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“Are you comfortable?” Brandt asks when I walk into the bedroom. He’s folding down the blankets on the bed and I don’t miss the once over he gives me. I’m fresh from the shower and wearing his clothes he loaned me. This is definitely not how I thought the night was going to go.

“I am, thank you.” I move to the other side of the bed and help him pull down the top sheet. “And thanks for the clothes.”

“I folded yours on the dresser.” He points to the long dresser with a mirror on the back.

It gives a view of the whole bed as well as most of the room.

The room itself isn’t huge, but it’s homey.

The walls are white, but covered with artwork and photos.

The long dresser is situated against one wall next to the closet door.

There’s a nightstand on one side of the bed, where Brandt is standing.

I’m assuming that’s his usual side of the bed.

“Figured you’ll need them tomorrow. If you need to borrow a clean shirt, that’s okay too. ”

“I appreciate it,” I say honestly. “Thank you for tonight, for not freaking out when I mentioned everything.”

“It’s what you like,” Brandt says easily.

He slides into the bed and I follow after.

We settle down quietly, facing each other.

We’re far enough apart in his queen size mattress that there’s no chance of any funny business.

Even if I wouldn’t mind a little funny business.

“Some aspects of it are interesting and definitely fall in line with things I like, but I’ll have to do more research on it. ”

“I’m still new to it,” I say. “So, I mean, it isn’t like it’s a make it or break it type of thing. If it turns out it isn’t something you like.”

Brandt offers me a smile instead of answering right away. I watch him silently as he scoots closer to the middle. His foot connects with mine, rubbing across my ankle and the top of my foot. It’s such a small touch but I can feel myself relaxing a bit more.

“It might be new to you,” he says quietly, “but I can see it’s important, Ty. Plus, I think it would be a really good thing for you to have an outlet for any stress. Whatever form that comes in, it’s better than nothing.”

“I –” I honestly don’t know what to say to that. I decide to go with a quiet, “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Brandt says just as quietly. “Can I ask you something else?”

I nod, not sure what else there is to ask.

I know we didn’t talk about it a lot but I’m sure he did some research while I was in the shower.

I let out a small laugh when Fluff jumps up and looks between the two of us.

I don’t think he’s used to seeing someone else in the bed with his daddy, which is a thought that makes me happy for selfish reasons.

Fluff moves to rub against Brandt before turning and plopping down next to me, showing his belly for me to pet.

“Hey, buddy. Are you supposed to be up here?”

“Well, he definitely just stole my move of getting you next to me.” Brandt brushes his hand against Fluff’s head, scratching behind his ears.

“Were you going to just flop over in front of me and show me your belly, too?” I ask with a smile.

“I will if it’ll work,” Brandt says, his face serious. It makes me chuckle a bit. I kiss the back of Fluff’s head, glancing at Brandt. “Oh, now that’s just mean.”

“Sorry, the spot’s been filled tonight,” I say. I wrap an arm around Fluff and pull him to my chest. He purrs against me and I feel his tongue on my chin.

“Fine.” Brandt flops onto his back and sighs loudly. It’s funny and I startle Fluff by laughing. He meows loudly and then squirms until I let him free.

“You scared him,” I reach a hand across the space and push against Brandt’s shoulder. He turns back to face me, then proceeds to roll over until he’s up against me, laying on his back. In a quick motion, he pushes the blanket down and pulls the front of his shirt up, showing his toned stomach.

“Does this get me cuddles and a kiss?” Brandt’s expression is playful, if not a bit serious. I don’t know what to say to that. He pulls his shirt down, but doesn’t move away from me. I have maybe a foot of space in this whole bed now. “Meow?”

The laugh that bubbles out of me is sudden and takes both of us by surprise. Brandt joins my laughter and soon, we’re both in the middle of the bed and I’m cuddled against his body with his arm around me. His fingertips glide softly up and down my back, right between my shoulder blades.

“That was the weirdest, yet smoothest move.” I tilt my head back to look at Brandt’s face. “I’m impressed.”

“It was the meowing, wasn’t it?” He asks. “You got a thing for cats, Ty?”

“That’s weird.” I scrunch up my nose and settle my head back against his shoulder. He must have taken a shower before I came over because I can smell the same scent I used just minutes ago.

