Page 6

CHAPTER FOUR

DAYTON

There were few worse sounds in the world than a pissed-off kitten.

Except maybe a pissed-off tomcat, but I’d only had the misfortune of running into those a couple of times during my career.

As a rookie, I’d worked in a small suburb, so the fire-to-cat-in-tree ratio favored stuck felines, which was nice, but it hadn’t prepared me for what it would be like when I was transferred to the city.

This was a nice change, if I were being honest. Not that I enjoyed being stuck in a vet’s office, but the doctor was one of my brother’s best friends, and I’d known him since he was knee-high and smart-mouthed.

“You were right,” Teo said aloud, setting the hissing, spitting, angry kitten back in front of the squeezy treat packet.

She began to make hangry noises as she lapped at the goop oozing from where Teo had cut it open.

“She’s about ten to twelve weeks, a little malnourished, but she’s not in any real danger. ”

I smiled with relief. I couldn’t help but get invested in the lives of everyone I rescued, furry or not. ‘Great,’ I signed.

Teo smiled as he swept his fingers back through his hair.

I could see the gently pulsing lights of his cochlear implant processors nestled in his black curls.

They were sleeker than the ones he’d worn the first time Dax dragged him through our front door, and the confident look on his face was also completely different from the shit-scared kid he’d been, clinging to my brother’s hand.

Teo came from a hearing family who had gotten him implanted as a baby, but after he failed to keep up in mainstream school, they’d let him attend the Deaf residential school my siblings attended.

He’d been given a lot of shit there—a few generationally Deaf kids making him feel like an outsider because he wore CIs.

He’d assumed our family would be the same, but my parents quickly proved to him that people like those kids were the exception, not the rule in the Deaf community, and he’d been a fixture in the game room next to Dax until the day I moved out for college.

‘You okay?’ Teo asked.

I waved him off. ‘Fine. It’s been a long day.’

‘I thought transferring back here was supposed to help your stress.’

I couldn’t help a small laugh. ‘I’m not talking about work.’

No, I was talking about Tameron, as much as I didn’t want to be talking about him. It was obvious he didn’t like me, and I could not figure out why or what I’d done.

The conversation with him had gone well—better than I’d expected, in fact.

And it was messing with my head, considering he couldn’t stand me.

He’d reacted so intensely when I joked about him liking me, which had thrown me off a little.

Most people who lived in a house as queer as the one he was in didn’t take it as an insult.

So maybe that’s where I’d crossed the line months ago?

I’d had a small fixation on him since the day I laid eyes on him, though Nash had told me Tameron was the straight guy in the house, so I’d quickly put him in the unavailable column in my mind. But maybe that line had blurred one too many times, and I’d made him uncomfortable.

Shit.

But he also hadn’t reacted too poorly when I told him he looked like he needed a friend. He seemed more sad than anything, which broke my heart.

I glanced up when I saw a hand waving in my periphery. ‘Sorry,’ I told Teo, taking the kitten he was offering back to me.

He gave me a sympathetic look and leaned against the exam table. ‘What do you want to do?’

‘I don’t know,’ I admitted. ‘It makes sense to try and be his friend, but?—’

‘I meant with the kitten,’ Teo signed pointedly, then he tapped the side of his throat with his middle finger, a slang sign for his absolute confusion.

My cheeks flushed hotly and I closed my eyes with a heavy sigh. ‘Sorry,’ I signed again.

His shoulders rose and fell with his breath, and then he came over and sat next to me. ‘Tell me?’

I waved him off. ‘It’s not important.’

He pulled a face, but I could tell he wasn’t going to push it. He reached over with one hand and scratched the kitten between the ears. She immediately yawned and started to purr as she curled against my stomach. She was a warm, soothing weight, and I couldn’t help but curl my palms around her.

Teo grinned, and I knew in that moment I was screwed. ‘We have supplies for sale in the lobby.’

I groaned, my head falling back on my shoulders. ‘Why are you encouraging me?’

‘Because you’ve been alone for a long time and it’s not good for you. Besides, cats are a great pet for someone who works as much as you do.She’ll be self-sufficient.And it’ll piss off Dax.’

He wasn’t wrong about any of those things.

I just wasn’t sure it was a good idea to get a cat—although of all the animals to have with my schedule, a cat was the best option.

