Chapter 11

Eric

 

After the tour of the palace and gardens, our guide turned us loose to explore the Alcazaba and rest of the grounds on our own. Andrew and I were both eager to check everything out, but some food sounded good too. As it happened, there were a couple of small snack booths in a partly shaded plaza between the palace and Alcazaba, so we got in line.

Our timing was impeccable. We only had to wait behind four people, but when we got to the front of the line, there were almost twenty behind us.

We ordered a couple of jamón y queso sandwiches, which were basically cured ham and some kind of cheese on a toasted baguette. With those and a couple of bottles of iced tea, we found a bench in the shade and sat to eat our lunch.

I was barely two bites into my sandwich when a tiny mewing sound turned my head. I looked, then nudged Andrew and gestured at the grass behind our bench. I knew the instant he saw the little orange kitten because I swore I could feel his heart melt.

“Aww,” he said.

“Right?” I smiled down at the kitty, who was watching us intently. “I’ll bet he wants our food.”

“Of course he does.” Andrew paused. “Think he’s old enough to be eating stuff like this?”

I shrugged. “Probably. My sister’s cat was stealing food before she was even that big.”

“Well, then…” Andrew hoisted himself off the bench and onto the ground, and he held out a tiny piece of ham. The kitten eyed him nervously, but finally crept out from behind the grass to inspect the offering. One sniff, and he snatched the meat so quickly he almost bit Andrew’s finger.

“Hey!” Andrew laughed, jerking his hand back. The kitten jumped, hackles going up, and Andrew immediately shifted to a softer tone. “Oh, hey. I’m sorry. Come here. Have another one.”

I watched, smiling as Andrew coaxed the kitten back out with some more ham. He was such a sucker for animals, and the cuteness was going to strike me dead right then and there. Nothing endeared someone to me like turning into absolute mush in the presence of an animal. Especially a kitten.

As the kitten approached, another emerged from the bushes. This one was slightly bigger and lighter, and a hell of a lot more fearless. He marched up to Andrew, nudging the littler one out of the way as he inspected the ham.

“Hey, now.” Andrew gave the bigger kitten a gentle nudge. “There’s enough for both of you.”

I laughed. “There won’t be enough for you at this rate.”

“Especially not—” He raised his eyebrows as he looked past the kittens. “Uh oh.”

I twisted around, and had to smother a laugh. Four pairs of eyes were watching from amongst the flowers. These weren’t kittens, either. I figured the orange one was the babies’ mother, but there was also a calico-and-white and two black ones. A moment later, a huge tortoiseshell appeared on top of the wall, and its yellow eyes zeroed right in on Andrew.

“I think you might need another sandwich,” I said.

“Damn it. No wonder Mom says not to feed strays.”

I scanned the plaza, where every bench was now occupied and a number of people were standing. Several more cats prowled around, brazenly walking up to people and demanding food.

“Well,” I said, “it’s not just you.”

He just laughed, made sure the two kittens each had one more bite, and then returned to the bench beside me. The other cats watched him for a moment, but apparently decided he wasn’t going to give up any more food. They dispersed, though the kittens stayed close to their mom in a sunbeam.

“I can’t help it,” Andrew said sheepishly. “I love animals.”

I smiled and put a hand on his thigh. “Don’t apologize. I think it’s cute.” And it’s even cuter when you blush like that.

We continued eating our lunch, all the while watching the cats wander in amongst the rest of the tourists in search of food. None of them seemed particularly friendly, but they certainly weren’t afraid of people. And they’d obviously figured out people meant food. Smart cats.

Once we’d finished, we got up so someone else could take our bench. We tossed our wrappers and—finally—headed up to the Alcazaba.

Of course, since it was a castle, there were a ton of stairs, and time meant those stairs had been worn over time. They were tilted precariously in a few places, worn to the point of being slippery in others, but we carefully made our way to the top of the wall.

And… wow.

From here, we could see for miles. The city of Granada started at the foot of the wall below us and fanned out in every direction. In the distance, hazy mountains lined the horizon. I’d always heard Spain was gorgeous, and the reputation was well-deserved.

As we both stared out at the stunning view, Andrew quietly said, “I’m really glad we decided to do this tour.”

“Yeah. Me too. Even if it meant getting out of bed before sunrise.”

He laughed. “No kidding. Don’t be offended if I fall asleep again on the way back to the ship.”

“Oh, I won’t.” I laced our fingers together, taking advantage of a moment of relative privacy. “I doubt I’ll last much longer than you, to be honest.” I paused, and for a few minutes, we just enjoyed the view and I enjoyed the warmth of his hand in mine. Then I turned to him. “By the way, tell your parents I said thanks for the tickets.”

“I will.”

We exchanged smiles before looking out at Granada again.

Yeah, this tour had been worth it. I wasn’t fond of being up quite that early, and I could feel the fatigue in my eyes, my joints, and my cotton-stuffed brain. Still—worth it. Watching Andrew with the cats? Exploring this monument together? Yeah, totally worth it. I didn’t even mind our tour group, and I usually hated tour groups. Hell, they could have added fifty people to our group and given us a guide with a monotone voice and a repertoire of painful puns, and I still would have been happy.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Andrew as he gazed out at the city.

What is it about you? How do you make it worthwhile to get up stupidly early for a guided group tour?

Then again, did it matter what it was or how he did it? The fact was, he did. I didn’t care where we were going, what we were doing, or how early we had to be up to do it. I just liked being with him.

So what am I going to do when I’m not with you anymore?