Page 14

PRESENT DAY

Atticus felt like someone had punched him in the gut. His breath huffed out in a whoosh as his eyes flew open. He came fully awake to the sight of the kitten using his abs as a springboard. She flung herself off of him, continuing her mad dash around the room.

“Girlie, I don’t think that’s necessary,” he wheezed, still reeling from getting the breath knocked out of him.

The kitten continued to scramble around the room, her nails scraping against the hardwood floor in a way that made him wince.

He grabbed his phone, blinking at the sudden light.

Six in the morning. A little earlier than he liked to get up normally, but he was fully awake now so no sense in trying to go back to sleep.

Atticus rolled out of bed, flicking the light on, finally noticing a little bit of a smell permeating his room. He sniffed himself before glancing around.

There was cat shit in the corner.

He sighed. At least she hadn’t done it on the bed. Atticus mentally made note of making sure to get a litter box first.

The kitten flew out of his room the moment the door was opened.

Atticus followed, watching as she ran through the house while he gathered stuff to clean up her mess.

It didn’t take him long, but by the time he was done and back in his living room, she had managed to knock every throw pillow off his couch, scatter some Wildcats forms he’d left out, and was perched on one of the end tables.

Right next to a glass of water he’d forgotten to put away.

The kitten stared at him, faint light from the sunrise glinting off her golden eyes, body stiff and completely still.

“Don’t you dare,” Atticus whispered, voice low so as not to wake his house guest. They watched each other for a long moment. A stand off.

The kitten moved, body jerking to the side as her paw snapped out and smacked the glass.

Atticus watched it fall in slow motion before it hit the hardwood floor and shattered.

The crash broke the complete silence that had engulfed the house.

Atticus cringed as the kitten hopped off the end table, calmly walking over to one of the pillows she’d knocked to the floor and curling into a ball on top of it.

He was still sweeping up the shards of glass when he felt another presence enter the room. He turned, his body going still at the sight of a very sleepy Kai entering the kitchen.

“What happened?”

Kai’s voice was huskier than normal, his words thick with sleep. His hair was mussed up and a bit tangled, eyelids heavy, shoulders slumped as he made his way to one of the barstools and perched there. He kept his gaze trained on Atticus.

“She knocked over a glass,” Atticus said, waving toward the sleeping creature. He realized he was staring and pulled his attention back to the broom in his hands. “Sorry we woke you up. ”

Kai huffed out a small laugh. “I can’t remember the last time I was up this early.”

Atticus grinned. “Gimme a minute and I’ll get some coffee going.”

He could feel Kai’s gaze on him as he moved through the kitchen, first tossing out the broken glass before moving to the coffee pot. Once he had that going, he turned, meeting Kai’s steady stare.

“I don’t usually do anything fancy for breakfast,” he said. “There’s still some rice and leftover veggies from yesterday. Oatmeal. Some fruit too.”

Kai smirked. “You’re not going to cook every meal for me while I’m here?”

“No,” Atticus said, smiling as he leaned on the counter, closing some of the distance between them. “Not every meal. But a bunch of ‘em.”

“I was kidding.” Kai looked a little flustered, and Atticus felt his grin widen. “You don’t need to cook for me, it’s enough that you’re letting me stay here.”

“I don’t mind. It’s kind of nice, actually,” Atticus said. “Feels a little sad just cooking for one person all the time, ya know?”

“Not really.” Kai laughed softly, and Atticus thought that hearing that laugh first thing in the morning was the best possible way to start his day. “Cooking isn’t really my thing.”

“Yeah,” Atticus teased, “I’ve seen all the takeout boxes.”

“We can’t all be good at everything.”

“Are you saying I’m good at everything?”

Kai rolled his eyes, pulling a full laugh from Atticus.

“Well, I’m not cooking for you this morning, so help yourself to whatever,” Atticus said, grabbing an orange from a bowl on the counter. “I’m going for a run soon, you in?”

Kai gave him a bored stare. “Attie. It’s way too early to be running. ”

“Nah!” Atticus moved around to the other side of the counter, bumping Kai’s shoulder, his insides buzzing at the nickname.

Only his family had ever called him Attie.

Hearing it from Kai, it filled him with a sense of comfort.

