Page 113 of Single Teddy
See you in 30.
Ishot the message to Ruby and Lexi, grabbed my tote bag and bike, and rode to town.
I really hated spending any time apart from Teddy, but it was too soon—way too soon—to get this attached. Even if we were already moving at the speed of light.
I still couldn’t wrap my head around it. Teddy was in love with me.Hewas in love withme. I had no idea how that had happened, and I still wasn’t convinced I wasn’t going to wake up and find out that last night—heck, the last month—hadn’t been real.
The roads were quiet, serene almost, after the wild summer season, but it wouldn’t last long. Not with the Folklore Festival just around the corner and even more importantly, our month-long Christmas event, Winterberry Festival.
But I, and all the residents, had learned a long time ago to enjoy these lulls in foot-traffic for what they were. A chance to experience and reclaim our island.
I reached the garden center in no time and got the chance to stock up on fertilizer, and pesticides. I seized the opportunity, as usual, to browse seedlings and plants because… I mean, who could resist adding to their collection?
In the end, I went home with more flower seeds than any sane person should and no new plants, which was probably for the best. I really should look after what I already had and make sure they didn’t die on me before getting more babies to look after.
I returned to my bike and, with ten minutes to spare before meeting my sisters, I decided to pop into Books and Claws and also stock up on books.
“What do we feel like today?” Samir, the owner, asked me from his desk while holding a baby kitten in his hands.
I reached for another of the cats perched on top of a stack of books and scratched her head before I answered him.
“I don’t know. I feel like romance today,” I said.
Gee. I wonder why.
“Romance it is. I’ve got all the new releases at that table over there. The one with Missy sprawled all over it,” he said, and I looked around at the book table and the ginger cat on top of it, showing us how long she was.
“I guess Missy also has the romance bug today.”
Samir chuckled and walked up to the table with the baby kitty in his arms, still, and lifted Missy away from the new romance releases.
Books and Claws might be chaotic, but it was always a joy to visit, especially because of all the resident cats who owned the store and loved to show it with all their might. It was really all Samir’s doing, of course. Like Duke, he had a thing for rescuing animals, only his thing was cats since he was allergic to dogs. And really, I couldn’t even begin to imagine the messiness of a dog bookstore. Or the smells. Yeah. A cat bookstore was far more attractive.
“Oh, Hudson Bell’s new book!”
Samir grabbed the copy ofThe Enemy You Love to Hateand smiled.
“It’s a riot,” he said.
“I know. He never disappoints. And I’ve heard so many great things about this one. It’s all over TikTok.”
“Trust me, my friend, you won’t be disappointed. How is your bladder?”
I instinctively grabbed my belly and narrowed my eyes.
“Okay? Why?”
“Because if you have a weak bladder, you might piss yourself laughing.” He chuckled.
I burst out laughing.
“That good, huh? Well, if that isn’t roaring praise. What else is good?” I reached out to take the book out of his hand, and he walked me through all the paperbacks on the display table. Notall of them were queer romances, but a lot of them were. As a queer man himself, Samir loved to spotlight the books that would speak to our community. Another reason why Books and Claws was my go-to place.
“All right. Ring me up,” I said, feeling ten pounds heavier.
That was the danger of visiting Samir’s store. Or any bookstore, if I were honest. I couldn’t just buy one book. Or two. I had to buy a whole new section for my bookshelves every visit.
I put the books down at the counter, and as he scanned them, I saw a small wicker basket with little packs of silvervine.
