Page 41 of Approved

I slapped him on the arm. “I will do no such thing. That man is mine, and mine alone. You better not be having inappropriate thoughts about my boyfriend.” Reminding me that we never had the boyfriend talk, but the title fit.

He laughed. “I would never!”

I knew he teased me, but I felt rather strong emotions regarding someone thinking about MY Tyler. Unsure what food Tyler and Jamie would want, I went with something almost everyone liked, and I could get a variety to allow for all kinds ofpreferences. When I pulled up in front of Flower Power, most stores were closed, but the lights blazed in Tyler’s shop. I could see Jamie and Tyler at the counters, surrounded by flowers in the same colors. I hoped he hadn’t eaten already.

Once I pulled the four bags of food out of my car, I realized we had enough for at least six, but they could take leftovers home. There was also a container with raw meat and vegetables for Earl, since that would probably be better than something covered in sauce.

When I approached the front door, Jamie saw me. I watched as Tyler turned to look out the front of the store. The look on his face was pure sunshine and made the hairs stand up on my body, and butterflies took full flight in my chest and stomach. He was so happy to see me; that was all I wanted. Someone looked at me like my being there was the best thing ever.

He unlocked and opened the door. “You’re here.”

“I am. I hope that’s okay.” Holding up the bags, “Chinese food for three.”

“If you don’t lock this man down, Tyler, I am going to,” Jamie said as she walked over and took the bags from me. “I’m starving. Earl, let’s go.”

The little dragon followed Jamie, while Tyler moved toward me, and we wrapped our arms around each other. “Thank you.” He said against my chest, then looked up for a kiss, which I happily gave him.

“I knew you two were working hard, and you must have sustenance.” He giggled and hugged me again.

“You’re amazing. Thank you. I’ll give you a special thank you privately.” I kissed the top of his head.

“Gross,” Jamie called from the corner.

I looked up at her and we smiled at each other.

“You don’t have to. I like taking care of you.”

He chuckled. “No, you don’t.”

I gently took his chin and made him look at me. “I really do.” His eyes searched mine. “Tyler. Really.”

It clearly surprised him, and I knew how hard it was for him to trust. I still didn’t understand why, but I needed him to understand that I cared and wanted to improve his life whenever possible. It was another one of those things that I craved. Doing things for him settled me. The sex was fantastic, but having someone to love, someone to care for, was my happy place. Tyler had slipped into that role, and I knew I would have to tell him how I felt, but I was terrified of freaking him out.

While we talked, Jamie had taken the food to the back and set it out. Tyler walked in front of me, and I took the opportunity to admire his tight ass. The man had a body that wouldn’t quit, and there were so many things I wanted to do with him—like lick every inch of his skin. My cock perked up at that thought which wasn’t appropriate at this time, but poorly timed boners had become common since I met him. It seemed I constantly had to will myself to calm down because thoughts of Tyler captured my dicks attention.

It felt good to be in Tyler’s space while we ate our weight in Chinese food. Tyler had me feed Earl his meal since I had brought it. He took it from me eagerly, even though he dunked his face in the sweet and sour sauce as soon as we weren't watching. I’d seen Earl go for food several times, and I wondered how he managed to cover his entire body in whatever it was every time.

“Damn it Earl.” Tyler stood up, but Jamie stopped him.

“I got the little rascal.” She carried him over to the sink and cleaned off his scales. The whole time, he kept an eye on the table where the food was.

“Well, it looks like you have the approval of my entire family now.” We were finished, and there were still tons of leftovers,which we packed up and put in the office fridge for lunch tomorrow.

Jamie brought Earl back over, put him on the back of one of the chairs, and then stopped next to me. She motioned for me to stand up, then wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly. At a normal tone of voice, she said, “Thank you for bringing dinner. That was nice. She then dropped her voice a few octaves. “If you hurt him, I know people who can hide bodies.” Then she returned to a normal tone of voice. “I was serious. Tyler had dibs but if for some reason he screws it up, I got my eye on you.” She winked at me since we both knew it was a joke between us now.

I hugged her back. “You are welcome for dinner. And don’t worry, he is precious to me, I will treat him as such.”

“You have five minutes, and then we need to get back to it,” Jamie said to Tyler as she walked back toward the main part of the shop. Let’s go, Earl, these two want to slobber on each other for a few minutes.” The dragon landed on her shoulder as she went into the other room.

“Did she just threaten you?” He raised an eyebrow at me.

I laughed. “She did. But that’s okay because she loves you and doesn’t want to see you hurt. There is no reason for her to worry because I intend to take good care of you.”

“Oh. You don’t need to.” Whenever he doubted me or himself, it hurt my heart a little.

“Yes, Tyler, I do. You are an amazing person, and even if I didn’t like you so much, you deserve to be treated well. Always.” A tear formed, and I hated that something that should be common in his life made him emotional. All I could do was pull him against me and hope to love him enough that those feelings would disappear. “I will always take care of you, I promise.” I hoped that one day he would believe me, but until then, I would keep telling him.

He hugged me tightly again. “I have to return to work, so we aren’t here until midnight.”

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