Page 8 of Euphoria

“What is that?” Hugh asked, crowding in next to Colter.

“It’s not a that—it’s a them. It looks like a mother cat and her four kittens.” He pointed down to where they were all huddled in the corner of his patio.

“How are we going to get them in here?” Hugh asked, nodding at the kittens on the porch.

“In here?” Colter asked. “Why would we bring them in here?”

“Because we can’t leave them out there. They are so tiny,” Hugh said. He smiled out the window at the kittens and their mother, and Colter knew that he was about to lose the battle.

“If we bring them in here, you’re going to help take care of them. I inherited Melvin, but I’m not really a cat person,” Colter admitted.

“No kidding,” Hugh grumbled. “I couldn’t tell at all, right Melvin?” The cat had the nerve to stop meowing long enough to look up at Hugh as though agreeing with him. “See, even Melvin agrees with me.”

Colter rolled his eyes and picked Melvin up, “Traitor,” he whispered into the cat’s ear. “Can you take Melvin and put him in the pantry? I’ll try to bring them all in and I don’t want him getting out or attacking the other cats. I’m not sure how he’ll react.”

“No problem.” Hugh picked Melvin up and carried him to the pantry just off the mud room. The cat growled at him the whole way, and Colton wanted to be upset for Hugh, but the whole scene was too funny. “He’s not very happy right now,” he said, returning to the family room.

“Yeah, I heard,” Colton teased. “Don’t worry, he does the same to me. He doesn’t like anyone—well, except my grandfather, and he’s not around to put up with Melvin’s bullshit anymore.”

“He’s not that bad,” Hugh defended.

“Wait until he bites you because that little bugger can be mean,” Colter said.

“Well, Melvin and I get along just fine,” Hugh insisted.

“Since you and Melvin are best friends now, can you help me round up the mom and her babies?” Colter asked. “Grab a box or something to keep them in,” he ordered. Colter had to admit, he liked being bossy, and Hugh didn’t seem to mind. “There is probably one in the garage.” Hugh came back from the garage holding an empty box and wearing a triumphant smile. Colter couldn’t believe that he was about to bring in five more cats to take care of, but Hugh was right, they couldn’t just leave them outside to fend for themselves.

“Here’s the box,” he said, handing it to Colter. “Do you have anything soft that we can put in there?”

“I have an extra towel in the bathroom that we can line it with. Hold on,” he ordered. Colter ran to the bathroom and brought back the towel, helping Hugh to line the box.

“Ready?” Hugh asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” Colter said. He opened the sliding door and stepped out into the chilly night. The babies were all sleeping cuddled up against their mother and he thought that it was about the cutest thing he’d seen in a damn long time. Hugh was like the damn cat whisperer the way that he approached the mother cat. He made it look effortless.

“It’s okay,” he whispered to the cat. She didn’t look much older than a kitten herself. He put her into the box, and she meowed for her kittens. Hugh picked them up, one at a time, and placed them in the box with their mother. “There you go,” he said, stroking the mom’s head.

“You’re really good at this,” Colter said. He was holding the box and watching Hugh’s every move. It was adorable how he talked to the kittens and Colter could tell that he was already getting attached to them. Hell, he was getting attached to Hugh, if he was being honest with himself.

“Yeah, I’ve always had pets. Luke and I had a dog,” he admitted. Colter hated it when he talked about his ex, but Hugh seemed to need to. Maybe talking about him was helping Hugh heal, but Colter wasn’t sure. What if he was hung up on his ex and Colter was foolishly hoping for something that would never happen?

“He kept the dog, but she was his to begin with. He adopted Kalie a year before we met. Although I grew attached to her while Luke and I were together, it was the right thing to leave her with him. His place was the only home she’d ever known.”

“Do you miss her?” Colton asked.

“Yep, every day, which is more than I miss my ex,” Hugh admitted. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her, and I still regret that.” Hearing him say that gave Colter hope that it shouldn’t. Colter walked into the family room and put the box on the floor. As soon as he did that, the mother cat calmed down and began feeding her kittens.

“What are we going to do with her?” Hugh asked.

“Well, tomorrow, I’ll try to call the shelter in town to see if they can take them,” he said. “And if not, we’ll have to figure out how to take care of five extra kittens,” Colter said.

“I’m willing to help any way that I can,” Hugh promised.

“With the bar opening in a couple of weeks, we’ll be working crazy hours,” Colter said.

“We can take them into the bar and leave them in your office,” Hugh offered. “That way they won’t be all alone and we can keep an eye on them.”

“I guess that will work,” Colter agreed, “if the shelter can’t take them.” Hugh’s smile lit up the room. His excitement was infectious and when he leaned into Colter’s body to thank him, he didn’t miss his chance to steal a kiss. Colter sealed his mouth over Hugh’s and when he wrapped his arms around Colter’s waist, he knew that Hugh was a liar. Hugh had told him that hewasn’t interested in him, but the kiss told him a different story. The kiss told him everything that he needed to know—Hugh wanted him, and now, there would be no denying that fact.

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