Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74078 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74078 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
I expected that Josie might show up eventually, sensing something was off because I never called out of work like I had. Especially when I still had to give the client the information I’d gotten for them.
I thought maybe she would show up herself.
I never anticipated her sending Cato.
Or even that he would come, that he would be looking for me when he hadn’t heard from me.
Not only had he shown up, but he’d insisted on staying, he’d treated my wounds, he’d gone out to get me things I could eat with my sore throat.
He’d held me when I cried.
I thought I would die of mortification afterward, but somehow, he just… made it seem like it was no big deal.
As I drifted off to sleep with him still right there beside me, I was reasonably sure that I had fallen for him. I mean, the whole ‘love’ thing was new to me. So I couldn’t be certain, but that warm, chocolate lava cake sensation was back, and stronger.
Which sure seemed a lot like the love they talked about in music and movies.
I woke up the next morning alone, thinking he was gone, that he’d had time to think it over, and he was done with me.
There was no accounting for the crushing sensation in my chest at the idea.
Just to distract myself from it, I went into the bathroom, brushing my teeth, and pulling my hair up.
It was as I was coming out that I heard voices.
Male voices.
I rushed toward the bed, grabbing my bat, and creeping down the hall toward the sound, ready to beat some white supremacist’s brains in.
Only to find Cato standing in the doorway with Eddie on the other side.
“Afraid you’re not quite up to playing baseball yet, baby,” Cato said, proving the man had insane peripheral vision because he hadn’t even looked over.
“Oh…” The air whooshed out of me as relief surged through my system.
Not, I had to admit to myself, because I wasn’t being invaded. But because I hadn’t been abandoned.
“Oh, my girl,” Eddie said, shaking his head sadly. “You give me names and numbers…”
“Eddie was bringing you some food. Soft stuff that you can get down without too much effort,” he said. “Since I can’t cook for shit.”
“Don’t worry, honey, I’ll make him learn,” Eddie said, giving me a smile, but there was tension around his eyes.
“You want to come in?” I asked, wincing a bit at the effort it took to speak. I needed a drink to soothe it.
“No, no, mami, I am gonna go back and make breakfast for the guys. Got new people to impress,” he said. “Feel better,” he said before turning and leaving.
“You didn’t have to make him do that,” I said as I went to the fridge to grab a cold drink.
“I didn’t. Levee must have been talking. Eddie shows his love with food.”
“I’m starving,” I admitted. Sure, I’d choked down some ice cream and icees the night before, but it hadn’t exactly been sustenance.
“Yeah you need some real food. We have to make it to Ama’s clinic before eight,” he told me. “But we’ll eat as soon as we’re back. Do they cats need anything?” I asked.
“Cats just need food and a clean litter box.”
“I’ll clean it after… why not?” he asked when I shook my head.
“I splurged to get them those fancy-ass robot ones that clean themselves.”
“No shit?” he asked, brows raised.
Were they each a thousand dollars a piece? Sure. But not having to constantly scoop litter was priceless to me.
Originally, one of them had been for Binx. But he’d been so enraged by its very existence that he’d gone to the bathroom on the floor next to it rather than go inside.
So, my girls each had their own in their little cat room.
“What’re their names?” he asked as one of them shamelessly slammed her body against his legs and started to rub up on him. She never did that to me. Apparently, she had a thing for men. The little floozy.
“That one falling in love with you is Sabrina. That one is Wednesday,” I explained, pointing my fork over toward where Wednesday was staring down a bird that had landed on the balcony railing outside of the sliding doors.
“Why all black cats?” he asked.
“No one wants them,” I explained. “And they’re black,” I added, waving around my apartment.
“Solid point,” he agreed before we started getting ready to get going.
Ama’s clinic was in the area where Cato and his friends had grown up. I’d passed it a million times, but it had clearly gotten a major upgrade recently.
Everything inside and out seemed new and state-of-the-art.
It was empty, though, save for the male nurse and a pretty brunette woman whose name tag said “Call me Ama.”
“I’ll take it from here, Cato,” Ama told him, giving him a small smile as she led me back to an exam room.