He grinned at me. “I bet that’s cute.”
“It is cute,” I admitted. “He’ll snuggle right up against my face on my pillow and purr loudly. If I’m still comatose, he’ll pat his paw super-gently against my face to get my attention. You’d think it would be a little irritating, but he’s so careful and gentle that it always just wakes me slowly up.”
Grayson was thinking about getting a puppy, so we talked about that for a while as we finished up our picnic, packed up our trash, and then started heading slowly back down the mountain. I realized again how different it was being out with Grayson than Connor. I felt really energized right then, despite having had a pretty strenuous hike. When I was out with Connor, it wasn’t that I was exhausted, but more that I could feel my energy being depleted. I
