“Before we eat, I wanted to show you the cutest thing I saw online earlier today.” She pulled out her phone and tapped the screen a few times before turning it to show him. She bit her bottom lip, but even that didn’t contain the magnitude of her joyous smile.
He smiled back at her before shifting his focus to the picture on her phone. He barked out a laugh before he could swallow the reaction down. On the screen, a cat sat with a cloak around its shoulders, the Hufflepuff crest prominent on the side, a black tie and white collar around its neck. He’d had no idea cat costumes were even a thing.
“Isn’t it adorable? We have to get them for the triplets. Although, do we try to decipher their houses based off their personality or based off their names? Meowfoy to Slytherin and Harry Pawter and Dumpurrdore to Gryffindor?”
“They’re cats.” He highly doubted their issue of offense would be being put in the wrong house.
“Your point?”
He shook his head, chuckling. “Absolutely no point at all. We should get them a Hogwarts cat tree while we’re at it,” he joked.
Her eyes went wide. “Do they make those?” She bent her head and typed on her phone. “Oh my gosh, they do.”
“What else do the kittensneed?” he asked in jest. He wouldn’t put it past her to see if there was a cat bed in the shape of a hippogriff.
She glanced up from her phone. “A vet appointment. They need some vaccinations and dewormer.”
“Already on it. Scheduled for the day after tomorrow with Dr. West.”
“I’ve worked with her at the shelter. She’s really good.”
“Her office is also here in Little Creek. A place I’m planning on spending a lot of my time.”
Hayley flushed, her freckles becoming more prominent. Levi bent down and kissed one on the tip of her nose. She swayed into him, then seemed to force herself to sway back.
“We should eat before the noodles get overcooked and mushy.”
He’d rather keep kissing her but followed her into the kitchen instead. She handed him a bowl and ladled broth and noodles into the dish. Baby bok choy, sautéed mushrooms, boiled eggs, and seasoned crunchy tofu were set out as toppings as well as the container of garlic chili oil and bottle of sriracha. He took a little of each topping and added a healthy portion of both hot sauces before following Hayley into the dining room. She took a seat at one end of the table, and he set his bowl down at the other.
“Really?” She gave him a bemused shake of her head.
“I’m falling in love you.” He pulled the seat out and sat down. “But that doesn’t mean I want to listen to your chewing sounds while you eat.” An involuntary shiver ran down hisspine. If someone wanted to torture him, making him listen to people chew would do it.
He eyed the spot beside Hayley, now uncertain. Maybe he should sit there. Force himself to endure and try to ignore the discomfort and irritation. There shouldn’t be anImight love you,but... right?
“Stay where you are, big guy.” Hayley cut through his second-guessing. “I was only teasing. Plus, this way I can appreciate your manly good looks all through dinner. A little eye candy with the entrée.” She winked at him.
“I, uh...” Levi’s face felt on fire. He wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that.
Hayley let out a peal of giggles. “I’d take pride in rendering you speechless, but it’s not an uncommon occurrence.”
“For this reason, it is,” he mumbled, pulling the collar of his flannel away from his neck.
Hayley laughed some more, then asked Levi to say a blessing over the food. He kept the prayer short and to the point, picking up his spoon as soon as he said amen.
“So, how was your day?” Hayley asked as she pinched a stalk of bok choy between her chopsticks.
He swallowed his spoonful of broth, loving both the temperature and spicy heat on his tongue. “Good.”
“What did you do?”
Discuss a surgical procedure that would make it possible for her to entertain thoughts of living beyond a world of seizing the day but seizing a long lifetime. Where she didn’t have to fear losing her contentment in order to dream of tomorrow. Hopefully with him.
“Work.”
She wiped her mouth with a napkin, her smile dancing in her eyes. “Ever with the eloquence. Now ask me, and I’ll show you how this type of conversation is supposed to go.”
“The type of conversation between two people who carefor each other and have been apart for the long hours of the day and can’t wait to hear about all the things that transpired while they were separated? Is there a reason why I need to get better at that particular type of conversation? Like, say, there are a lot of them with you in my future?”
