Moose sat on the table beside Bear, ignoring his brother and focusing intently on a blade of grass that Wyatt was running between the cracks in the table. He batted at it, looking for all the world like an overgrown kitten.

  And Wyatt…

  Holy fuck.

  I almost dropped the drinks I was carrying.

  He was watching Moose bat at the grass, and his smile made the whole world tilt a few degrees. I was an unabashed sucker for people who loved animals, and Wyatt was absolutely adorable, grinning as he played with my usually aloof cat. Was my heart melting? Was that what this was? Because I loved it.

  I was about ten feet away when Bear must’ve heard me. He lifted his head, chirped, and got up. That got Moose’s attention, and he too turned to me and chirped, forgetting about Wyatt or the grass.

  “Hey guys.” I couldn’t help smiling at their expressions. “Ready for some lunch?”

  “Eating could be a challenge,” Wyatt pointed out. “They, uh…” He gestured at them. “Take up a lot of real estate.”

  I grinned and tapped the bench. Moose obediently hopped down and sat. Bear needed me to get his attention again, but then he jumped onto the bench beside Wyatt.

  Wyatt blinked. “Did you—are they trained to do that?”

  “In theory. But I’m pretty sure I’m the one who’s trained.”

  “How do you figure?”

  I didn’t respond—I just opened the container of chicken pieces. Moose sat up as straight as he could. Bear put his paws on the edge of the table, staring at me with wide eyes. I gave a piece of chicken to Moose, whose purring could probably be heard from a mile away. Then I gestured at Bear. “Down.”

  He reluctantly took his paws off the table and put them on the bench. “Good boy.” I gave him his chicken.

  Wyatt cocked a brow. “So they are trained?”

  “They’re properly motivated.” I nodded toward Lily, who was focused on Wyatt but kept flicking those big brown eyes to the chicken in my hand. “Can she have some?”

  He nodded and took a piece, which he handed to her. She delicately took it from his fingers, wagging her tail as she chewed it.

  We settled in to eat our sandwiches, all the while being watched by three very intent sets of food-motivated eyes. Lily, of course, didn’t beg or anything. My cats were reasonably well-mannered, though Moose occasionally tugged at my sleeve as if to remind me that he was there, wasting away while I cruelly ate in front of him.

  As for Bear…

  Wyatt stared at my ridiculous black cat for a moment. Then his shoulders dipped. “C’mon, dude. Puppy dog eyes are bad enough. That’s not fair.”

  Bear continued staring at him with those giant, round eyes.

  I snickered. “He’s manipulative as hell, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, he is.” Wyatt sighed dramatically and tugged a small piece of chicken from his sandwich. “And it works, the little bastard.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to tell me. They’ve been doing it to me since they were kittens.”

  “Yeah?” He glanced at me as he reached across the table to offer Moose a piece. “Do you just get desensitized to it after a while?”

  I barked a laugh. “Oh, you sweet summer child. You seem to be under the impression that I don’t still fall for it.” I stroked Moose’s back. “I’m wrapped around their little—well, giant paws.”

  His lips quirked. “Hmm, yeah.” He handed a third piece of chicken to Lily. “That checks out.”

  “Hey. Don’t judge me.”

  “I’m not judging.” He showed his palms. “If you hadn’t noticed, they’re pretty good at manipulating me too!”

  Yeah, that was the truth. They were good at it with anyone, but for some reason, it was especially cute with Wyatt.

  Everything is especially cute with Wyatt.

  Wait, what?

  I tried to shake that thought away as we continued with our lunch, but I kept coming back to how different everything was with him. The little endearing things he did with the animals were stupidly adorable. The conversations with him were addictively relaxing. My own house was warmer and more inviting with him in it.

