Page 30 of Jilted Jock
November 13, 1:22 p.m.
From: [email protected]
Reply Subject: Feng Shui Restored
You can thank me properly by naming the cat. She deserves a name.
Adele
P.S. How did you get my email address?
Finn was gone when Richard and I finally made it home. Kitty greeted us at the door, and I picked her up and carried her into the bedroom with us. As soon as I put her down, she meowed and circled my legs.
“She’s not going to sleep in here, is she?” Richard eyed the cat warily.
“She’s lonely.”
“You need some love, don’t you?” I asked and picked her back up. I carried her in one arm while I got ready for bed. I moved my hand up to her neck to scratch around her collar, but it was gone. No more diamonds for kitty. Hmmm. I wonder if he’d donated it with everything else.
Kitty purred and settled right in like she was greedy for any attention. She didn’t even flinch while I washed my face, dripping water on her adorable head. It made me wonder how long Finn had been gone. Had he gone out to the bar? Did he go home with some random girl?
I didn’t like the way the possible answers to those questions made me feel, but Finn was a grown ass man who could make his own bad decisions. If he thought sleeping with all of Hermosa Beach was going to cure his broken heart, then far be it from me to stop him. Some things you just have to learn on your own. I’d made enough mistakes to know that.
We went to bed with the door shut, kitty curled up at my feet. We were both still awake when Finn got home – kitty and me, I mean. The open and close of the front door and his footsteps growing closer and then retreating made it so I could envision him walking through the living room and down the hall to the spare room. Kitty hopped off the bed and sat at my door.
“Traitor,” I whispered before getting her and bringing her back to bed with me. Was it petty that I wanted to keep his cat from him because he’d been out drinking and possibly banging his way through his broken heart?
The answer to that was yes. It was beyond petty. Still, I didn’t let go of kitty until my phone vibrated with a new email alert.
November 13, 10:49 p.m.
From:[email protected]
Subject: Thief
Did you steal my cat?
I smiled and tapped out a reply.
November 13, 10:49 p.m.
From: [email protected]
Reply Subject: Thief
Steal? No. I took her in after you abandoned her.
As I hit send, I heard footsteps near my door. I held my breath even knowing Finn wasn’t enough of an asshole to barge in unannounced. Kitty perked up staring at the door and meowed.
November 13, 10:50 p.m.
From:[email protected]
