Page 30 of The Omega's Surprise Baby
Breakfast was a rather quiet affair. The kids were still with their grandmother and Shane's sister had spent the night there as well, so aside from Conner's dog sitting underneath the table, it was only me and Shane and Nick in the kitchen. Not awkwardat all.
I was cutting into my pancake when Shane spoke up after minutes of silence. “Did you get your check from Dean?” he asked, looking at me.
“Yes, they actually paid me ahead of time.” Which was nice. A chunk of the money had immediately gone into my rent.
“That's good.”
Silence stretched between us once more. It was weird, considering how much we'd been talking the day before. Yesterday, talking to Shane had been easy. Today it was... difficult to find a good topic. Normally, when I had one night stands with people, I didn't stick around for breakfast.
What was there to say? We'd had sex.Goodsex. And now I was leaving and we probably weren't going to see each other again unless Nick dragged me along to another family function someday.
I wasn't even sure if Shanewantedto see me again or if he'd gotten all he needed from me last night. It was an uncomfortable situation to be in. Everything had felt sorightthe night before. Or maybe I was only deluding myself by thinking that way. He'd needed someone to take his mind off his grief. I'd needed someone to take my mind off the wedding. That's how we fell into each other.
It wasn't exactly the set-up to a great romance.
Not that I wanted a great romance.
That's not to say that Ididn'twant a great romance. I simply knew it wasn't realistic.
Or was it?
Ugh, I had to stop thinking about this.
I shoved a piece of pancake in my mouth. It tasted like cardboard. God, I was a mess this morning.
“Has anyone called about the cat?” Nick asked Shane before I could confuse myself further.
“No. The neighbors tell me it's a stray, but I'm going to wait a couple more days.”
“He looks too pretty to be a stray,” Nick said. He was right too. The cat had an almost regal air about him. Especially when the little shit looked at me with his eyes full of judgment like he did this morning.
Shane shrugged. “He's probably going around the houses and collecting food from multiple people. Of course, now that Conner's brought him in here, I'll probably have to keep him.” He chewed on a piece of pancake with a small smile on his face. “If I don't, I'll never hear the end of it.”
Max brushed up against my leg underneath the table as if he knew we were talking about keeping the cat in the house. He didn't seem super pleased either. I reached under the table to pet his nose. The Golden Retriever’s fur was warm and comforting and I couldn't help but think that it might be nice to have a pet for myself. “Conner didn't bring it in,” I said. “That was all my fault, remember?”
Shane cocked his head, light blue eyes on me. “Does that mean you want to take responsibility?”
“Well, if you don't—“
“Wait,” Nick cut in. “You want to take the cat back to LA?”
I just want to takesomethingwith me.“I thought you liked cats.”
“I do, but you can't just decide to bring a cat into our apartment.”
“You're right. I'm sorry.” I turned my chair so I was facing him. “Nick, could I please adopt a cat?” I heard Shane chuckle from his side of the table, but I kept my attention on my friend. It was him I had to convince right now. And I could be convincing. I gave him my best puppy-eyes look.
“Oh what the hell... Do whatever you want. Stop looking at me like that.”
“You're the best.” I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before facing the table again.
“The cat might still have an owner looking for him,” Shane reminded us. “It would be kind of unfortunate if he called me and I had to tell him the cat moved to LA.”
“He's right,” Nick agreed. “You can't just take the cat.”
I sighed. I couldn't argue with that. But then I had an idea. “Fine,” I said. “You'll keep it until the end of the month, and then I'll come back for it.”
“You'll come back?” Both of Shane's eyebrows went up. I wished I knew what was going through his mind. Did he want me to come back? Did he want me to stay away? It was impossible to tell.
