Page 43 of By Rude Strength

“What? Seriously?” LA grinned.

“Yes!” Cass pouted. “I scare quite easily as a matter of fact.”

“But…”

“But what?” Cass narrowed his eyes.

“You’re literally amonster.” LA laughed. “Oh my God.”

“So? Monsters can’t get scared?”

“No! I guess they can. It’s just really funny to me.” LA snickered.

“You’remean.”

“You’re adorable. Here, how about this one?”

“The name of the movie isTucker & Dale vs. Evil. It literally hasevilin the name!” Cass whined. “Can’t we watch something nice and fluffy?”

“Come on. Trust me. It’s actually very funny. Plus, it has Alan Tudyk.”

Cass perked up. “Really?”

“Give it a chance.” LA squeezed Cass’s thumb. “If you don’t like it, we can turn it off and go ice that cake, okay?” He stretched his legs and grunted. “Fuck, gotta figure out what to have for dinner too.”

“Are you skipping lunch?”

“Figured the cake would be lunch.”

“Nonsense!” Cass pulled his paw away. “You should eat something proper! And then we can have cake.”

“I’m not moving.”

“Elly.”

“Cass.”

“You know I can simply move you.”

“But what if you hurt my back?”

“Oh, well, I…” Cass stared.

LA chuckled, grunting as he sat up. “You look like a damn kicked puppy. Let’s go find something that’s not cake for lunch,huh?” His phone dinged, but he ignored it. “I’m sure I have some stuff to make sandwiches or something.”

“You stay here.” Cass rose up, stretching out his wings and giving them a little flap. “I can take care of it!”

“No, we’re supposed to do that damn cake.” LA stood, swatting at Cass to get him out of the way.

“But you were hurting—”

“News flash, Cassie. I’m always hurting.” LA snorted as he limped toward the kitchen. “You don’t have to treat me like I’m made of fucking glass. I’m not broken, okay? Just, you know, I got different limits than most people.”

Cass followed right behind him, as if he thought LA might fall over. “If you’re sure…”

“I am.” LA made it to the fridge and opened it, looking through the shelves. “Okay, we got… not a lot.” He groaned. “I can’t actually remember the last time I went grocery shopping. Fuck.”

Cass magically had a bowl of chocolate icing in his paws. “We could order out?”