Page 16 of By Rude Strength

“Wow, you’re so fucking observant,” LA drawled. He picked up the bottle of rum and glared at Cass. “I swear to fuck, if this is chocolate milk, I am going to—”

“Eesh! It’s rum! Promise!” Cass waved his paw. “You are so grumpy.”

“Yeah! Because the man I love thinks I’m a little fucking bitch!” LA snapped. “He said I was pathetic and accused me of cheating on him and… and…” His eyes burned and he tipped the bottle up, hoping the burn would somehow drown the pain clawing against his ribs.

Trying to process Gavin’s insults hurt like hell.

Was that really what Gavin thought about him?

And God, what he’d said to Gavin…

Fuck it.

Cass carefully sat beside LA, holding out his arm to invite LA in for a hug. He didn’t say anything else, just smiled and purred.

Purred.

Like a fucking cat.

LA eyed Cass suspiciously. “What?”

“You look like you need a hug again.” Cass shrugged. “Gavin wasn’t exactly nice to you. I know what he said made you angry—”

“Yeah, no shit.”

“—but you still didn’t need to lash out at him like you did.”

“Excuse me?” LA stared.

“Does that happen a lot? You wanting to hurt people when they hurt you?”

“Are you serious right now?” LA narrowed his eyes. “You’re giving me crap for talking shit to him?”

“Don’t you think you went a teeny tiny bit too far?”

LA glared, but his stomach dropped. He knew he’d been cruel, but that was the point. Gavin had been an asshole and he’d wanted to be a bigger one. He shook his head, muttering, “Okay, yeah, I did. But hey! I tried to apologize!”

“Did you really mean it though?” Cass hummed loudly. “Or did you just want him to stay?”

“What? Yes. I mean, maybe both?” LA rubbed his forehead and stared out at the wall. He noticed there was an empty space on the wall, realizing that one of his paintings had fallen.

Maybe from Gavin slamming the door so hard.

With a grunt, LA tried to stand. The pain in his back zipped down into his ass and thigh like a bolt of lightning and immediately sent him right back to the couch. “Motherfucker.”

“Do you need something?” Cass glanced at the bottle. “You have your alcohol.”

“No. That picture fell.” LA tried and failed again to stand, and he huffed in annoyance. “I need to go fix it.”

“Oh! I can go get it!” Cass bounced up with a happy grin.

“Hey, hey! I’m getting up!” LA protested. “You don’t have to do that.”

Cass shrugged as he skipped over to retrieve the painting from the floor. “You’re right! I don’t. But hey, I’m here to help, remember? You don’t have to be afraid to ask for help.”

“I can get it!” LA scowled angrily. “Just not… right this second.”

“Oh, uh-huh, I can see that.” Cass chuckled, lumbering over to the fallen painting with his tail swinging behind him.