Page 81 of Did It Have To Be Gnomes?!
He blew out a breath and nodded to himself. “You’re right.”
I leaned in and gently tapped my forehead to his temple, speaking quietly. “Plus, if anyone messes with you, they’ll have to go through me. I’ll keep you safe, Sidekick.”
He stared at me for a beat, then burst out with a loud laugh. “Wow. Just wow. That was sounding all sexy and badass until you justhadto throw in that sidekick bullshit.”
I laughed. “Not bullshit at all. You’re my sidekick. I’ve decided this.”
He snorted and started walking toward the store. “Yeah, okay, Mr. I Decide All The Things.”
With a chuckle, I tugged him farther along. “I’m glad you’re finally seeing things my way.”
“Oh my god!” He laughed and smacked my arm, and Sola chirped at me, making us both laugh at her angry expression.
“I’m just teasing, Sola, promise.”
She chirped, then turned her nose up at me.
“Wow, your familiar has some sass.”
“That she does.” He sounded so proud, and it was adorable.
The supercenter and pet store trips both went by quickly without a hitch, and the hostess at the restaurant didn’t even blink an eye at the firebird riding Miles's shoulder. We did get a few stares from other patrons when we walked to our table, but honestly, I was pretty sure it was mostly out of curiosity rather than hostility.
“You doing okay, sugar butt?”
He sighed and shook his head. “Why do you keep calling me that?”
“Because your ass looks delicious and soooo sweet.”
He looked at me in surprise, then we both laughed, and he shook his head. “Anyway, I’m fine. Thanks for taking me to the pet store.”
“No problemo. You know I enjoyed looking at all the animals. I kinda want to start a fish tank.”
“Really? I’ve thought about it, but I’m always worried Odin will try jumping in it to hunt the fish or something.”
I snorted. “Makes sense. You’d have to have a good lid.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, but I’d rather spend the money on another rescue cat.”
I closed my menu so I could focus on him. “You’re getting another cat? That’s so exciting. When?”
“I’ve peeked at the rescues online, but I’ve been working so much lately that I haven’t had the time to commit to bringing a new cat into the house.”
I nodded. “I know what you mean. I’ve thought about getting a cat—Goliath would love having a friend in the house—but I keep putting it off.”
“Goliath likes cats?”
“He loves them. Lyric has a cat, and Goliath thinks he’s his best friend in the world. It’s adorable. He gets so excited to see him, and then he’ll just lay on the floor and let the cat climb all over him, lick him, chew on his ears, anything. It’s ridiculous and cute.” I pulled my phone from my pocket. “I have pictures. Hold on.”
After scrolling through to the last time I’d taken Goliath to Lyric’s, I passed the phone over so he could see the cuteness. Miles smiled and scrolled through, oohhing and ahhing as he went. He stared at the phone, and I stared at him, watching his eyes light up with every picture. He was the biggest animal person I’d ever met, and I thought Lyric and I were bad.
Miles's brown hair was all gelled up in messy spikes, like he always wore it outside of the house, and his brown eyes were practically glowing with happiness. It made his entire face shine, and I just really, really,reallywanted to kiss him again.
Again and again and again.
“You okay, Win?”
I blinked from my kissing-Miles-daze. “Uh, yeah. You’re just really handsome.”
