Are we…?
“You can take your blindfold off,” he instructs, giddiness in his voice.
I probably break a world record with how quickly I pull it down until it drapes on my neck. My eyes instantly find a small cage on top of a table with a small, multi-colored cat inside it.
Oh my God.
My eyes snap to the man who’s grinning ear to ear at me. “What is going on?”
He walks over to the cage and opens it up. There’s an older woman in the corner wearing a t-shirt with a logo I vaguely recognize from animal shelter commercials on TV. “Remember how I told you that I always wanted a dog but never had one?”
Slowly, I nod.
He’s patient as he reaches into the cage, letting the small brown, black, and white cat slowly creep toward him to sniff his fingers. “I was thinking about what you told me back in New York. I’m Garrick Matthews. I can have anything I want.”
I watch as the cat brushes its head against his fingers, letting him scratch the back of its neck before the purring starts. When Garrick gently pulls the cat from the cage and holds it in his arms, all while the happy feline nudges his chin for attention, I melt.
Garrick Matthews is holding a cat.
This would break the internet.
I stare at them and point out the obvious as if he’s confused. “That’s not a dog.”
He grins. “Correct. This is a one-and-a-half-year-old Tortoiseshell cat named Kit-Kat.”
I blink, not registering anything other than the name. “Kit-Kat? Like the snack?”
He nods. “That was his name when he got here.” Readjusting Kit-Kat in his arms, he strokes its back. “Since you always come up with good ideas, the guys and I volunteered at an animal shelter for some good press. Bonding, since they seemed to miss me so damn much for some reason. Turns out, Jax is highly allergic to cats. It was pretty funny.”
Poor Jax. “And that made you decide to get a cat?”
“Not just any cat,” he counters. “This one. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was mine. The plus side is, Jax won’t likely throw anymore parties at the house now that we have a new addition.”
Reality slams into me. “You’re getting a cat?” It’s a dumb question considering he’d already said as much. “I didn’t even know you liked cats. And cats are…they’re a lot of work. We never talked about it. We don’t even have anything it’ll need—”
“Can I have a moment with my wife?” Garrick asks the woman in the corner. The woman nods and slips out the door to give us privacy. He turns to me, still fussing over the cat in his arms. “Why are you freaking out? You’ve told me before that you’ve wanted a pet. Cats are low maintenance and independent once we show them where the things are.”
My eyes go to Kit-Kat. “It’s not that I don’t want one, but pets are commitments. That’s…”
He nods slowly. “Ah. You’re afraid.”
“I’m not—” He gives me a look that stops the words about to escape me. “Okay, yes. I have no idea what’s going on here. I’m confused.”
“About what? A cat?”
“Us, Garrick!” I hiss the words at him, nervously looking at the door. “We’re…getting to know each other in ways that’s foreign to me. And while that’s, er, nice—”
“We both know it’s more than nice based on the way you call out my name, love. But since we’re in public, I’ll let it slide for now.”
Face heating, I push away his casual statement. “The point is, having a pet is a big deal. Just because we both want one doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.”
“Tell me why.”
“Because.”
“Tell. Me. Why.”
I close my eyes and palm them with the heels of my hands knowing I’ll have to say what’s been bothering me for a while now. “I don’t want to do this right now.”
“Well, we are,” he informs me. “Because I need to know where your pretty little head is at. So tell me why it’s wrong. Give me your reasons and I’ll tell you why they’re stupid.”
I deadpan. “Wow. Thanks.”
He simply shrugs.
Eyes going to the door, I drop my voice so nobody can hear. “We’re not really together. Maybe in an intimate sense, but that’s it. What happens when two years are up, and Michael is shoving divorce papers into my hand? I’d have to walk away from you and Kit-Kat, and I’ll be…” Voice hitching, I clear it. “It doesn’t matter what I’ll be. The point is, it’d be difficult to form any type of attachment to an animal and then have to leave it behind.”
His face shadows with anger. “Michael would never do that because I wouldn’t let him.”
“Be reasonable here.”
“I am! Christ.” He puts Kit-Kat back into his cage but doesn’t close the door. Turning to me, he crosses his arms on his chest. “Did you ever think that I want more than two years with you? That sharing a room with you makes me feel content for the first time ever? That watching you garden makes me happy because you’re happy? That hearing you talk about your family brings me peace? That staying up late with you and watching stupid commercials until we nearly buy something we don’t need makes me laugh more than I’ve laughed in a long time?
“You expect the worst in me, Rylee. How about taking a step back and really looking at what’s in front of you. If I thought for even a second that I didn’t want to keep this going for the long term, I wouldn’t have brought you here. I’m not daft, I know what a responsibility a pet is, and I know what that means. You’re afraid that I’ll break our commitment and you’ll be left with nothing. But guess what, love?”
I say nothing, unable to answer his rhetorical question as
