Page 53 of A Furry Thing Called Love
I snort.“Yeah, that’s him.I’m guessing you know him.”
“I do.I’m Arthur, I own this place.”He reaches a hand out and I shake it.
“Jor’s told me a little about you.It's nice to finally put a face to the name.”
“You too, he’s mentioned a few times now he snagged himself a boyfriend.Come on, I’ll show you who we have, and you can see if any are the right fit.”
“Sounds good.I’m sure you feel better about the whole ‘an animal as a present’ thing now.Not that I blame you, I’ve heard enough of Jor’s rants about the topic.”
“Oh, definitely.If anyone knows how to care for an animal, it’ll be Jordan.Come on.”
Eli and I follow Arthur to a part of the shelter where cats are housed in various kennels.There aren’t many, but it’s a nice variety of older and younger cats.Hopefully, one of them is the one, and this entire mission wasn’t for nothing.
I point out the few I want to take a closer look at, then go into one of the meet and greet rooms while Arthur gets them out of their kennels.
I spend half an hour playing with the kitties before making up my mind.Arthur comes back into the room to check on me, smiling when he sees the cat cradled in my arms like a baby.
“It’s a match then?”he asks.
Looking down at the content calico, I grin.“Yeah, I’d say so.”
Arthur begins rounding up the other three, laughing when he sees the gray and white one sleeping on top of Eli.“I uhh, hate to be the bearer of bad news, but…”
I sigh as I watch Eli scoot away from Arthur when he tries to get the kitten.“We’re leaving with two, aren’t we?”
Arthur nods.“They’re like potato chips, you can’t ever have just one.”
I sigh again, longer this time, accepting my fate.“Let’s do it.”
“I can’t believeI let you talk me into this.”I stare at Eli as I hold the wiggling kitten in my lap, trying to put the damn collar on.
Eli stares at me, as if judging me, and I huff.“You’re so helpful,” I mutter to him, finally getting the stupid clasp done.
The kitten uses me as a springboard as soon as I let him go, his tiny claws digging into my leg.
Eli lifts his head, letting out a smallwoofand moments later, I hear the front door open and close.
“Ar?”
“In the den!”I call out.
Indie finds us first, and she doesn’t hesitate to use my position on the floor to her advantage, coming over to lick my face.
“What’s going on in here?”Jordan asks.
Hugging Indie around the neck, I grin up at him.“Uhh, happy birthday.I was planning on making you dinner, but I didn’t expect you so early.”
“Thanks, you know I’m easy, you don’t have to go through much trouble.But uhh…Ar?”
“Yes?”It’s hard to hold back my laughter as he looks at the chaos around me.
“Have something to tell me?”He gestures to the cat toys, litter box, and travel crate.
“Your birthday presents are around here somewhere,” I tell him, like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
In truth, I’m nervous as all hell that this was a terrible idea.
Jordan makes his way over, nudges Indie out of the way, and drops to his knees beside me.“You got me a cat for my birthday?”
