Epilogue
Oscar looked up at the sound of a car engine in the distance, a smile breaking over his face as he saw who it was. Ryan wasn’t technically due home for another half hour or so, but he’d been away four days.
Eager didn’t begin to describe how badly Oscar wanted to see him. It was the longest they’d been separated since they met.
Ryan was doing important work, obviously. He needed to make the occasional trip out of town for the sake of the sanctuary. Oscar knew all that, but it didn’t stop him from missing Ryan while he was away.
Spot looked up a moment later, a tiny sound of interest rumbling in her throat. She was looking forward to seeing Ryan, too. He’d picked up Oscar’s habit of giving her treats she wasn’t really supposed to have.
Finn had eventually admitted that it clearly wasn’t doing her anyharm, and she’d probably been eating human food her whole life anyway. As long as Oscar helped out when it was time to clean her teeth, he’d given up on trying to change the habit.
As a compromise, Oscar had actually developed tiger treats, which he baked a batch of every Sunday. While he was at it, Ryan did his best to keep Spot out of the kitchen.
Sometimes he even managed it.
“You love him too, huh?” Oscar asked, scratching behind Spot’s ear. He knew the answer, obviously. Everyone who met Ryan had fallen in love with him sooner or later.
Even Mrs. Kowalski had been moved to apologize for her son’s behavior by way of a very generous donation, and Oscar was fairly surethatwas because of Ryan. She liked him. And they hadn’t, after all, lost them as donors. They also hadn’t seen Freddie again, though.
Oscar stood as Ryan’s car pulled into their makeshift parking lot, the tightly-compacted gravel crunching under the wheels of his sensible hatchback. Everything about him was adorable.
Spot trotted over, just barely keeping ahead of Oscar, not doing a great job of hiding how excited she was to see Ryan. For a tiger who spent most of her life lying around in a convenient patch of sun, it was amazing how quickly she could move when she wanted something.
Thatsomethingwas usually attention from one of them, but especially Ryan. They’d bonded in a way Oscar would never have expected after the day Ryan arrived and spluttered in horror at the idea of a tiger roaming free.
Lots of things had changed since then. All of them, as far as Oscar was concerned, for the better.
“Spot!” Ryan enthused as he got out of the car, grinning ear to ear. “C’mere,” he added, opening his arms wide for Spot to hug him.
Which she did, standing on her back paws and reaching up to put her front ones on Ryan’s shoulders. EvenOscardidn't let her do that, since he couldn't reliably take her weight and didn't want to be knocked over on a daily basis.
Ryan’s confidence made Oscar smile. His laughter made Oscar’s heart flutter.
Even after all this time, Oscar was still hopelessly in love. Everything about Ryan made him so happy he felt like he was in danger of bursting when he tried to contain it.
“Oh, soSpotgets the first hug, now,” Oscar teased. “I see who the favorite is.”
Ryan laughed again, encouraging Spot to get off him and turning to Oscar. Half a dozen emotions flickered over his features, settling on a soft, tired smile.
“Missed you,” he said, holding his arms open again. Oscar didn't hesitate to step forward, letting Ryan wrap him in a warm hug.
“Missed you, too.” Oscar sighed happily, breathing Ryan’s scent in deeply. Some things hadn't changed, and he was glad of this one. The way Ryan smelled was part of what made him feel so much likehome.
“So, this might be a stupid question, but what’s with the rope?”
Oscar smiled to himself, tightening his grip on the coil of rope he was holding behind Ryan’s back. After another moment of breathing him in and reassuring himself that Ryan was really here, he backed away, offering it to him.
“You can say no,” Oscar said. “But you remember that one time I threatened to tie you to the bed and keep you forever?”
Ryan’s pretty pink tongue darted out to wet his lips, his eyes going straight to the rope.
The idea had been in the back of Oscar’s head for a while, and he’d finally plucked up the courage to at leastask. He trusted now that Ryan wouldn’t just go along with it for the sake of pleasing him. They were past worrying about whether or not they had each other’s undivided loyalty.
“I’m not saying no,” Ryan said after an agonizingly long pause, looking up again to meet Oscar’s eyes.
Oscar swallowed. “So…”
“Race you inside?” Ryan suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.
Oscar bolted for the house with Ryan hot on his heels, laughing the entire time.
