Page 59 of Hell's Kitten

“Fancy seeing you here,” a smooth voice drawls. I turn around and see a familiar face grinning at me.

“Kadence!” I cry, throwing my arms around his neck. I teeter on the stool but manage not to slip off it, thankfully. Okay, so maybe I’ve had a few more porn star martinis than I was aware.

But he hugs me back and kisses my cheek before he settles me back down and lets me go. I notice he’s with that same slim, tall blond guy from the library. “Jessie, this is my friend Harper. He’s an amazing artist. Harper, this is Jessie. He’s a kitten.”

He waggles his eyebrows, but my heart sinks. “Not anymore,” I say glumly. “I had to leave the squad because the mayor hates me.”

Kadence blinks and looks thoroughly confused. “Oh! You’re talking about cheerleading. I was talking about kink. Wait, what? The mayor? You had to leave the squad?”

I let out a strangled noise and cover my eyes. “Oh,thatkind of kitten! I guess I’m still one of those, even though my Daddy might not be my Daddy anymore.StupidDaddy.”

Tears pool in my eyes again, but I can still see Kadence and Harper share a concerned look before pulling up a couple of spare stools to sit down with me and placing their drinks on our table. “Did you break up with your Daddy?” Harper asks, sounding genuinely sorry for me.

“Oh, yeah,” I say, tilting my head as I look at him. “You have three Daddies, right? That’s crazy but so, so cool.”

Harper gives me a fond look. I get the feeling the two of them haven’t had as many cocktails as me. “Technically, I have a Daddy wolf, a Papa wolf, and a Baby wolf,” he says.

“And he’s the little lamb,” Kadence says, tickling Harper’s side. Harper bats him away, but they’re both grinning. That’s right. Kadence said something about Harper getting chased…

“We were talking about you, though,” Harper says gently. “Are you okay?”

I shrug. “Some bad stuff happened that wasn’t my Daddy’s fault, but he’s determined to take the blame anyway. He says he’s ‘protecting me.’” I use air quotes to show what I think of that nonsense. “Oh, hey!” I cry as Alannah comes back with our drinks. “This is my bestie, Alannah! Alannah, this is Kadence and Harper. They’re kinky Daddy’s boys, too.” As soon as the words come out of my mouth, I slap my hand over it. “I’m so sorry,” I mumble through my fingers. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

Luckily, both of them laugh before shaking hands with Alannah after she sits down.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kadence assures me. “We’re pretty open about it with other kinksters. Now let’s get back to your Daddy. What’s going on? Didn’t he like the new gear?”

“Oh, no,” I say, shaking my head vigorously. “Helovedit. That’s not the problem.”

Between the two of us, we explain the whole messed up situation with the mayor. But we quickly realize that they know a lot of it already because Harper’s Papa actually works at Horowitz’s and is a Cardinal biker, too. In fact, he reckons that’s probably why the garage is being targeted like it is.

“It’s all just such bullshit!” Alannah bemoans. The drag queen is taking a break, so the regular music is playing again, and it’s not quite as loud, so we don’t have to shout so much.

“Agreed,” Kadence says, and they clink their glasses together. “I don’t know what you can do about all of…” He waves his hand around in a circular motion. “…that. But surely your Daddy can be made to see reason. Have you tried talking to him again?”

I shake my head. “He went out on his bike. He hadn’t come back before Alannah dragged me out. I might stay with her again tonight. I don’t want to go back drunk and tell him he’s a stupid head. Because he’s not really.”

“He is right now,” Alannah grumbles.

Harper rests his hand over mine. “It sounds to me like you’ve still got everything to fight for,” he tells me sincerely. “Relationships are hard, believe me. I’m still finding my feet with mine. But…do you love him?”

I swallow and glance at Alannah, who gives me a supportive smile. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I do,” I say.

He pats my hand. “When you go back home, you just tell him that. Don’t take no for an answer. Make him realize he’s worth fighting for because he might not think he is.”

“He doesn’t,” I agree sadly. “Which is crazy because he’s amazing.”

“He sounds it,” Harper says. “But so are you. Don’t forget that.” I know we’ve only just met properly, but the validation makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Kadence huffs. “See, this is why I just stick to fucking. Emotions are socomplicated.”We all laugh, but he wraps an arm around my back. “I am with Harper, though. I still think you’ve got everything to play for. It’s not over until the fat lady sings.”

“Cheers to that,” Alannah declares, raising her glass. We all copy her, coming together in the middle to tap drinks without spilling any.

I raise it to my lips to take a sip…and end up spitting it over the table instead. “Lakelyn?” I cry as I hastily wipe my chin. “What the hell are you all doing here?”

The others turn around to see my cheer captain rushing up to our table. By her side are Zazzle and Brittany, and they all look slightly flustered but excited. I was barely aware of who Brittany was until yesterday, so I’m definitely not sure of what she’s doing here.

“Alannah told us where y’all were, so we jumped on the tram,” Lakelyn explains.

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