“Are you jealous?” My stomach clenched. If this was some sort of strange kiss me and piss on my leg to mark his territory thing, we were going to have to for real end our fake relationship.
“Yes, but not the way you think. I’m not jealous in that I want you to stop working. I’m jealous because you haven’t told me anything about your job. About who you’ve been with and how they were. About the good stories or the bad. I want to know all of you, Perry. Even the version of you who has sex with other men.”
You could have knocked me over with a feather. “I—really?”
“Really.” Rex’s lips brushed softly against mine. “Really, really. I want to know all about your life. About why you do it, why you like it. I want you to go to work and then tell me how it was and, selfishly, why I’m better.”
I had to laugh at that last part because of the truth dripping from every syllable.
“Well, I happen to have an invitation to do a shoot next week with Quinn. The text message came in before we even left the gym, but I didn’t want to bring it up in public.”
“I think you should do it,” Rex said with a conviction that surprised me. “I think you should have your scene with Quinn, and then I think you should come to my place after and tell me all about it.”
“And then…” And then he’d throw me out. And then he’d be disgusted. And then he wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me. I couldn’t open my eyes and look at him. I just stood there and quietly panicked until he kissed the corner of my mouth.
“And then I can either show you why I’m better, or I can take you into the shower and wash you down from head to toe and spoil you rotten. Or there’s always the secret third option.”
“What’s the secret third option?” I expected him to say something stupid like it’s a secret, or the ever-tiredI’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill youline. Instead his voice was quiet but firm.
“Both.”
TWENTY-ONE
REX
The first testof Perry’s patience came during our date the following weekend. Nigel’s wedding was looming on the horizon, which had originally been the expiration date for whatever this was, but there was no way I was going to give Perry up based on some sort of arbitrary timeline we’d set at the beginning of this whole farce.
We were still playing pretend, though. Acting like boyfriends, doing all the things boyfriends did. We were totally committed to the bit, and we could have just made things official between us, but Perry seemed reluctant to. His shoot with Quinn was right around the corner and I understood why he was hesitant to believe me when I said it was fine with me. That I knew it was his job and that not-so-secretly, I found the idea of him with someone else for work, and then coming home to me for real pleasure, arousing.
For me, the real test was the way he’d reacted during dinner when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I tried to trade off emergency services with one of the other vets in town so weweren’t always the one who got the call, but it was my weekend to be the emergency vet, a task I took seriously.
“I need to take this.” I told Perry, not bothering to leave the table before I answered. Perry nodded and looked on with concern.
“Hello, this is Rex Patterson.”
The frantic caller had a very sick cat. Apparently they’d seen them eat a hair tie and they couldn’t get it back out. And they had been hoping it would pass—spoiler alert—it didn’t. And now their cat wasn’t eating or drinking.
“Bring them to the clinic. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes, maybe less.” As soon as I spoke, I saw Perry flag down the waiter and ask for the check. He softly explained that there was an emergency, and could he please box up our barely touched dinner as quickly as he possibly could.
My next call was Blue. I’d need someone to assist me, because it was highly likely we’d have to operate. By the time I’d wrapped up my call with Blue, Perry was paying the check and our food was mysteriously whisked away only to return as we were standing to leave, packed up in to-go containers.
Most of the time, I’d have been apologizing for having to bail and explaining to a date that yes, someone’s family pet rated higher than them on the priority list when the life of said pet hung in the balance.
Perry arranged for our meal to be boxed up. He’d paid the bill. All without being asked. All because he knew this was important to me.
“I’ll drop you off at home first, and then I’ll swing back around to the clinic.” I nearly suggested that he take an Uber home so I could get to the clinic faster, but I bit my tongue. I didn’t want to shove him in an Uber or just leave him standing on the sidewalk.
“I’ll go with you to the clinic.” Perry said, buckling his seatbelt. “It’s faster than going all the way back to my place. Do you still have those kittens and the momma cat?”
“We do.”
“Then I’ll be just fine. I’ll have a little baby Gumball to hang out with.”
We arrived at the clinic at the same time as Blue, who’d been dropped off by one of his boyfriends. When Blue saw Perry, his face lit up and he trotted over to give Perry a hug. Perry held the bag of leftovers off to the side so Blue could embrace him and he hugged him back with his other arm.
“You were at dinner.” Blue said, eyeing the bag.
“There wasn’t time for me to get home, so I’m going to be a nuisance and play with the kittens while you two work.”