An auto feeder and a running water fountain would take care of her during my twenty-four-hour shifts while Dax was at work, and I would give her plenty of cuddles when I got home.

And if I trained her early enough, maybe I could put her on a leash and bring her to work with me. My team would love her.

‘What will you call her?’

I stared down and bit my lip. ‘I’ll wait and see. Dax can help once he gets over himself and falls in love with her.’

‘I’m going to text him as soon as you leave,’ Teo told me—not quite a threat. I knew Dax wouldn’t be thrilled, but I didn’t think there was a chance he wouldn’t fall head over heels for the adorable kitten’s face.

We finished, and Teo wrote me a script for some special food to help her gain weight and some supplements to add to her meals. He and the tech gave her the first round of shots, and then he did a quick check for fleas—and luckily, her fur was fairly clean.

She was content now after being pissed off for so long, which told me she probably wasn’t feral—just abandoned. The last thing I needed was more responsibility, but when I looked at her little face and the tufts of hair on her cheeks, I knew this was it.

The feeling was familiar. I just didn’t understand why.

She was loud on the ride home, but she yowled herself to sleep, and by the time I pulled into the driveway, she was snoozing on the little blanket inside the crate.

Dax’s car was gone, which meant I could get her set up and familiar with the place without him and I having a little argument about it, though the moment I walked through the front door, I could feel my phone buzzing several times in a row.

Not cute. Kitten? You me no time!

Why you think good idea?

Hate you.

I set the crate down and opened the door. The kitten blinked at me sleepily, and I took three photos of her, sending them all to my brother in quick succession.

Look how cute she is. How do you say no to that face?

Easy! No!

You too soft.

You clean litter box! My room, close door.

Will do. I’m going to get one of those fancy robot litter things anyway. You’re going to love her.

I ignored my brother’s indignation as the kitten began to explore. When I was sure she wouldn’t find some small, unknown hole in the wall somewhere and get lost forever, I quickly put my things down and headed for the shower.

Even the gentle classes I taught always had me working up a sweat, and I could smell the edge of BO in my pits. I didn’t stay under the spray long, just enough to wash up and feel a little more human.

“MEW!”

I peeled back the shower curtain and saw the kitten standing in the doorway.

“MEW!”

“So, you’re going to be a clinger, huh?”

“MEEEEW!”

“And a loud one. Thank god Dax can’t hear you, or he really would murder me.

You’ll have to work on your non-verbal skills though,” I warned her as I stepped out and began to towel off.

She immediately began to chase the corner of the towel and got me in the back of the heel with her tiny claws, nearly taking me down.

“Fucking hell! I should name you Knives.”

Which was actually a super cute name. I swept her into my arms, and she dug her claws straight into my pec.

“Yeah. Knives.” She dug her claws deeper, purring loudly.

Grabbing my phone off the counter, I quickly took a couple of selfies, and on a wild whim, I opened my text thread with Nash and sent the photo.

Show this to Tameron and tell him I have a new roommate.

Nash sent back a laughing emoji, which made me grin, and I walked back into my bedroom, tossing my phone on the bed.

Knives all but leaped after it, and I let her go buck wild on the comforter as I slipped into sweats.

I wasn’t on call, which meant I could cook a nice dinner, put my feet up on the coffee table, and get lost in some reality baking shows.

Knives followed me into the kitchen and began to meow loudly, so I poured her a little dish of food before rummaging through my own fridge.

With both my and Dax’s schedules, it was in a sorry state.

There were two dozen eggs because Dax was in his protein era—as he called it.

In the back was a box of pre-washed baby spinach, a container with leftover something I was too afraid to open.

There was half a container of rice milk in the door and several mutilated chunks of cheese in various bags in the drawer.

The freezer wasn’t much better, but I realized I had a few frozen meals Nash had delivered from Bean’s kitchen experiments. All of them had turned out amazing, so I grabbed one and popped the lid, throwing it in the microwave.

“MEW!”

I turned to find Knives trying and failing to leap onto the counter.

I reached down with open palms and she hurried into my hands, purring the second I lifted her.

Cradling her to my chest, I buried my nose in her soft fur, but she wasn’t having that.

She scrambled with her wicked claws and didn’t stop until she was nestled in the crook of my neck.

“So you think you’re a parrot?” I asked her.

She purred in return.