Page 113 of Bossy Wicked Prince
Maybe the Toronto Tea is right. Maybe I’m the toxic one, harassing and controlling people. Maybe…Cat deserves someone better than me.
If I ever want a chance to be worthy of her, I have to do better. I have to give her space and pray I can find a way to get her back.
36
CAT
Nothing fixes a broken heart like a kitten. At least, that’s what I’m hoping.
I’m sitting on Pippa’s couch, letting Waffle snuggle my face. The black cat rubs her cheeks against mine, meowing her approval.
“Shhhh, stop meowing,” Pippa scolds. “You’re not supposed to be here, remember? The landlord could kick you out!”
“What landlord could say no to this little face?” I croon, scratching the top of Waffle’s head.
“Mylandlord. He’s a real asshole. Last year, he made me take down my Christmas lights because they were ‘too inviting.’ What if it encourages a burglar to break in?”
I laugh weakly. I know Pippa’s doing her best to cheer me up, but I’m still recovering from my emotional whiplash. One minute, I’m making love to Nate in view of the Eiffel Tower. The next, I’m alone, heartbroken, and down one very lucrative job.
Waffle decides she’s done cuddling me, leaping off my lap onto the floor where she wastes no time in attacking one of Pippa’s sneakers.
“Thanks again for letting me stay with you, Pips. I just couldn’t handle going back to my apartment, knowing Nate could be watching me.”
She’s been so busy with work the last week that I’ve hardly seen her, which sort of worked out since I was using up all her tissues and being a total wreck in general on her couch every day and definitely didn’t need an audience for my mental breakdown.
“Hey, no guarantee he won’t buy my building, too,” she points out. “For all you know, he’s watching us right now from some hidden camera in the toaster.”
She has a point, but I doubt Nate would go that far. He might have lied about a lot of things, but my instincts tell me he was telling the truth about only watching me when I walked home alone. I can’t picture him creeping on me when I’m sitting watching TV in the living room. Just in case, I flip off the toaster.
“Since you’re staying here, how about we binge that new Sequel spy series tonight?” Pippa suggests.
I shake my head. “Can’t. I picked up an extra shift at Terrace tonight.”
“I thought you had the week off.”
“No. Beau offered to give me paid time off, but I need to work. For the tips, now that I’m down a job. Plus, it’ll make me feel normal again.”
At least, that’s the hope. If I can even remember what normal felt like before Nate came along.
Pippa rubs my arm comfortingly. “You’re not worried about still working in the same building as Nate?”
“No. Like you said, he could watch me from anywhere if he really wanted to.”
“Does it really bother you that much that Nate virtually followed you home?” Pippa asks. “I mean, it’s a little creepy, I guess, but is it also kind of sweet? Like Edward watching Bella?”
I roll my eyes. “We are not naive teenagers anymore, Pips. Edward watching Bella sleep was creepy as fuck and I take Charlie’s side about the whole thing.”
“Yeah, but, I mean?—”
“Nope.” I cross my arms. “Charlie was right. End of discussion.”
“The bald onewas checking me out earlier,” Sandy whispers.
“You can have him,” Olivia says. “I want the one with the piercings. Major bad boy vibes.”
“Deal. If we have to have security, at least they’re hotties, right?”
I can’t help but overhear them as I input Table 10’s order in the POS system. Sandy and Olivia have apparently decided to ignore their own tables so they can huddle by the expeditor window and ogle at our new security team.
