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“I—” I swallowed. “I need to go home.”
He sat up, and I inwardly cringed at the flash of hurt that slid across his face, although he quickly smoothed it away. “Of course.”
“I need to feed Pet.”
He blinked at me, clearly confused.
“My cat,” I explained.
“You have a cat?”
I felt my ears turning pink again. “Yeah. I, uh.” Fuck it. “I missed having someone on the bed with me,” I forced myself to admit.
“You—” He looked like he wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Replaced me with a cat?”
I sighed. It wasn’t worth arguing the point, especially since he wasn’t entirely wrong. “We’ve established that I’m an asshole,” I pointed out.
His lips quirked, and I was pretty sure he decided I was amusing rather than horrifically offensive. “You couldn’t at least get a dog?”
“If I’d left a dog alone all night, my apartment would be a fucking septic tank. Pet shits in a box,” I defended myself. “Besides, a dog would have been too big of a disappointment.”
“Why?” he asked, head tilted adorably to the side.
I shrugged, my ears burning. “Because it wouldn’t have been you.” That may have been the most saccharine fucking thing I’d ever said in my life, and I could feel the heat from my ears spreading across my cheeks. Goddammit.
Warm fingers ran along my jaw, and I let him lift my chin enough to bring our lips together again, soft and gentle.
When he pulled back, I tucked that stray bit of hair behind his ear again. “You need anything before I go?”
I didn’t want to leave, but I did need to feed Pet, and I really did want clean clothes.
Taavi sucked on his lower lip again, but shook his head.
I pressed a kiss to his forehead, then stood, trying to smooth things down enough that I at least didn’t look like a homeless elf. I hoped.
Maybe I’d be able to get to my car and then back into my apartment without running into anybody. That would be good.
I paused with my hand on the doorknob and looked back. “Can I get you anything?” I asked him. I wanted—no,neededan excuse to come back sooner rather than later. Because I knew the minute I left, I’d come up with a dozen reasons he wouldn’t want to see me again.
But Taavi shook his head.
I swallowed. “Okay.”
“Val?”
I turned, halfway out the door. “Yeah?”
“You can take the keys again.” It was an invitation.
One I absolutely took, right along with his keys. “You sure you don’t need anything?”
“I’m sure.”
I left.
And then I texted Ward that I wasn’t coming to work. It was still early, and he probably wasn’t awake yet, but he’d see it when he did get up.
I drove home and climbed the stairs to my apartment, thankfully without getting close enough for anyone to notice how odd I looked or, probably, smelled.
