Page 52

Theo

I put another cat back into its kennel and take a deep breath. “Hey, Makie. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure!” she replies. “About the job?” My impromptu interview with Aileen went well, and she said I could come in to start some training at the shelter tomorrow morning. As excited as I am, there’s been something else weighing on me since we got to the event.

“No, it’s…about Ben.” I glance behind me to where he and Annie are waiting in line at the bar. She’s all over him, and he has his arm around her shoulders, but he seems distracted, searching the crowd with a slight frown.

“Yeah, it’s so crazy that you two are together! Honestly, I never would’ve thought that would work, but you seem really happy, Theo.”

“So, you knew him when he volunteered at Found Family?”

“Yeah, when I worked there, but then I took my new job and he hasn’t been around since…well, I’m sure he’s told you.”

“What was the deal with him and–”

“Niko?” says Mak, glancing behind her. “I really don’t know all the details, Theo, but I will say that…

whatever was going on with them didn’t end well.

Niko took it really hard when Ben got in trouble.

He felt so guilty, and he tried to apologize for months and months, but Ben wouldn’t answer him.

Then one day, I came in to work and Niko told me if Ben ever showed up at the shelter again, not to buzz him into the building.

I never heard another word about it after that, and I didn’t even see Ben until today. ”

“What?” My stomach sinks and I have to fight back the wave of despair crashing through my body. I think Annie can sense it through our weird connection, because she looks at me across the room and frowns.

“Don’t get me wrong,” says Mak, putting a hand on my arm, “Ben isn’t dangerous or anything. There were a lot of…emotions, with the whole priesthood situation. I think one of them didn’t handle it very well, but I really don’t know any more than that.”

I let out a long sigh and approach another cat in a kennel, who comes to the bars, meowing loudly. “I trust him. I just didn’t think we’d have to deal with something like this…on top of everything else.”

“You mean Ros? I thought you two were ok?”

I realize I’ve said too much and backpedal quickly. “Well, yeah…I just mean…”

“Annika?” Mak lifts an eyebrow. “You wanna tell me about that…situation?” She grins, and I can tell she’s trying to distract me from talking about Ben and Niko.

When I answer, I can’t help but smile too. “It’s…a bit different than what I’m used to, but it’s working. For now.”

“For now?”

Fuck. I did it again. “Well…she’s on some weird type of visa.” I can’t believe how easily I’m making this shit up. “So, she might have to go home soon if she can’t get an…extension approved. I’m not sure what will happen.”

“But for now…you’re happy?” Mak says, passing me a very fat gray tabby cat. I scratch her between the ears, and she rubs her little head against my chin.

“Yeah, I am,” I tell Mak, trying to tamp down on my actual emotions.

This cat is sweet, but I can’t stop thinking about the ‘mangy’ brown one behind me.

The one who can’t even meow properly. He’s the skinniest and least friendly cat here—the one that needs the most love—and I guess that makes him perfect for my off-kilter little family. I pass the fat tabby back to Mak.

“I think…I wanna take that guy home,” I say, pointing back.

“Really?” Mak coos. “Oh, that’s perfect! I was so afraid he wouldn’t get adopted! Come on, let’s go do some paperwork and then I’ll let you get a drink to celebrate.”

“Sure. Gonna have to change his name though. I don’t know about Brownie,” I laugh, going back to stand in front of the kennel and sticking my fingers through.

He just lays there and stares at me, so I follow Mak over to a table where the shelter employees have all the adoption paperwork spread out.

Once I fill out the forms, Mak lets me put an ‘I’ve been adopted!

’ tag on the brown cat’s kennel. She snaps a photo for the shelter’s social media pages, then gives me a rib-crushing hug.

“I’m really happy for you, Theo,” she says, beaming, “and I also miss you! You need to come back to karaoke night soon! Bring Annie and Ben!”

“Yeah, text me the details,” I reply, actually feeling excited about it.

Karaoke nights with Mak, Zayd, and Jaime used to be a regular thing in college.

Even after we graduated, we would try to get together for them at least once a month, with Ros and Mak’s girlfriend both tagging along.

I know Ben will be excited. He strikes me as a karaoke guy.

I scan the crowd, looking for him and Annie, and find them browsing some of the pet-related merchandise on the tables, each with a drink in their hand.

As I approach, Annie giggles and sets her cup down, then picks up a thick black dog collar from the table and clips it around Ben’s neck.

