Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
When we went inside, I found out why.
The cat from hell was in there.
Right when we’d finished our last semester of school, Val had found a cat by the dumpster outside of our apartment.
The cat had turned into a living cyclone of a cat—aptly named Cyclone—and had hated me with every ounce of his being.
That should’ve been my first sign that things weren’t going to go my way.
“So, you’re going to hang with me for a while,” Val said. “I’d like to introduce you to Cyclone then. He’s a little pain in the butt at first, but he’ll settle down once he gets to know you.”
Lies.
I didn’t call her on it, though.
I did snort, which caused her to look at me with narrowed eyes.
I looked away, unable to stop the sardonic smile from lifting my lips.
Val caught it, rolled her eyes at me because she damn well knew she’d just lied—and I really couldn’t see the cat getting any better over time based solely on how awful he was when he was younger—and then turned back to Pops.
“Oh, he’s a pretty kitty,” Pops said quietly “Who’s a good boy?”
Gee wagged his tail, but it was Cyclone who walked right up to Pops and hopped straight into his arms.
Imagine that…
“Wow,” Val exclaimed. “He doesn’t even like my siblings that much.”
My stomach soured.
“Is it okay if they stay?” I asked quickly and quietly.
Val rolled her eyes, then crossed her arms over her chest.
She was wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt and had fuzzy socks on her feet.
She looked adorable, and I hated her.
I hated her so much for breaking what we had.
Yet… I found it hard to hate her as much the more days passed.
“It’s more than okay,” she nodded. “We have a huge generator that runs everything here, and so much room it’s not even funny.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
I hated that I didn’t know anyone here that well.
Moving to Dallas when I had had been rash. I should’ve stopped to think about logistics first, and what I would do if an emergency arose.
Yet, all I could think about was getting here, and inserting myself into Val’s life.
Making it hard for her to keep ignoring me as she had been for all this time.
“Thanks,” I said roughly. “I’m actually going to head back home then,” I said. “If it’s okay, I’ll bring his clothes and the rest of his blankets inside and then take off.”
Val’s head whipped toward me. “You’re not staying?
I didn’t think I physically could stay and not want more.
I was past the point of being able to be logical about this situation.
I should’ve fucking known that by creating this scenario, it’d be just as much of a test for me as it had been for her. I should’ve known that by being close to her, I’d start to remember all the reasons that I’d wanted her there in the first place.
Years had passed, and the aching in my chest hadn’t gotten any better.
In fact, having her this close, but unable to have her like I used to, was like repeatedly stabbing myself in the chest.
The more time went on where I could look but not touch, the more I realized that this was a stupid decision.
I couldn’t keep doing this.
“I gotta go,” I said as my answer.
“Why didn’t you take him to the hospital?” she suggested as she watched Pops from across the room as he hugged her cat.
Her cat.
Years ago when she’d first met me, she wouldn’t have been caught dead with a cat.
Her ‘there’s only room enough for one asshole in my life, and I’m it’ response every time I suggested she get an animal to keep her company.
But apparently, like with me, her tastes had changed.
Feeling rather vulnerable now, I shared the other big problem on my plate.
I was already shaking my head. “He can’t be there. It’s bad enough that I bring home what I do to him. He’s…” I sighed. “He’s going to die soon. And I’d rather not speed that along.”
Her attention focused on me. “What do you mean he’s going to die soon?”
I rubbed the back of my neck and was about to find a succinct way to answer her, hopefully by not telling her all of my grandfather’s issues, but Pops answered before I could.
“I have asshole cancer,” Pops called out, proving it wasn’t his ears that were affected. “What Felix is trying to tell you is that I won’t walk around with a shit bag attached to me for the rest of my life, and I don’t want my asshole removed because of the cancer. Not to mention, I don’t want to go through the trouble of having cancer treatments when I’ve already lived a very full life.”
I sighed.
“Pops,” I said, sounding… broken.
That’s what I was.
Over the last five years, I’d lost a lot of things in my life.