“It is, a little, isn’t it?” I can feel him turn his head toward me, but I don’t move. I keep my eyes focused on the blanket and where Brandt’s toes tent the blanket at the foot of the bed. Fluff is nowhere to be seen. “I’m glad you stayed tonight.”

I smile to myself at those words. There really wasn’t any hesitation in my decision to stay. I know I shouldn’t feel bad and need to move on from Mark, but this quick? We had our fun moments and he was the first guy I was with, but it didn’t work out.

“Hey.” Brandt’s voice is quiet. He shifts, moving so he’s eye level with me again. He keeps his arm under the pillow I’m using. “What has you thinking so hard?”

I don’t know how much I should tell him. I don’t even know what we’re doing. Sharing a bed with him, joking about kissing and cuddling, wasn’t on the list for tonight. I thought we would have dinner, maybe chat or watch a movie. I look up at Brandt and give him the weakest smile.

“Just this night,” I say. “How easily you took the news of what I like and how I didn’t plan this night to end like this.”

“You’ll find out that I’m quite open minded, Ty.”

I close my eyes, not sure what else I can say in response to that. I feel soft lips press against my forehead for a second. I melt further into the mattress and focus on that one sensation until I’m falling asleep.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” I hear a voice in my ear.

It’s close, close enough that I can feel the breath of air against my skin.

I crack one eye open and see Brandt leaning over the edge of the bed.

“It’s early, but I have breakfast ready if you’d like to get up and eat.

You have about thirty minutes before you have to leave for work. ”

“Thirty?” I sit up, my vision swimming just a bit. Brandt’s hands are instantly on my lap and my back.

“Are you okay?” he asks. “Take it slow getting up.”

“I’m good,” I say. “Guess I just slept really well. I’ll take my medicine before I get to work.”

“Please do,” he says. “Let’s get you some food now, though. Come on.”

He takes my hands and helps me up, only letting go once I take a step away from the bed. I know it’s the medical professional in him, but if we’re starting any type of relationship, treating me like a fall risk all the time isn’t going to be fun.

Breakfast is scrambled eggs with avocado toast. It looks and smells amazing. I sit down at the small table he has in the kitchen and he sits across from me with a smoothie of some sort. It’s green and doesn’t look all that appetizing.

“You wear your expressions on your face, you know that, right?” Brandt says with an amused expression. “You took one look at my drink and your whole face just contorted into pure disgust.”

“It’s… Green.” I have no other words for it.

“It’s healthy, Ty.” He takes a sip and then nods toward my plate. “Yours is too, if you would eat it.”

I roll my eyes, but pick up the fork beside my plate. The eggs are sprinkled with salt, something I know is good for my new diet. The avocado toast is delicious, even if I’m not a fan of green things.

We sit in silence while we eat, and drink, our breakfasts. When I take the last bite, Brandt grabs my plate before I can even stand up and turns toward the sink.

“If you want to go get dressed, I’ll clean this up.” I nod and head back to his bedroom. My clothes are right where they were last night. I don’t want there to be questions of why I’m wearing the same thing, so I decide to keep the shirt I already have on.

Brandt is sitting on the couch with Fluff when I walk back into the living room. I smile at the sight. Fluff is perched in the space between Brandt’s folded legs.

“Hey, Fluff.” I sit beside them and reach out to pet the cat. “You are a cutie. Daddy was mean to kick you off the bed last night, wasn’t he?”

Brandt scoffs and holds his hands over Fluff’s ears. “His Daddy loves him. You take that back.”

I glance up at Brandt and smile. I stand back up and reach for my phone I left on the table last night. “I guess I’ll see you later,” I say.

“I have to work this weekend, but do you want to come over on Monday? I’m off on Tuesday.”

“I have to work both days.” I’m not sure our days off will overlap much. I know he’s off on Saturdays, however he was able to get that schedule, but that’s about it.

“I’ll leave it up to you,” Brandt says. He walks me to the door and wraps me in a hug. “Have a good day and don’t forget to take your medicine, okay?”

“I won’t.” I give him a genuine smile. “Thank you for last night. I had fun.”

When I get to work, I make sure to grab my medicine and head into the coffee shop. Austin and Orion are already inside, as usual. Daniella is getting a coffee as well.