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He pulls into a small high street with various small-business shops. It’s not a busy street, but the shops here are clearly thriving with their clean shop signs and streets. He drives the car into a parallel park in a designated parking area.

“What’s this?” I ask, trying to spot any signs of where he might be taking me, but I come up empty.

“Come on.” He slides out of the car. I unclip my seatbelt and move to open the door, but it’s already being pulled open by Xander. Only his white shirt is in view as he extends his hand out and pulls me out of the car into him as I shiver at the cold penetrating through my puffy, black coat.

His hand tangles into the back of my hair as his lips press into mine in a tender kiss. Pulling away, he smiles, eyes flicking between mine.

“What?”

“You’re beautiful.” He kisses me again, his hand entwining with mine, and I can’t stop that traitorous muscle in my chest from doing somersaults from the smallest, simplest gesture. Because we’re talking about Xander Warren. Nothing is simple about him.

He leads me down the street, hand clutching mine the entire walk. He pulls me into a shop, and the smell of straw and grains hits me first before I have the chance to take anything in.

It’s a small shop, a little tight, but there are various boxes of animal food, cages, and fish tanks.

“Good afternoon! Is there anything I can help you with?” a voice chirps from behind a small desk to the side of us.

I give her a small wave as Xander steps forward. “Hi, we’re after some scratch towers for cats.”

I refrain from recoiling in surprise.

The younger woman with a brown bob all but squeals. “Yes! We’ve got those. They’re right at the back. Follow me.”

She starts leading the way forward through the cramped space, and I silently follow her and Xander.

I think my brain is lagging. I’m not quite sure I heard him correctly.

“Here they are. Do you need any help choosing?” She smiles warmly, standing to the side and gesturing to the row of towers in front of us. Some are taller than me.

“No, thank you. I have a cat expert right here,” he replies, grabbing my hand and pulling me to his side.

The shopkeeper smiles widely. “Great. Just so you know, all our scratch towers are handmade, so they do come with a one-year warranty. I’ll be right at the desk if you need me.”

She leaves Xander and me. And I’m still staring at the structures like I’ve seen a ghost.

“Go ahead, Angel.”

I cross my arms, turning to look at him. “You’re buying gifts for Sid?”

He subtly rolls his eyes. “Let’s just pretend these are for Jac.”

I smirk at him while he studies the towers like he would one of his enemies. “I’m not sure he’ll fit in one of these.”

He sighs at my knowing smirk. “This is my apology. To you and to him. For making you worry about Sid.”

I pull my bottom lip into my teeth, a smile pulling at my cheeks. He glances over, guilt written all over his face. I don’t want to keep dwelling on what happened. I truly want him to have the reassurance that I’m trying to move past it.

So, instead, I tease. “Did you two have fun together, at least?”

His eyebrow arches with a small twitch of his lips. “I don’t know if you knew, but he’s not a fan of dogs.”

I tilt my head in curiosity. “When was he around dogs?”

“Axel and Nova have a German Shepherd.”

Right. Nova who kept Xander hidden from us. Though, I have to hand it to her for respecting Xander’s wish to not tell us where he was until he refused to go back to her. So, I can’t hold a grudge.

“Which one do you think he’ll like?” Xander muses.