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“That’s on me.” He rubbed his sternum. His flannel reindeer pajamas bunched. “I have to learn to not be so sensitive.”

“Lorcan.” I held out my hand, beckoning him over. “Come here, Pumpkin.”

He blinked.

Oh. Have I misjudged?Timing was always tough.

“I want to be your Pumpkin.” He smiled tremulously.

I held out the ears. “Let’s see if they fit.”

He came over and sat gingerly next to me.

With care, I put the ears on his head. Then I slid the paws on his hands.

The butt plug tail would wait for another day.

I held out the squeaky toy.

He opened his mouth.

I placed it inside.

He chomped.

I laughed.

After a couple of squeaks, he got on the bed—on all fours.

I feathered my hand through his hair and scratched his chin. “Do you want to play?” I fingered the collar.

He nodded.

I put it on him.

We roughhoused for a few minutes. I tried to take the squeaky toy while he evaded me. We each took a knotted end of the rope and pulled.

I tried not to wince when he used his mouth. Seriously, I couldn’t imagine how bad that tasted.

His happy eyes assured me he didn’t care one bit.

Eventually, though, he started to flag.

I feathered his hair again. “Are you tired?”

He nodded.

“Okay. I have a bit of work to do on my laptop. Do you want to curl beside me while I work?”

He nodded.

“I just have to ask you not to look at the screen.”

“I would never.”

“I figured. I don’t use patient names, but I still—”

He nodded. “I get it. Truly, Cody, I do. I would never do that.”