9. Theo

Waking up in Carlton's arms was everything. He held me close, and there was a comforting scent enveloping us. I'd have gladly stayed snuggled together like that all day. The little fur babies had other ideas, demanding my attention… immediately. I was clearly put on this earth to do their bidding. Good thing I was gladly willing to do so.

Carefully, I picked up Carlton's arm, trying to slide out from underneath it without waking him. I failed. His arm tightened around me, pulling me close. "Just five more minutes," he said sleepily.

"How about I'll be back in five minutes."

He grumbled.

"I need to feed the babies, or I wouldn't be moving an inch." Or maybe lots of inches, but they would be while I was sitting on him—fine, riding him. Same difference.

"I can do it," he insisted and started to roll the other way so he could get out of bed.

"I'm already up." I climbed out of bed before he could. "You can do it next time."

I'd just broken the cardinal sin of first-time sex; don't turn it into a bigger deal than it was. Promising a next time was definitely doing that.

"Yeah. I'll do it next time."

This had to be like the garlic thing where as long as you both eat it, it cancels each other out. Only in this case, we both promised more than we should. Gods, I hoped we didn't cancel each other out and instead made it true. I wanted a next time, and another next time, and another after that.

After a quick stop at the bathroom and feeding and giving lots of pets to the kittens, I was ready to go back to bed. The kittens settled quickly, wanting a nap—shocker.

I climbed back in bed, this time with my arm around Carlton's sleeping form. I fell back asleep. I wasn't usually one for recapturing sleep like this, but it was just too warm and comfortable to resist.

When I woke up again, it was nearly 10 o'clock, and a good chunk of the morning had already passed. I didn't mind. Spending it with him in my arms was the best way I could think to spend any day.

I looked over to see that he had propped himself up slightly and was watching me, a smile on his face.

"How long have you been doing that?" I asked, not that I minded. He was looking at me as if I were the most precious person on this planet.

"Not long. I had to sneak out to use the bathroom, and when I came back, you just looked so peaceful there." He brushed some hair from my brow. "Do you have any plans today?"

"Yeah." I turned my head quickly to kiss his hand. "I was hoping to spend it with you." I didn't see any reason to be coy when we just spent the night together.

And what a night it had been. I never knew it could be so good. But of course it was. This was Carlton. How could it have been anything but?

"I can make you breakfast," I offered, with more confidence than I felt.

I wasn't exactly sure what ingredients I had around the place, but my guess was I could scrape together something passable as breakfast for two. And if not, we could always run to the bagel place down the road.

"I could help," he volunteered.

"Yeah, I could use some help." I pulled my bottom lip in with my teeth. "But I think the help I need is more in the shower."

"I'm up for scrubbing your back and other things." He tapped my nose.

I reached down and grabbed his cock. "I could help with this while we are there." Or now. I wasn't picky.

"Oh, I could use that kind of help." He gave me a kiss.

We took a shower together, got ourselves all dirty before getting cleaned up again, and then went to the kitchen to figure out what to make.

I had eggs, American cheese food product—the food slices wrapped in plastic that they weren't allowed to label as cheese—and some rather sketchy broccoli. Still, I was confident I could whip up something decent out of it. Fake cheese had a way of making everything feel better.

"Oh, and I have a tube of biscuits." I saw them in the back behind the mayo. I didn't even remember buying them, and when I pulled them out and noticed the expiration date was a year earlier, I remembered why.

"I was just kidding about the biscuits."

He full-on belly laughed.

"Let's go get bagels. It's walking distance," I suggested.

We ended up walking for the bagels. It was a beautiful day, and it was a nice way to get the full feel of the neighborhood, even if it was a bit of a hike.

As we turned the corner, we came to the end of the line. The bagel place was crowded to the point of a line down the block. I didn't mind waiting. It was the best bagel place in the area, and when a line was this long, you knew it was worth it.

"I'm sorry that the line is taking so long." I felt bad that the poor man still hadn't eaten. At least the end was near. We were only a few people from the front register… at last.

They were somehow still fully stocked of all varieties except jalapeno, and that wasn't a flavor I was interested in. Hopefully it wasn't what Carlton had his mind set on.

"What do you think you're gonna get?" I asked him. I was torn between a salt bagel that reminded me of my childhood and a blueberry bagel because they looked delicious and I'd never had one before.

"I'm thinking about the cinnamon apple one."

As he finished his sentence, an older woman in front of us turned around. "They're not good for breakfast. They're more of a dessert."

She glanced at our joined hands. "You guys are adorable."

I wasn't sure why a complete stranger felt it was a good idea to comment on our relationship, but in that moment, I found it difficult to be upset by it. I liked the validation.

"Thank you," Carlton replied, as if this was a normal everyday conversation instead of being weird.

"Something's missing, though," she continued. The woman seemed to be staring behind me or possibly to the top of my shoulder. So odd, especially after being so complimentary only a few minutes earlier.

"Not for long," Carlton said, and she seemed to be satisfied. I didn't know for sure, because her turn at the counter had her leaving us.

We were next, and I ended up getting both bagels, leaving one for lunch. Carlton ended up with a sesame based on the woman's suggestion not to have the one he originally wanted.

I suggested he get both, but he assured me that eating the other one tonight was the equivalent of having one a week old. The person taking our order agreed with him, saying he'd rather have no bagel than one that was stale. I didn't argue with either of them. I obviously didn't take my bagels as seriously as the two of them did.

"What was that about?" I asked him when we were back at our table.

"What was what about?" he replied.

"What she said back there about something being missing…" It felt important.

"She was just making small talk." Which didn't answer my question, but maybe that was all there was to it.

I had a tendency to overthink, and this was probably one of those situations. And really, what a stranger said to Carlton didn't matter. She was one stranger making one weird comment. That was all.

"Did you make a good decision with your bagel?" I asked, noticing the sesame seed one he had chosen had gone untried.

"Don't think I did." He let out a long breath and picked it up, taking a small bite. "I take it back. I made an amazing decision. How about you?"

I looked down at the blueberry bagel. "It looks good, that's for sure, and it smells delicious." I took a small bite. "Yep, good decision. Want a bite?"

I held it out for him, and when he nibbled on it, I couldn't help being jealous of the bagel.

"I'll have to remember that one for next time." And there it was, that promise of another date.

Things were going great between us, almost too much so. I couldn't help but wonder what I was missing. Maybe Carlton was covered in red flags and I was too busy checking out his ass to notice them. Or maybe he liked me and enjoyed my company, but he wasn't looking for anything too serious. Or maybe all of this was exactly how it looked, two men who liked each other a lot and were willing to see where it went.

I was hoping it was the latter.