Page 46 of Approved

“Well, good morning.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me to him. In my haste to give him the perfect breakfast, I had forgotten to kiss him good morning. I mentally chastised myself for the oversight. Everything had to be precise and perfect for him—if I were flawless, he would keep me.

It was impossible not to fall into the kiss, and it would have been easy to skip breakfast altogether, but I needed to do this for him. “Let me feed you.” I pulled away and went into the kitchen.

“Can I help?” He pushed back his chair and started to stand.

“No. No. I got this. Let me do this. I’ll do this.”

He narrowed his eyes at me but didn’t say anything. Turning my back on him, I got started on his waffles. Everything was perfectly cooked when I brought his plate over, with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. I had also made bacon and sausage, and there was a side of fruit in case he wanted more than the strawberries. I felt accomplished when I placed the food in front of him with a flourish.

“Wow, Tyler, this looks amazing, thank you.” I sat down and put my chin on my hand to watch him eat. “You’re not joining me?”

It didn’t occur to me that I should eat too. “Oh sure.” I went into the kitchen and got some bacon and sausage since it was already cooked. As I sat back down, Earl and West looked up at me. Both of them had whipped cream on their faces.

“Earl, let the man eat his breakfast.”

He looked at my plate curiously. “That’s all you are going to eat?”

I shrugged. I stood up. “Yeah. It’s plenty. Can I make you more waffles?”

“Is everything okay? You seem jumpy?” He wasn’t wrong. I felt jumpy, like I was crawling out of my skin, and I was desperate to make this right. He seemed to like breakfast, and that was good.

“I’m fine.” He gave me a look like he wasn’t sure if he believed me, but let it drop. I sat back down.

“I’ve had plenty. Thank you so much for cooking me all this, it was very sweet.” That made my heart flutter. “How about we watch TV and hang out with Earl and Larry this afternoon. Do we need to go to your house for Charlie?”

“East has Charlie at his house, and spending the day with you sounds perfect.”

I offered him my hand, and he took it. I led him into the living room, fluffing the pillows and grabbing the throw blanket.Lifting his legs, I tucked the blanket around him. “I’ll be back in a few. Let me just tidy up the kitchen a little.”

“Let me help.”

“No. No. I got it.” He looked at me like I had slapped him. “Sorry. I want you to relax today, I’ll take care of it.”

“Oookaaaay.” His voice had a different pitch. “Thanks?” There was a question in his tone and I worried I would screw this up. My confidence in my plan started to slip because our entire dynamic was thrown off. The other problem was that I already felt exhausted.

As I washed the dishes, I had time to think about what to do. Logic told me I should ask him about what I had overheard and not assume. My heart was already attached to the man, and we had only dated for a few months. Was it possible I was in my head about this situation? As I dried the last dish and put it in the cabinet, I hadn’t decided what to do, but I knew that making West feel amazing, no matter what, would always be a win.

When I entered the living room, West was on the couch, Larry was curled up next to his hip, and Earl was lying on his back on his thighs. He watched the TV, absently rubbing Earl’s scales. My pet family was obviously as attached to him as I was.

He looked up and smiled, “Hey, Baby.” I loved the pet name, but didn’t understand how he could be so endearing to me when he knew he would be leaving soon. He agreed to spend the day hanging out, though, which didn’t seem like he wanted to dump me.

Gently, I picked up Larry and moved him to the other end of the couch, then curled my legs under me and got comfortable against West’s side, his arm around my back. “Did you want something else? Maybe something sweet?”

“I’ll go get us something in a little bit.”

“You want it now? I can go get it now. I can order you anything you want.”

He turned his head and looked at me. “We can get something in a little while, maybe we can get some cheesecake.”

“I can go get it now from that place you like.” I started to stand. All I needed were my shoes.

“Tyler no. We can just order it. Will you please relax with me?”

We watched something that I didn’t pay attention to. My body was on high alert, trying to anticipate what he might need. “Do you want a blowjob?”

“Tyler.”

“What? I mean it would make you happy, I want to make you happy.” He kissed the side of my head.

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