Page 235 of Plaything

Groggily opening my eyes, I saw all four of my guys standing over me, taking in the sight of our guests. Dominic sat behind me, and I was quick to sit up and place myself between his legs. “Look what your cat made, Aiden,” I chuckled.

The other three sat down on the rug, dumbfounded at the basket full of cats.

Surprisingly, Aiden reached into the basket and gently petted one of the kittens without the mom clawing at him like she did with me before. “Look at these little guys,” he whispered, inspecting the other kittens. “Where’d you find them?” He asked.

What a softie.

“In the tree line by the driveway. I called around, but no one’s reported a missing white cat,” I explained. “She’s feisty, but I don’t think she’s a stray,” I added, holding out my scratched hands.

Wyatt boldly stuck his hand into the basket and slowly petted the mom cat. Her ears went down for a moment before she realized he wasn’t going to hurt her. “You know, a couple down the street just moved and sold their house. I bet they left her,” he guessed, softly shaking his head. He traced her neck where her fur was indented like she’d worn a collar recently, and it was taken off.

Aiden and Niko carefully picked up a kitten, holding the babies close to their chest as they petted them with a single finger. They were so tiny! I leaned into Dominic’s chest as I watched the big men handle them so gently—it was beyond adorable, and I was taking mental pictures of the sight.

“Is six kittens and another cat too many to keep?” Aiden asked. I really couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

Dominic nodded behind me. “We can’t keep the kittens,” he chuckled. “...past eight weeks,” he added.

“But we can keep her?” I asked, pointing to the mom.

Dominic nodded. “We’ll take them to the vet tomorrow to ensure they’re healthy after being in the woods. But if no one claims her and she’s not chipped, I don’t see why not.”

“Slowly, Aiden’s going to have an army of feral cats if we go down this path,” Niko joked.

“You found her, Doll. What’s her name?” Aiden smiled at me.

Trying my luck, I gently pet her, feeling her soft fur now that she’d calmed down. “Obviously, it has to be Kitty, right?” I beamed up at them.

“Cat and Kitty?” Wyatt chuckled, cringing to himself.

I nodded excitedly. It wasn’t the most creative name, but it was hers.

“It’s clearly our only option and a great name,” Aiden winked at me.

“Just promise me that if you find another one, you won’t name it Pussy, okay?” Niko joked, looking between Aiden and me, making us all laugh.

“No promises,” Aiden smirked. He placed the kitten down and picked up Cat, who was making his rounds as if proudly saying, ‘Look what I made!’ “Hi, you mangey thing,” he gushed, flipping him on his back and petting his tummy. “Your appointment to get fixed is in two weeks—couldn’t keep it in your fur till then?” He sighed in false disappointment. He wasn’t fooling anyone; he was overjoyed about the kittens.

Silently smiling to myself, I watched as the daylight faded from the sky, allowing the firelight to flicker and glow against their skin. The room filled with the soft hum of conversation and occasional bursts of laughter as we shared stories of our day, taking turns ogling over each of our new (and old) fuzzy friends.

The warmth of the fire and the love we shared created an atmosphere of pure bliss that I would never tire of and always crave.

Epilogue

Wyatt

Five years later

It’d been a week since I’d seen Odette or Niko. They were returning from Washington state today after meeting with a creative design expert to start rebranding her companies officially.

God, I missed her. The house seemed so bright when she was home, and we were lucky that she rarely needed to travel. Still, one of us (usually Niko) always accompanied her on business trips. He taught part-time for the university and helped Odette run the business. He loved both jobs and insisted he wanted to work with her full-time—she wouldn’t let him. As much as he enjoyed working alongside her and as successful as they’d been in such a short time, she knew his true passion was teaching. She was stubborn and loved him enough to let him pursue both careers.

Their return was all I could think about during my lectures today. Wanting to spend as much time with Odette as possible this weekend, I’d even withheld assigning homework. Feeling the same excitement as me, Aiden did the same, leaving his students shocked. Dominic had also mentioned scheduling fewer patients to be seen on Monday to soak up all of her that we’d been deprived of for the week.

There were still a few hours left in the workday, and I constantly checked my phone for the text they’d landed. She never failed to make me feel like a teenager in love.

Someone’s heavy fist captured my attention and knocked on my office door. “Come in!” I called, thankful someone would take advantage of my office hours and distract me from watching the clock.

A man in a post office uniform stepped into my office, looking out of place. “Wyatt Wright?” He questioned as if my name wasn’t plastered on the front of the door. It was clear he wasn’t a student.

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