Page 51 of Impurrfections

“Two messed-up dudes like us?” I heard him huff a laugh. “I don’t see why the hell not.”

Glancing over my shoulder, I met his gaze. “I’m glad.”

And Shane nodded. “Me too.”

CHAPTER13

SHANE

I couldn’t believeI’d hugged Theo after days of being so mad at him I could hardly see straight. But then, I’d always known deep down that what he did was more evasion than lies. I’d been that mad because I’d started liking him way too much.

Now, this was the Theo I’d first met, the guy who was all lost up in his head, not the man with the fancy house and electric car and a million dollars. This guy needed a hug, and I liked that I could give him one. Loved it, truly. Me, the dude with sixty-eight dollars hidden around my clothes, giving comfort to the guy who seemed to have everything. Except decent family.

“Man, I don’t hate my folks, you know?” I told him. “Like, if I saw them now, I wouldn’t want to throw them through a plate glass window. Your dad, on the other hand.” I waved. “Meet pavement.”

Theo choked a laugh, but I wasn’t kidding. That dude showed up here? He’d find out even a high-school dropout knew the worddefenestration.

“What kind of father does that?” I muttered. “I mean, he had toknowwhat kind of people your grandparents were, and he handed you over like some fucked-up sacrifice so he could go free.”

“Bible’s full of people sacrificing their kids.”

“Well, fuck the Bible too. Not that I would know.” My mom and stepdad weren’t even slightly religious. “My folks didn’t hate me or anything, but it was like we were living in this trap that they kept adding more kids to.” I snorted. “This one time, I was fourteen and Mom just had Adella. I went to Walmart and spent some of my own snow-shoveling money I’d hidden away, and I bought a box of condoms, left them on my stepfather’s side of the bed.”

That made Theo turn to look at me. “You didn’t.”

“Yep. I thought… I don’t know. They’d yell or say something, and I could say something back, and maybe they’d get the idea.”

“What happened?”

“Next day, my stepdad said, ‘Thanks for the present, kid.’ A year later, Mom was pregnant with Nate.”

Theo blinked a few times. “I got nothing.”

“Me neither.” I shrugged. “It was like they lived in a different world and I couldn’t reach them. And the older I got, the more I was just there to do chores and bring home cash, and when they needed my bed, it was all,‘You’re old enough to live on your own now, kid.’” I bit my lip, then admitted, “I think about my brothers and sisters sometimes. I feel bad that I ditched them, but I was losing my mind. Wasn’t like I could take them with me. My oldest brother was only twelve.”

“What about your real dad? He wouldn’t take you in?”

I shrugged. “Never knew him.”

“Oh. I’d say sorry, but who knows? Maybe you were better off.” Theo’s gaze dropped to his feet but I didn’t think he was seeing his pricey sneakers. “Sometimes you have to save yourself.”

“Right.” I pushed cheer into my tone. “And here we are.”

Theo glanced at Foxy and his expression lightened. “Or save a bunch of deserving stray animals, right?”

“Sure. Good goal.”

“How many babies do you think she’ll have? Her stomach’s really big.”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” She looked like a watermelon about to explode, and yeah, that made me nervous.

He whipped out his phone like he was relieved to turn to a lighter topic. Hell, I was too. After a moment, he said, “I guess the biggest litter of puppies ever was twenty-four.”

“Holy shit!” I stared at Foxy. “You’re not allowed to do that, you hear me, girl?”

Theo scrolled some more. “It says five to ten is normal for this size dog.”

“Five.” I pointed at the softly panting dog. “Think small. Simple to take care of. Easy to find homes for. And then we’ll yank your ovaries out forever after.”Like my mom should’ve.

---