When she turns it around, I see the words ‘Good Boy’ embroidered on the side. I almost burst out laughing.

“Like it was custom made for you,” I tell him as I walk up .

Ben faces me, his dimples on full display.

“Not the kind of collar I’m used to wearing, but I think I like this better,” he says with a wink.

Maybe, officially claiming him as my boyfriend in public has made me feel a little bolder than usual, because I hook my finger through the collar’s metal ring and pull him in for a kiss.

“It’s good, but I think you need this one.” I pick up a red collar off the table that says ‘Bad to the Bone’, and Ben throws his head back, laughing loudly while Annie giggles until she snorts. I lean down to sniff her cup and get a nose full of Fireball.

“How many of these have you had, sweetheart?” I ask her gently.

She just giggles again, takes the ‘Good Boy’ collar off Ben and puts it on me, then clips the ‘Bad to the Bone’ one around his neck.

The girl standing behind the table looks up from her phone, cackles, and asks if she can take a picture of us for her business website.

My anxiety flares up a little, but Ben and Annie’s laughter is too infectious for me to worry about anything else right now.

After she takes the picture and we remove the collars, Ben asks her to text it to him, then he sets it as his phone background.

Annie walks a few feet ahead of us, inspecting all the items for sale, but Ben stays back and holds my hand.

“When were you going to tell me about what happened with you and Niko?” I ask him softly when Annie drifts away to admire a beautiful blue macaw perched behind one of the vendor tables. Ben quickly downs the rest of his rum and Coke, then tosses it into a nearby trash can and turns to look at me.

“Did Mak tell you?” he asks, his face is deadly serious now.

“I asked her, and she didn’t give me details, but–”

“He’s here today,” Ben says quickly. “Mak told me he’s here at the event somewhere. Just…so you know. That’s the only reason she brought it up.”

“Can you tell me what happened?” I lace my fingers through his so he knows that I’m not going anywhere.

Falterin gly, he explains his history with Niko, including what happened after he was laicized.

My stomach tightens, but I can’t bring myself to be upset with him.

I know a little of what it feels like to have the rug yanked out from under you like that, your whole life falling apart before your eyes.

When it happened to me, I just pulled away, withdrew from everyone.

Ben lashed out, and I can’t judge him for that, especially when I can tell how much he regrets it.

Annie finds her way back to us while he’s talking and tucks herself under his arm.

“Well, we have our new cat now, so we could just go home…” she suggests quietly when he finishes speaking.

Ben shakes his head. “No, I’m not running away. If I see Niko, I’m just gonna man up and apologize. I owe him that. Don’t worry, mi amor .” He kisses the top of her head and we keep walking. I buy a few things for the new cat, and tell Ben and Annie to start thinking about names.

When we’re ready to leave, we go back to the adoption area, where Mak already has him waiting in a carrier.

She and Jaime make me swear that we’ll all come to karaoke night soon, threatening to repossess the cat if we don’t.

I’m on Cloud 9 as we make our way out into the parking lot, until we walk out the front doors and I hear a rather timid voice behind us.

“Ben?”

The man standing beside a concrete pillar smoking a cigarette is cute, in a nerdy kind of way–blond curls hanging over his blue eyes, thick glasses, and a maroon sweater vest. I have to assume this is Niko based on the fact that he’s looking at Ben like a kicked puppy.

“Niko…” Ben’s voice is spiked with anxiety.

He glances at me and pulls his keys out.

“Hey, uh…can I meet you two at the car?” I don’t want to leave him alone for this.

I want to stand there and hold his hand and make sure he knows that Annie and I love him no matter what, but she tugs on my sle eve, pulling me away.

I swallow and just say, “Yeah, that’s fine.” Holding the cat carrier tight in one hand, we walk across the parking lot. When I glance back at Ben, Annie gently takes my other hand.

“He will be alright,” she assures me, but as soon as we get to the car, I put the cat in the backseat and Annie and I sit in the front, where we can watch Ben talking to Niko on the sidewalk in front of the building.

“I hate this,” I tell her, tapping my fingers anxiously on the steering wheel.

“Do you not think that Niko deserves an apology?”

“Of course he does! But…I just hate that Ben feels like he has to do it alone. When Ros came over, he was there for me. I wouldn’t have made it through that without him. And you too…” I take her hand and kiss the back of it.