15
XANDER
If I’d thought goingto dinner with Milo the first time was a mistake, it was nothing compared to watching him curl his tongue around an ice cream spoon while he made appreciative noises.
Especially not when Hayden treated him like his new favorite person for all the smart, insightful things he had to say. Okay, Hayden was happily married to a man who he clearly adored and was lucky to have, but that didn’t help the way I felt when Milo lit up talking to him.
Like Mark said earlier, that one wasmine.
Which was a ridiculous thing to think. Milo didn’t belong to anyone and he definitely didn’t belong to me, and I didn’t want him to, either.
But I did want him to smile at me. I wanted the way he lit up when he was having a good time to be directed at me.
I was kidding myself if I thought I could pretend that wasn’t true. Which was inconvenient, because the fact remained that Milo had freaked out when I tried to kiss him.
A pitiful meow from my pocket snapped me out of staring at the way Hayden had his hand resting on the back of Milo’s chair.
Seth’s eyes fell on me like a heat-seeking missile.
Next to me, Harvey—Iggy’s fiancé—turned and raised an eyebrow. I opened my coat a little way so he could see the kitten pocket and grinned back at him when his face softened. Just like Milo’s had. Except less cute, because sweet as Harvey was, it wasn’t him I wanted.
Which was just as well, because I wouldn’t have wanted to have to fight Iggy for him, either. He was a little narrower than me across the shoulders, but I had no doubt he fought dirty. Especially when the love of his life was involved.
“Feeding time?” Milo asked from across the table, attention on me—well, on Orion—now, instead of Hayden.
My alarm went off before I could answer.
Wes was only too eager to warm up Orion’s formula for me, and as I stood to head outside—I knew the crowd would be too much for one tiny kitten—Milo got up too and followed me out.
Something about that made something in the pit of my stomach try out a new gymnastics routine.
“You really don’t have to come with me,” I said as we both stepped out of the warmth of the ice cream parlor and into the cool late-spring air. The nights were heating up now, but it was still more comfortable inside.
I couldn’t wait for the long summer nights warm enough to sleep outside on. Maybe I could convince Dante to camp on the beach with me sometime, if I didn’t have any kittens that needed constant attention.
Milo shrugged. “I’m here with you,” he said. “I wasn’t about to leave you out here all by yourself.”
“A gentleman,” I said, smiling as I tried to coax Orion out of my pocket one-handed.
Without me even thinking of it, Milo took the formula for me and held it against his sweater. To keep it warm.
He’d been paying attention.
I’d been right. Kindest, sweetest man I’d ever met.
My phone went off again while I was setting up the next alarm.
Seth: he’s smoking hot, Xander
Seth: for my sake, please tell me you’re taking full advantage of all 80 inches of him
I looked up at Milo. Okay, he was tall enough, but only an inch or so taller than me, and I was 5’10”, so he couldn’t have been more than…
I paused to do the math while Milo patiently hung onto the kitten formula and didn’t say a word.
A gentleman. I was right about that, too.
Xander: he can’t be more than 72 inches
