Page 20 of Manhattan Heart

His eyes are burning on me and I get the sense he’s thinking about kids and my belly falls over.

I think. Maybe for him, I can.

“Which one, India?”

“Both,” I announce and watch his dark brows hit his hairline. I rush on with my clever argument. “They’re brothers, Gray. We can’t leave one behind, how cruel is that? Just think how sad he’ll be thinking he’s not worthy of being chosen. And they say two pups are better than one because they keep each other company.”

“Who says?” He’s amused.

I know already I’ve won and I climb to my feet, two plump puppies in my hands.

He comes near and strokes both their little heads.

“I don’t know. Puppy experts. We can’t really go against that kind of evidence, can we?”

He hums. “I guess not. Let me go tell Cynthia.”

He’s amazing.

And we are now puppy parents.

We stop at a PetSmart before we go home and spend close to three fucking hundred dollars on our new family members. Gray drops his card like it’s nothing, but by the time we get into the apartment, surrounded in bags and puppy beds and crates, I’m deliriously ecstatic to be a fur baby mom.

He surprises me constantly.

Little things, big things, Gray things and he makes me smile each time.

This is whole other level and a surprise I never saw coming.

We get the boys settled in the laundry room for now with their beds, food and water and we stand in the doorway watching them nuzzle and fight over the bowl of mush. Gray’s hand touches my hip. “Are you happy?”

“Are you insane? You got me two puppies, Gray,” I half laugh, leaning my shoulder into his chest. “You should have told me no.”

“Never.” His lips land on my temple.

“Are you sure about this?”

“You love them?”

“Yes, god, yes, already. Look how cute they are, Gray. They probably won’t grow much and max weight is between four and seven pounds.”

I feel so emotional andmaternallooking at them.

“Then, I’m sure, even when they shit all over, I’ll still be sure.”

Already they’re such good boys because after the feast, they both climb into the dog bed, looking like they’re drunk, the bed dwarfs them and they cuddle up together. “Did you do it for the lifetime of blowjobs?”

Amused, he slides an arm around me and leads me through to the kitchen. We’ve ordered takeout and it’ll be here soon.

“Naturally. I do anything for you to suck my cock.”

I can’t argue with that.

He’s done the sweetest thing ever.

And that’s hard to do, seeing as how Grayson is sweetness itself.

“What you gonna name them?”

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