“I know about your TikTok.”
Leo’s entire body stiffened. I hadn’t decided how to tell him or how long I would let him go on with the charade in hopes he would confess. I’d even considered making my own TikTok account to find out if the algorithm gods would be on my side and show him my videos, but at the moment, none of those ideas felt right. If we were going to talk about what happened in the living room, we needed to clear the air on everything. And his omission hurt.
“I’m so sorry,” he said quietly.
His response surprised me. I’d half expected him to laugh it off or ask which video was my favorite. I couldn’t figure out why he’d spent so much time doing all that without sharing it with me. He was using my cat, for crying out loud.
“Can you tell me about it?” I kept my voice even.
He nodded and took a deep breath. “I was on TikTok a lot after the split, and the cat videos always cracked me up. You know how badly I wanted a pet.”
“But her allergies.”
“Yeah.” Leo bent his legs and hunched over his knees. “General Ledger genuinely did hate me at first, but I saw a video with someone giving advice on how to woo a cat. So I started giving her treats and trying to get her to let me pet her. She did when we were alone, but when you were there, she continued acting aloof.”
He looked me in the eye, and I lost myself momentarily. The dark depths of them sucked me in.
“And you seemed to love that she only paid attention to you. I didn’t want to ruin that.” He looked back down at his knees. “Then I recorded a funny video of her and posted it on a whim, and it got a lot of likes, so I just started doing it more and more. I wanted to tell you so many times. But when the first one went viral and I hadn’t told you yet, it seemed too late. Then as more time passed, it just became harder and harder to do it.” Leo squeezed his knees so hard his knuckles turned white.
I covered Leo’s hand with mine and gently squeezed. He dropped his head on my shoulder.
“I really am sorry. The videos do well, and she’s earned some money, so I put all of it into an account to use if she ever has any vet bills or an emergency. All the money is there for her. For you. We could buy a lifetime supply of that kitty ganja catnip shit she loves if you want.”
A laugh bubbled out of me at the image of filling a kiddie pool full of it and letting her roll around. It would make one heck of a video.
“I wish you would’ve told me. It hurts that you kept something so big from me, but I’m glad to know now. Promise no more secrets?” We needed to talk about it more, but that was enough for now.
“No more secrets. Promise.” He lifted his head from my shoulder and held out his pinky. I hooked mine around it. He covered our connected hands with his free one. “Okay, one more secret. She leaves your room every night during her kitty witching hour and comes to sleep with me for a while.” The words spilled out of him in a rush.
I yanked my hand from his. “Are you forking kidding me? My cat sleeps with you? I can’t believe sh?—”
Leo leaned in and shut me up with a gentle but firm press of his lips against mine. The pressure of his lips, the scratch of his five o’clock shadow, the squeeze of his hand on my thigh. His tongue barely teased the seam of my mouth before he pulled back to press his forehead against mine. It was over before it started, and I wanted more. It’d been a while since I’d kissed anyone and much longer since I’d had a first kiss with someone. Maybe it was my comfort with Leo or that we fit together, but it was hands-down the best first kiss I’d ever had. Brief as it was.
“You did that to shut me up.”
He laughed lightly. “A little, but also in case you thought I was comfortable jerking off next to you but not touching you.”
Now that shut me up.
After a long moment, I cleared my throat. “We’re coming back to the cat thing.”
His wide smile overtook his handsome face. “I don’t doubt it.”
The emotional roller coaster of the day caught up with me at that moment, and my jaw practically unhinged with a wide yawn. He tucked a pillow behind me and encouraged me to sprawl out. Then he did the same, which made General Ledger hop onto the cat tree and scowl at us from her perch.
“Does this feel weird to you?” he asked, tracing his finger along my forearm.
“It feels weird that it doesn’t feel weird. If that makes sense.”
“It actually makes perfect sense.”
I dragged my finger across my lips. “How long has this, whatever it is, been going on for you?” I was afraid of his answer but had to know.
He was quiet for a moment. “I’m not sure.” Confusion laced his voice. “Pretty sure I never consciously thought about it with any man before yesterday since I assumed I was straight, but it’s been there. Lurking. Taking over a bigger part of my brain the longer I’ve known you. Then Ollie’s teasing must’ve finally penetrated my thick skull. Maybe I’ve had these feelings for you for a while but mistakenly labeled them as a deep friendship.”
“No one is safe from Ollie’s cupid arrow.”
Leo aimed his soulful eyes at me. “He got to you too, huh?”