  And now that I thought about it, the thing I really couldn’t get over was how easy all this was. Not that it should’ve been difficult—we were just two guys hanging out—but it made me realize how hard things had been with Simon. I was used to measuring my tone and considering my words because I never knew what might set off a fight. I was used to wishing for some time to myself instead of looking forward to time with Simon. For all I was attracted to Wyatt, the time I spent with him didn’t fill me with the butterflies of being in the honeymoon phase with a new boyfriend. I looked forward to it and wanted to spend time with him, whether we were out walking the cats or chilling at home in front of a hockey game or a stupid movie, because the time with him was comfortable. It was pleasant.

  It was easy.

  So this is life after Simon.

  Over the past year, I’d spent a lot of time worrying Simon and I would break up. Of course I hadn’t wanted us to split—I loved him—but I wasn’t stupid. Simon had one foot out the door, and no matter how much I’d scrambled to keep him from continuing in that direction, I couldn’t stop him. A breakup had always been on the table.

  So I’d lost a lot of sleep thinking about what life would be like after Simon. That was the worst part of even the most unavoidable breakup—the upheaval. Adapting to a new normal without someone. And Simon… I mean, we’d bought a house together. We’d talked about getting married. I hadn’t even cared one way or the other about marriage until I’d met him, and the first time he’d brought it up, it had suddenly been something I wanted.

  The looming end had felt like a lot of future plans going up in smoke while the solid ground under me turned to sand. Yeah, that sounded a little dramatic, but who didn’t get dramatic and anxious when massive change was coming and there wasn’t a damn thing they could do to stop it?

  And now…

  Here I was. Living post-Simon.

  We still had to pretend we were together for the cameras and the club, but privately, we were both free to move on. And it turned out that, for me, part of moving on included… this. A lazy afternoon walking with Wyatt and our critters. The world hadn’t ended when my relationship had, and I wasn’t just slogging forward, wondering what to do with myself. I felt good.

  In fact, now that I thought about it, I kept asking myself the exact same thing I had after a couple of other past breakups: why the fuck had I held on so long?

  I almost laughed. God, I was so stupid. I’d been miserable with Simon. Yeah, we’d had good times, but those times were in the past, and the biggest gift he’d ever given me was to cut me loose.

  I wasn’t miserable and doomed to die alone. I was free.

  More than that, as I sat across from Wyatt, watching him tease Bear with a straw wrapper on the picnic table, I realized I was also still capable of feeling attraction to people who weren’t Simon. There was no telling if that was mutual, but just being able to feel this spark gave me a bigger rush of optimism than I’d had since my name was called in the draft.

  I’m going to be okay.

  Life after Simon won’t just be good—it’ll be better.

  Unaware of my thoughts, Wyatt laughed as Bear pounced on the straw wrapper, the table wobbling under my huge cat’s weight.

  Moose, who was lying on the other end of the table, swatted at Bear’s tail. Bear had been so focused on the wrapper, he about jumped out of his skin, leaping straight in the air, back arched and fur puffed up as he spun to face Moose.

  Wyatt and I both jumped back, and Wyatt’s eyes were enormous. “Holy shit!” he said with a laugh as the cats faced off.

  Moose just glared coolly at Bear, ears turned back and tail twitching as he silently dared his brother to do something about it.

  “Boys.” I scratched Bear’s back, making him jump a little, but then he purred and arched into my touch. “No fighting, okay?”

  Bear looked innocently at me, his face full of “Dad, I would never!”

  Of course that was the moment Moose lunged and bit one of Bear’s paws.

  Bear jumped and hissed. Moose sat up straight, looking exceptionally pleased with himself.

  And Wyatt laughed, turning me to absolute mush.

  Oh my God, I am such a mess for this man.

  What the hell am I supposed to do with that?

  Chapter 22

  Wyatt

  I upended the pill bottle over my palm, and a single tablet fell into my hand. My heart sank. I’d known there was only one left, but I’d tried not to think about it. Tried to forget it.

  Now I was about to give it to Lily, which meant there was no pretending anymore. We’d reached the end of her antibiotic treatment.

  Which meant we’d reached the end of the time Anthony had agreed to let us stay.

  Tomorrow…

  I closed my eyes and swallowed.

