Page 14 of Champagne & Handcuffs
“Get used to it. Your wife will be the same way.”
I laughed as I stood. “I don’t need to worry about that. I’m never getting married.”
“Well, I am. I’m gonna make a really good wife.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked. “You know I have to approve him, right?”
Cat rolled her eyes. “You’re not my brother.”
“No,” I agreed as I rounded the corner to the kitchen. “I’m better. I’m gonna be a cop and can do background checks on them.”
“You will do no such thing!” I heard her respond from the other side of the wall.
When I came back into the room, holding the paper, I said, “Kitty Cat, I love you, and Joss. I will approve all y’all’s boyfriends.”
“Whatever, 5-0. Let’s go. I want some popcorn.”
Grandma letme take herOldsmobileto the theater.
Crankin’ the stereo up, Cat and I jammed to some local station while I drove us to the theater. She was singing the crap out of every single song that came on, and when the current hit,You and Meby Lifehouse came on, my future was what I heard. The summers were the best times of my life, and it was only a few months out of the year. I was losing so much time with my best friends.
When Cat sang the chorus about it beingherandI,I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her. “I love this song,” she said as the guitar strummed.
I smiled. “Me too, Kitty Cat. Me too.”
My head was spinning. In just a few short weeks, I was going back to Washington, and I didn’t know when I’d be back. And that made my heart hurt.
“When I hear this song now, I’ll always think of you singing it.” The words came from my mouth before I’d realized what I’d said. It was as though she was a siren singing to me and I was being pulled into her trance. And I fucking didn’t care. What I cared about—wished for—was that she was older so I could tell her how I really felt.
Cat turned to me and smiled. “This can be like our song.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, Kitty Cat. I like the sound of that.”
I parked at the theater, and we got out. My palm itched to grab hers, but I didn’t. Sure we’d touched before, but this was different. If I were to grab her hand, I wouldn’t want to let it go.
And I had to let her go.
As we were walking up to the ticket counter, I heard a whistle and then, “Damn, baby. You lookin’ fine.”
I stopped walking and looked in the direction of the kid’s voice. Some punk dressed in baggy jeans that hung low on his hips was looking at Cat like he wanted to hump her leg right there in the open.
“Is something wrong with your mouth?” I felt Cat grab my arm, but I ignored her.
The kid tsked. “I wasn’t talkin’ to you, man. I was talkin’ to your girl.”
I stepped up to him, coming within inches. I didn’t care that he was with a group of guys. Thiswasmy girl. “Exactly, bro. You’re talking tomygirl.”
“Seth.” Cat tugged on my arm, but I still didn’t budge.
The punk and I stared at each other, and I felt his friends move in closer. I wasn’t going to throw the first punch, but I didn’t like how this kid was talking tomyCat.
“Seth. Come on,” she said again, pulling on my T-shirt.
“You heard your bitch. Get to steppin’.”
Here’s the thing: I’m not stupid. I know when I’m outnumbered, and I was outnumbered five to one. There was no doubt that if I threw a blow, I’d get my ass beat causing our afternoon to turn to shit, and I didn’t want it to turn to shit. My time with Cat was on a countdown, and no punk was going to mess it up for me.
I took a step back and grinned. “You should think twice before wearing your pants like that. Guys in prison created that look to signal they were open for business. But hey, if you like it in the ass, then by all means, keep wearing them like that for easy access for your friends here.”
