Page 27 of Approved

“What did they say?” I was eager to find out the tiny kitten’s prognosis.

“They think they are between ten and fourteen days old, and since I went to all the neighbors, then called all the clinics, they suspect he had been taken and then dropped by another animal.”

“What? Like a dog?”

“They said a dog or a large bird most likely. If they hear of a missing kitten, they will let me know. With that information, odds are it’s a boy, based on visual inspection, but they can’t tell me the gender one hundred percent. Since we are about to go into the weekend, they could send it to the ASPCA facility, but they couldn’t say what would happen afterward.”

“You.” I couldn’t believe he had even considered leaving it, but he didn’t say that I made an assumption. “So what did you decide?”

“He’s going to stay with me. There was no way I would put this guy through any more than he already has been. They need to be home with us.” The word home comforted me somewhat, but the term us caused a lump in my throat. “Here is the thing, though, for the next few weeks, they must be fed every three to four hours, which means long nights and days. I can take him to the bar with me, and I am already scheduled off tomorrow.”

“I’ll be with you and help.” He turned his head and looked at me, and I looked at him. Neither of us said anything, which confused me. The car behind us beeped when the light turnedgreen. “Oh.” As we drove, I could feel West looking at the side of my head. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Waiting until your brain catches up with your mouth.” He smiled at me like he knew something I didn’t know.

I ran through everything we had talked about, and then it hit me: “Ohhhhhhhh.” At that moment, I realized that I liked West a lot because I was comfortable enough to assume we were in this together. “If that’s okay?”

He chuckled, “It’s more than okay. I think this might change our date, though. I’d still love to spend the day with you. We just have to work it around feeding the little one.”

My heart pounded harder than it had a right to. “I’d like that.” “Good. We’ll still have fun, I promise.” He grinned at me. “Anyhow, it appears they are in good shape, healthy, hungry, but they are an orphan. So I guess I am the mama.” He sounded bashful when he said it. “I feel better now since my panic was warranted. They shouldn’t be on their own at this age. They can’t even walk yet. My poor baby is probably terrified.”

Everything in me warmed with affection for this man, which turned into desire. I wanted him. It was lucky that my needs lined up with my inviting myself to spend the night. “They have their new ‘Mama’ and will grow big and strong.”

He looked at me weirdly but didn’t say anything as we parked. “Let me get them in the house, then I’ll help with groceries.”

West had no idea what I had purchased for his new baby, but I figured that would be my little surprise. I admired his body as he walked away, watching how he held himself. Now that I approved of him, I embraced the whole package. This was the first time I would get to know a guy, date, and even consider a future in seven years. I hoped I wouldn’t regret it.

He came back out and grabbed the grocery bags. “Are you having a dinner party you forgot to invite me to?”

“I only got stuff for dinner.” He looked at me, not buying it at all.

It could be that I had gone overboard, but I had so many ideas about what I wanted to cook for him, and now that I would be there for the remainder of the day and tomorrow, I was glad that I bought so much.

Since he had grabbed the remainder of the groceries, I started to unload the trunk. Wrestling one of the bigger boxes up the sidewalk, West came out the door. “Hey Tyler, what’s…” He stopped mid-sentence while I continued to fight the unwieldy box up his walkway. “Tyler? What is all this?”

“Hehe.” I freaking giggled. “You are a cat dad now, you need cat things.” There was already a pile of items at the door that I had moved before he came back out. There was a litter box, litter, several kinds of kitten food, cat formula, toys, and various other random items. The biggest purchase was a seven-foot tree for the kitten that couldn’t even walk yet.

He looked at the giant box and then at me with a huge smile. He said nothing but shook his head and helped me get everything inside, including the cat tree. When he closed the front door, I looked at the things I had purchased. He moved closer to me.

“Tyler, what have you done?” He smiled even bigger and chuckled, then got even closer, his hands sliding my jacket off my shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. He let his hands run up and down my arms. It was soothing, and I moved closer to him until there wasn’t more than an inch between us. “This seems like an awful lot for a kitten that can’t eat on its own yet.” He was right. “How did you know I would keep the kitten?”

That was a question easily answered. “Because it picked you. You are a good person, a sweet man, and someone who would never let something so vulnerable navigate this world alone.”

He pulled me against him, one of his hands going around my back, the other running gently down my jaw, stopping and holding my chin. “You think very highly of me. Thank you for that.” Then he drew my mouth to his, our lips touched and teased. My nerves kicked up while his tongue moved over my bottom lip, warm and gentle. I opened for him and dove into his mouth, searching for the heat.

When his hand slid to the back of my head, he deepened the kiss, and I went right along with it. As our tongues battled my cock filled, a low groan escaped from me. His mouth was magic, my entire body felt electrified, and my worries about being with West faded away in that moment. I wanted him more than I had ever wanted someone. I appreciated his patience while he let me decide where we would go with our friendship. It had been weeks, but there was electricity there, and I was ready to explore it more completely.

“West.” His name was the only thing my brain could come up with. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to ask him to take me to his bed or drop to my knees right here amongst the cat supplies. His mouth was on mine again, then he kissed up my jaw, and sucked along my neck as he moved us around the things on the floor to his couch, where I sat when my legs made contact.

“Is this okay?” My answer was to pull him to my lap. As soon as he straddled me, I could feel his hardness as he strained against his zipper. We took a minute to breathe. Unable to stop completely, I kissed his neck, to his collarbone, and opened his shirt. Under my touch, he wiggled and moaned, his hips sought friction, which allowed me to look between us.

“Fuck. West, you are…” How did you tell a man you thought he had a big cock when you could only see it through his jeans. Before I started taking this further, I wanted to make sure we were on the same page. I ran my tongue along his trapeziusridge, then up his neck until I was right against his ear. “I want you.”

He retook my mouth like he was starved for me, our lips were already bruised, and our need ramped up. “Tyler, I want you, too.”

That was all the confirmation I needed. I unbuttoned his shirt, pulled it off, then stopped to stare at all the exposed skin. He had an incredible body, broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and defined abs. “Holy fuck West. I didn’t expect all this under those Western shirts you wear.”

He smirked at me. “Do you like?”

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