Page 5
Story: Leave
Chapter 5
Riley
Late March.
Suitcase. Carry-on. Wallet. Passport.
I scanned my bedroom just in case I’d forgotten anything. Well, if I had, then I’d just have to make do.
I pocketed my wallet and passport, then double-checked that I had both of them before pocketing them again , shouldered my carry-on bag, and took the handle of my checked bag. I dragged everything out to the living room, where I promptly confirmed (again) that my laptop was in my carry-on case, as was a power supply, and that—yep—I had my wallet and passport.
The shower was still running, so Nolan would be a few minutes. That was fine by me. I was ready well before we actually needed to leave because I was neurotic like that when I traveled. We’d agreed to leave at 0800, and it was barely 0700.
While I waited for him, I sat on the couch, picked up a wand toy, and played with Arrow and ShiShi. Velcro was probably sitting on the bathroom sink; he insisted on sentry duty whenever Nolan showered.
As I watched Arrow and ShiShi fall all over each other to attack the toy (and each other), I couldn’t help chuckling. They were ridiculous. Always were.
My enigmatic roommate had found these three as starving kittens. They’d been wandering around outside the building where he worked. At first, he’d thought their mother must’ve been nearby, but when it became clear she was gone, Nolan immediately went outside and rounded up the kittens. He’d persuaded his supervisor to let him take them to the vet on one of the other bases to take care of them.
Apparently the supervisor had thought “take care of them” had meant to dump them off or… worse. What Nolan had meant—and done—was get them in to see the vet, buy a bunch of kitten formula, and take them back to his apartment before returning to work a few hours later.
“They would’ve died,” he’d told his supervisor in his defense. From what I’d heard, the supervisor was still salty about the whole thing.
The cats, however, had thrived under Nolan’s care, and if not for Arrow’s slightly ragged ear, there was no sign that they’d ever experienced a moment’s hardship. Their fur was shiny. They were exactly the correct weight (though ShiShi might’ve been slightly overweight). They had mountains of toys, several perches, and some expensive ass cat food that he paid a fortune to have shipped over from the U.S. He was religious about taking them to the vet for their shots and exams. People with prized purebred show cats probably didn’t take as good care of them as Nolan did his trio of former ferals.
In fact, I’d been surprised he was willing to let one of his buddies catsit them. A few weeks ago, I’d asked him who was going to take care of them while we were in the States.
Nolan hadn’t missed a beat. “Anderson from work. He’s always game to stay here when I’m out of town so he can get out of the barracks.” He’d turned to me. “You cool with that?”
I’d shrugged. “Of course. Yeah. I…” I still wasn’t sure how to say that I’d expected him to not be cool with it. Nolan was incredibly protective of his cats and his apartment. But if he trusted his buddy to stay here, then who was I to question it?
It was just odd to me that he’d insisted on someone—specifically a cop—staying here with the woman we’d been protecting, but he was completely blasé about letting a buddy crash here and watch his cats while we were gone. I’d asked a few times if he was sure, and he insisted he was, so… okay, then.
Now that I thought about it, when I’d moved in with him, I’d expected him to be the roommate from hell. Though he’d been chill and relaxed—so much so that the woman we’d been hiding was surprisingly at ease around him—I’d anticipated him having long lists of rules for a roommate, demanding I never have houseguests, and probably wanting a to-the-minute schedule for using the shitter.
But… he hadn’t. There were a million rules pertaining to sex and privacy, which all made a lot more sense now. Otherwise, he was laidback and chill as could be.
At the other end of the hall, the shower shut off, and I glanced in that direction as if I could see him. There was more to the story, wasn’t there? Since we’d made this plan in November, he hadn’t said another word about his past, so I was no closer to understanding exactly what had happened. What was I going to do? Interrogate him?
Fuck that. He’d tell me when he was ready, and I’d take him at his word that he was fine with his friend caring for the cats. If he’d wanted me to know what happened, he would’ve said something over the past several months. I’d danced around the subject a little early on, but he’d made it pretty clear he didn’t want to discuss it, so I’d let it drop. Hell, a few times, I’d almost forgotten about our trip and our agreement to pose as boyfriends because we went so long without talking about it. Then he’d casually mention leave chits, flights, hotels, or rental cars, and oh, right, we were doing that, weren’t we?
None of that painted a picture of someone who wanted to discuss or even think about the past we’d be walking into in his hometown.
To be fair, I hadn’t exactly been an open book about my family situation. I’d given him the rundown of why I was in ultimatum mode with them, but I hadn’t gone into a ton of detail and he hadn’t asked. Now I felt guilty and stupid for letting all these sleeping dogs lie for this long. I’d had months to get a bead on him. I’d wanted to respect his boundaries and give him space, but at the same time, I wanted to know what I was about to walk into.
But now Nolan was coming down the hall with his luggage.
Now we were saying goodbye to the cats.
Now we were heading down to the car.
And now there was no turning back.