Page 114 of Single Teddy
“What are these?”
Samir looked up with a smirk.
“That’s some good au naturel cat drugs. There’s catnip, and then there’s silvervine.”
I laughed.
“Really? I’ve never heard of it.”
“Oh yeah, brother. Trust me. These will send most cats berserk. But it’s freaking adorable, so totally worth it.”
I inspected a pack in my hands before adding it on top of my pile, and Samir raised an eyebrow.
“Who’s that for? You have a cat?”
“Oh no. Not me. My…friend. He adopted two from Duke’s Sanctuary.”
Samir pouted, but his eyes were beaming.
“Why didn’t you bring him around here? I’ve got so many babies in need of a home.”
“To be honest, we didn’t visit Duke’s with the intention of adopting anything. Besides, I thought these babies were your babies.”
Samir considered the tiny kitten in his arm and rocked his head from side to side.
“Okay, yeah, that’s fair enough. I can’t let them go so easy.”
I chuckled and offered to help with the bag. “Have you got a name yet?” I glanced at the kitten as I put my books in the bag and offered him my card.
“Not yet. I’ll probably do another contest to name her,” he said.
“Sounds good. Let me know when you do, and I’ll bring by my…friend and his nephew.”
“Friend, huh? Is there something you’re not telling me?” Samir wiggled his thick eyebrows, and I couldn’t help but giggle.
“Don’t you start. My sister’s bad enough,” I said.
Hold on a second.
“Shoot. My sisters. I’m going to be late. I’ll talk to you later.” I grabbed the bag and tried to run.
“Convenient,” he mumbled before he shouted. “Hey! My friend. You forgot your credit card.”
I gave him an awkward smile and snatched my card before returning to the outside world and my bike. I dared to glance back at the store and found Samir watching me with his kitten. He smirked at me as if he knew I was hiding something.
Though it wasn’t that I was hiding anything. I just…wanted to keep Teddy all to myself. It felt like sharing things about him would dissolve this…dream I’d found myself in. And I didn’t want to let reality intrude on anything. Not when I didn’t know if I’d ever get the chance to be this…this happy again.
I waved at Samir with the best, pissed-off expression I could manage and unchained my bike, but as I returned to the road, I spotted someone familiar across the street.
Was it…?
It couldn’t be.
I squeezed my eyes, trying to focus on the tiny kid in the red shirt, but it only confirmed his identity.
It was Niko. And he was talking to a grown man. A grown man who wasn’t his father.
I searched around for Valentin, and sure enough, he was there too, standing over the trash can and picking through it.