A sense of something that felt a little like home. “Come on, it’ll be good for you!”

Kai flopped forward, head falling onto his arms, messy hair fanning out. It took everything in Atticus to keep his hands to himself, to not reach out and run his fingers through the soft strands. Kai released a hearty groan.

“Give me twenty minutes,” he finally mumbled, his voice muffled. Atticus chuckled. He glanced toward the kitten, still napping on her pillow, before glancing back at the dishes he’d left drying on the rack the night before. Best to put those away before she caused another incident.

Twenty minutes later the kitchen counters were cleared and Atticus was waiting just outside the front door. He stretched, relishing the cool morning air on his skin. It was a pretty day, the sky giving way to a bright, cloudless blue. He turned as the door swung inward.

Kai had changed into athletic wear, shorts that showed off his slim, toned legs, a long-sleeved shirt that hugged his skin and left nothing to Atticus' imagination. He could feel his eyes being drawn to that soft, slender waist, forced himself not to stare, pulling his gaze up toward Kai’s face. Wasn’t much better.

A braid. Kai had braided his hair back, and all Atticus could think about when he saw it was how much he wanted to tug on it.

A few strands of hair had already escaped, pink ends falling around Kai’s face, framing his wide stare.

He looked a little more awake as he began working through some stretches as well.

Atticus wasn’t going to make it. Why had he invited Kai to run with him?

He knew his own weaknesses. A hot guy in polyester?

Done. He was done. And now he had that braid to contend with as well, a new discovery.

He couldn’t stop thinking about wrapping his hand around it, pulling just enough to expose Kai’s throat, leaning in and…

“Ready?”

Kai’s voice yanked Atticus out of his thoughts, which had been headed toward dangerous territory that the thin fabric of his own shorts wouldn’t have been able to disguise.

Atticus shook himself, bouncing in place, focusing on anything besides how good Kai looked.

“Let’s go!”

He took off, Kai right behind him.

Kai and Atticus stood side-by-side in the aisle, staring at the vibrant display of color before them.

“There are so many,” Atticus whispered, a little awed.

“How do we know which ones she’ll like?” Kai turned to look at him. Atticus was already reaching out, snatching toys off the shelves.

“Guess we just have to get one of everything,” he said, shrugging. Kai looked back at the display, eyes searching.

They’d been in the pet supply store for half an hour already, had arrived right as one of the employees was flipping the sign from ‘closed’ to ‘open’.

Their cart was already pretty full- a litter box, a couple of small beds, a pet carrier, some food that Atticus had spoken with the vet about.

He’d called earlier that morning, right after their run, setting up an appointment for later in the day and asking a few questions.

Kai had watched and listened, still out of breath from the exercise.

Atticus' face had lit up when the vet mentioned that the chances of their kitten already belonging to someone else were slim. Kai could see the excitement there in his eyes, in the way they crinkled at the corners as he smiled brightly. It had made his insides flip-flop in a very noticeable way.

He looked over to see Atticus smiling in that exact way now, and his body reacted just the same. It was probably best to ignore his flopping insides for the time being.

As soon as it became clear that he would most likely be able to keep the kitten, Atticus had been full send on the idea, insisting they immediately go pick up some supplies.

It was cute, the way he was so enamored by the tiny creature, even if Kai’s mind, his heart, rejected the way it made him feel.

He kind of got it, though. The excitement. She was a pretty cute little cat.

Kai reached out, grabbing a toy hanging from one of the pegs.

“I think she’ll like this one.”

Atticus glanced over, pausing with an arm full of glittery, fuzzy balls and stuffed mice. Kai held up his find- a long stick with a string hanging down, a bell and a feather attached to the end.

“Yep,” Atticus said matter-of-factly. “Put it in the cart.”

Kai’s phone pinged right as he placed the toy into their basket. He casually checked the screen, turning away from Atticus as soon as he saw who the text was from.

Nicholas: I just wanted to make sure you got my message yesterday.

Maybe you’ve blocked my number already, I hope not.

I hope that we can just sit down and talk while I’m still in town, I hope that you’ll let that happen.

I’m so afraid that too much time has passed, that it’s too late to fix things now.

But we were friends first Kai, we were friends for so long.

I have to believe that we can get back to that place. Please just talk to me .