  We’d survived six months without a place to live. We’d survive again. Especially since we had some new gear, and Anthony had made sure we could get more if we needed to. The streets were cruel and unforgiving, but we were better situated to face them now. Hopefully.

  I wrapped Lily’s pill in one of the Pill Pockets, then tossed it to her. She took it eagerly, and I surveyed our collection of gear, which I still needed to pack. I’d have to do that carefully, making sure it was all as efficiently arranged and easily accessible as I needed it to be. After that, I’d take a good long shower since it would probably be my last decent one for a while, and I’d give Lily a bath. Another load of laundry. Clean my prosthetic and liner extra well.

  And then…

  Well. We were as ready as we’d ever be, and it was time to go. No way in hell was I overstaying this amazing welcome.

  I steeled myself, then headed into the kitchen with Lily at my heels. Anthony was cooking, and whatever it was smelled amazing, but my stomach turned at the thought of eating. As much as I knew I should take advantage of a hot, homecooked meal while it was available to me, I wasn’t so sure I could keep anything down.

  Anthony looked up from stirring something in a pan, and he smiled. “Hey. Hungry?”

  No. No, I was not. But I forced a smile and nodded. “Yeah. Definitely.” I craned my neck. “What is that, anyway?”

  “Nothing fancy.” He gave a quiet, self-conscious laugh as a blush spread to the tips of his ears. “Just some teriyaki chicken with pineapple. It’s a recipe one of my teammates taught me.”

  “Smells great.” I leaned against the counter, trying to look way more relaxed than I was. “Can I help with anything?”

  “Nah, it’s almost ready.” He glanced at me again. “I could go for some wine with it. How about you?”

  “Sure, yeah.”

  “Okay. Can you keep an eye on this while I go grab a bottle?”

  I took over at the stove while he disappeared into the basement. The food really did smell amazing, and while I was better able to afford food than a lot of people in my situation, I wouldn’t be eating like this again any time soon. My stomach was just going to have to get over its bullshit right now, because I had every intention of enjoying this meal.

  I did enjoy it. The food was flavorful and delicious. The relaxed atmosphere of just sitting here at Anthony’s kitchen island, talking about whatever while we ate, was something I’d refused to take for granted the whole time I’d been here, and I savored it now. The wine… I mean, I didn’t know much about what made a good or great wine, but I decided this one was definitely worthy of being the last wine I tasted for the foreseeable future.

  It all felt a little like a last meal. Which didn’t do much to make my stomach chill out, but I managed.

  After we’d finished and I’d helped him with the dishes, I couldn’t put it off anymore. I pressed my hip against the counter and loosely folded my arms. “So, um.” I cleared my throat. “Lily’s finished with her medicine.”

  Anthony straightened, and I’ll be damned if he didn’t look… disappointed? “Oh. That’s… And it helped, right? The infection’s cleared up?”

  “Yeah, yeah. It looks great.” I leaned down and patted Lily. “Good as new. So…” I stood again and couldn’t quite look him in the eye. “We can get out of your hair. Thanks again for putting us up, especially for this long.”

  “Of course,” he whispered. “I wasn’t going to kick you out while…” He nodded toward her.

  “I appreciate it.” I paused, then hazarded, “Speaking of…” I gestured at the sheets of rain sliding down the front windows. “I don’t want to push my luck, but do you mind if I stay here tonight and head out in the morning?”

  Without any hesitation, he said, “Sure. Yeah. Of course.” He motioned toward the windows. “I wouldn’t expect you to take off while it’s dark and cold. Especially not in the rain.”

  “Thanks,” I whispered. “I’ll, um…” I gestured down the hall. “I should go pack. We’ve, uh…” I managed a smile. “We’ve got a lot more than we started with, so I need to get it all organized.”

  Anthony returned the smile, though it seemed sad and uneasy. “Do you need help with any of it?”

  “No, no, I’ve got it.” I forced a laugh. “Lily and I are old pros at this.”

  He stared at me. Right. Not everybody vibed with the “crack jokes about dark shit” approach to things.

