to know?” He grins.
“No.”
Opening the door, I walk inside first and spot a young woman sitting behind the desk. “Hi there. Can I help you?”
“Hi there.” I flash her a charming smile. “I filled out an online application this week to adopt a cat and made an appointment to meet some you might have available.”
“Yes. I’d be happy to assist you. I’m Ashley.” She beams back at me. “Your name, please?”
“Jasper Hayes.”
She doesn’t bat an eye at my name. Either she doesn’t watch hockey, or she’s much cooler than the average person when meeting an NHL player.
“Ahh, here you are. It looks like you did a virtual home visit with our coordinator and everything got approved.”
“Great.”
“Why don’t you follow me and I’ll take you to our meet and greet room. Were you interested in seeing any specific cats?”
“Zucchini,” I tell her.
“Perfect. She’s a sweetheart. I’m surprised she hasn’t been snatched up yet,” Ashley says.
“Wow. You’ve really thought this through,” Noah says, as we follow her behind the desk and down a long, cement hallway. “I didn’t realize you already got approved.”
“I didn’t want to say anything in case I was rejected.”
“Why would you be rejected?” Graham asks. “You’re a hockey player. You have the means to adopt a cat.”
“But what if they didn’t like my schedule? It’s not exactly the easiest to have a pet.”
“Hence why we don’t have a dog,” Graham says.
“Yet,” Noah points out.
