Even if the desire to smooch him was at an all-time high. But then it wasn’tnew, either. I’d gone to bed with my phone still in my hand, imagining he was right there with me, more times than I cared to admit.
“Can’t believe you never told me your dad was on a crusade to murder you,” I joked between sips of beer. “I would’ve come to rescue you.”
“You didn’t mention an asshole boyfriend,” Milo said, not quite as casually as he probably wanted to.
Right. Brady.
I’d thought maybe I was going to get away with not discussing it. But now that Milo had brought it up, I knew he deserved the truth.
“I didn’t have one,” I said. “I mean… it’s complicated.”
“We don’t have to talk about it,” Milo said, carefully looking away from me.
But we did have to talk about it, because I didn’t want him to think I was the kind of person who’d flirt shamelessly with another man while I had a boyfriend.
“Brady and I dated in high school,” I said. “Then he left to go… make his fortune or whatever. I dunno. He’s just quit a different job every time he shows up on my doorstep, and every time he shows up he just steps into my life like he never left. Last week he showed up again after over a year of no contact at all and literally just dumped his bag on my bed.”
Milo wrinkled his nose. I’d gotten tired of people telling me they were on my side, but it was nice to know that he was.
“What did you do?”
“Threw it into the street from the upstairs window and told him not to come back again,” I admitted. “Not my most mature moment.”
Milo’s brows rose. “Sounds mature to me,” he said, twirling his beer bottle. “He’d obviously been treating you like crap for years. You put your foot down. That’s what grownups do.”
“Dante said the same. More or less. There was more astrology involved,” I said.
“Get the feeling there always is with him.” Milo smirked as he tipped back the last of his beer. “Kinda like him though. Get you another?” he asked, nodding to my bottle.
A tiny meow from inside my coat interrupted me before I could respond. Milo’s eyes widened.
Which I guessed made sense, since I’d never gotten around to mentioning that Orion was third-wheeling tonight. Oops.
“Is that… is that a kitten in your pocket?” he asked, nodding to where my jacket was visibly squirming.
“Would you believe I’m just happy to see you?” I joked.
Milo blinked at me.
“I really meant to mention him,” I said, opening up my jacket so Milo could see the special removable kitten pocket Dante had sewed into it for just this kind of situation.
“He needs to be fed—”
The alarm on my phone went off, and I laughed at the timing. Orion had gotten used to his feeding schedule.
“Every two hours,” I finished once I’d shut the alarm off. “I have formula, I just need these guys to microwave it.”
“You have a secret kitten compartment in your jacket,” Milo said, still staring at the fluffy little head sticking out of it.
“He needs the body heat.” I shrugged. “What if you cuddle him while I get those beers and his formula microwaved?” I asked, already easing Orion out of my pocket.
“You’d trust me with a tiny kitten?” Milo asked like I was offering him the crown jewels of a foreign monarchy or something. Not that I wouldn’t have trusted him with those, either.
I trusted Milo. He’d never given me any reason not to.
“Obviously,” I said. “As long as you’re warm, you can’t screw this up,” I said, offering him my fluffy little bundle.
Milo took Orion with gentle hands, holding them steady so I could transfer him over without any chance of dropping him.