  I cleared my throat. “I’ll, uh…” I gestured down the hall again.

  “Sure. Okay. I’ll see you in the morning, I guess?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. See you in the morning.”

  That gave me the out I needed, and Lily and I headed down the hall. Truth was, I didn’t want to be away from Anthony. I loved being around him.

  But tomorrow, I was leaving. This would all be over. I needed to get my head around that and brace myself for everything that was waiting for me out there. As much as I wanted to spend every possible minute with Anthony before I left, that was just going to make it harder to leave.

  So the sooner I pulled myself away…

  I kept telling myself that. Over and over, I lectured myself about it. While I packed all the things he’d helped me acquire, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Even after I’d finished packing, doing laundry, and bathing my dog, my mind stayed on the man who’d taken me in.

  When I settled in for my last night of sleep in this house, though, my thoughts shifted away from Anthony. With every passing minute, I was getting closer and closer to returning to life on the street. That old familiar fear started to ball behind my ribs. The constant need for vigilance. The worry that we wouldn’t be able to find another meal. The semi-panicked certainty that if I turned my back on our things, they’d all disappear again. I’d been scared to death of losing our meager possessions the entire time we’d been out there, and then that fear came true. I was going to lose my mind this time.

  Lily jumped up on the bed and pawed at me. When I turned to her, she licked my chin.

  I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around her. I was so torn about what to do with her now. I needed her. She was the only thing that stood between me and my demons, not to mention the sheer terror of homelessness. There’d been some especially dark periods where she was literally the only thing that kept me going; if not for the need to keep her warm and fed, I’d have just given up. To say this dog had saved my life a hundred times over was no exaggeration.

  But she didn’t deserve the life I was giving her. Just the thought of waking up to her shivering against me again had me choking up.

  Would it be too much to ask Anthony to take us to the Doberman rescue so I could surrender her? I’d be a mess without her, but she’d be safe and cared for.

  I held her a little tighter and wiped my eyes. That was what I’d do. Tomorrow morning, I’d make the call, and if he couldn’t or wouldn’t drive us, I’d use what little money I had to get us an Uber. Something. Somehow, I was taking her someplace where she’d be safe, warm, and fed.

  I’d deal with whatever happened to me out there.

  But Lily wasn’t spending another night on the streets.

  Chapter 23

  Anthony

  This isn’t right.

  Lying awake at some ridiculous hour with my cats snoring away beside me, I stared into the darkness as those words kept tumbling through my head.

  This isn’t right.

  Tomorrow, Wyatt would be leaving. I’d kept my word when I’d said he could stay until Lily was finished with her medication, but up until tonight, I hadn’t really thought about what happened after that. In the moment, it had been a convenient way to deal with reality later. We’d just kick the can down the road, Wyatt and Lily would stay for ten days, and after that time was up, we’d figure out what happened next. Everything after that period sort of fell off a cliff in my mind. It was like a To be continued… at the end of a TV show with nothing after that but a dark screen. No previews. No teasers.

  Now that time was up, and he was supposed to leave tomorrow, and…

  This isn’t right.

  I rubbed my eyes and exhaled into the silence. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t just take him downtown, drop him off, and wish him the best of luck. It didn’t matter how much stuff he had now to help him and Lily survive—my conscience couldn’t accept that this was the solution.

  I could get him a hotel room somewhere. Maybe find a decent apartment and cover his rent for a few months? But that would only go so far. His VA disability was just enough for him and Lily to scrape by. A hotel room or an apartment would be a roof over his head, but for how long? And how much thinner would that stretch what money he had?

  With every solution I tried to conjure up, my mind circled back to the same question:

  Why not just let him stay here?

  I couldn’t think of a reason not to. He clearly wasn’t a threat to me, my cats, or my property. It was my house. Okay, it was also Simon’s, but he’d moved out, and it wasn’t his business if I decided to bring in a houseguest, regardless of how long they stayed. If he didn’t like it, what was he going to do? Dump me?