Page 27 of True Honey (The Hornets Nest #4)
Josh glared at him but a grin cracked through his usual grumpiness and it warmed the corners of my heart to see him so at ease.
August managed to crack the next ball he was thrown to the outfield and with everyone cheering him on he scored the last run of the game pointing at Daisy with a goofy grin on his face.
“Did that kid just point at my kid?” Riona dropped her glasses, two piercing eyes staring at me as I tried to slip out of her line of sight.
“Teach her young, baseball players are in a league of their own,” Ryan said without taking his eyes off the field, but a suspicious smile played at the corner of his lips.
“Oh no,” Riona said, shaking her head. “Keep your sneaky little egotistical baseball players away from my daughter.”
Ryan hissed, swatting away his little sister's hand as she tugged on the baby hairs around his neck with a growl. “Pull Shore’s hair, that’s his egotistical baseball player,” Ryan sold me out.
I put both hands in the air and back far away from Riona’s reach, “he’s just living in my basement with his mom.
He doesn’t even like baseball…” I tried to excuse the behavior.
“They’re teenagers and Cael, you know your nephew that you love so much,” I laughed as she stepped across the dugout at me.
“No, no,” I stuttered, “he introduced them!” I blurted as she reached for a bat.
After the game, I found August sitting in the medical offices with Ella, Cosy and some of the boys after the game, the two of them going back and forth in conversation as I filed some things away.
“What are the really big ones?” He asked Cosy.
“Maine Coons,” she said, brushing a piece of her hair behind her ear.
“They’re cool,” he said with a nod, “or the naked ones,” he chuckled. “That would be fun to have.”
“You could dress them up in little sweaters,” Ella added, her eyes lifting to him and smiling. “Or a Hornet jersey… I wonder if they make pet ones?”
August shrugged, “One time I found a kitten in a dumpster but she died a couple days later. She was just really little,” he said, not sounding bothered by any of it but his smile dropped.
It was clear the kid was just in search of a friendship that wasn’t contingent on location, something that would always be there in the face of inconsistency.
“It happens more than you think,” Cosy said, sipping on water. “But for every kitten that doesn’t make it, so many more do. That’s important to remember,” she smiled at him and August nodded. “The life they did live was perfect because you made sure of that.” She reassured him.
“I had a cat growing up named Sassy, she was this gray tabby cat we got from the shelter and I had this rag rug in my bedroom she used to love to sleep on. Every day after school I found her there, on that stupid rug.” Ella told her story with a smile as her pen worked across a report.
“Mom never let me have a cat,” August said after a few minutes. “I guess we can’t really have them because we move around so much.”
“Do you want one?” I looked up from the filing cabinet as I clicked it close.
“What?” August’s gaze moved from Ella to me, shocked and confused.
“Do you want a cat?” I asked him again.
“Mom says—”
“Auggie,” I cut him off, “do you want a cat?”
Ella stared at me like I was out of control but I was enjoying the tiny adrenaline rush I was getting from doing something I knew would probably blow up in my face later.
A cat was permanent, it was what August wanted, maybe what he needed and I was in the position to give it to him.
Was I crossing the lines of the contract between Drew and I?
Maybe, but in that exact moment, the look of pure excitement on her son's face. I didn’t give a shit.
Cosy looked between us, “I can unlock the shelter. We have a few cats that could be a good fit…” She said quietly.
“It’s up to Auggie,” I said, never breaking eye contact with him.
“You have to tell Mom,” he said, “she’s going to hate this.”
“We can take the truck,” Van said and Zoey squealed with excitement, collecting her bag.
“Can I come?” Dean asked and Cosy shrugged.
The six of us made our way down to the closed shelter, it was quiet inside aside from the occasional mewl and bark. Cosy popped the lights on and let us all into the back behind the employee door where the kennels were.
“There’s three kittens in there, and the rest of the upper kennels are all adult cats…” she waved to the back, “the dogs are—”
She started but the rest of the group were already gone on their way for cuddles leaving August and myself to look at the cats. He walked up and down the line, completely bypassing the kennel full of tiny fluffy kittens to some of the older cats.
“This one looks friendly,” I said, hooking my finger inside and wiggling it toward the skinny orange cat who looked completely uninterested in my advances.
I continued down the row, each cat similar in size but all had different stories and backgrounds.
I went to call him over to look at the tabby cat in front of me but August was long gone, his eyes wide at the last kennel in the row and a gentle smile on his face.
“This one,” August said quietly.
I wandered up beside him and looked inside the kennel to find the mangiest cat I’d ever seen with my own eyes. It’s head snapped in my direction with a loud hiss that made me take a step back from the door.
“Auggie, dude. He looks like he has his own brand of fleas,” I sighed.
“He’s been bathed,” Cosy interrupted, “I have the wounds to prove it. We found him in a dumpster, I’ve been calling him Oscar.”
The cat was mostly white, with splotches of orange and dark brown fur that patterned around his ears and ears, spreading out into larger stains along his spine and back legs. His eyes looked old like he had seen some horrors in his long life in Harbor.
“He’s a little grumpy but I think it’s just because he’s been on his own for so long,” Cosy said standing behind August.
I looked at the cat again and oddly enough could see my brother in him.
I hated how easily I was swayed by my emotions in situations that had nothing to do with Josh.
But at every turn in my life I wanted to do better by him, making things right in the universe that I hadn’t even wronged.
And the look on August’s face told me that there was no way we were leaving the shelter without that cat.
“Alright, get me the papers.”
It was a struggle to even get the cat into the travel kennel, that I had to purchase on top of the adoption fees, the toys, the bed, the food… August just kept putting things on the counter and Cosy just kept ringing through.
Arlo was at the island with Josh and Cael when we came in the back door with the cat and a happy August. His eyes narrowed on the kennel and then back to me. Leave it alone. I thought, not saying a word but his lips pursed together and he gave me a tiny shrug.
“Oh shit!” Cael exclaimed, leaning down to peer in the kennel. “What’s this handsome dude's name?” He stuck a finger in the kennel and the cat purred, leaning against the door and welcoming the touch. Of course it likes Cael.
“Red,” August said.
Josh looked around at all of us with the funniest smile on his face, knowing how much they all hated the color.
“Why Red?” Arlo asked, his brows coming together in the center.
“After the Cincinnati Reds.”
“Wow,” I swore under my breath. He had picked the name because he overheard me talking to the press about cheering for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He was too smart and too quick for his age.
August unlocked the cage and Red sauntered out over the counter, eyeing me carefully before it flopped down and rolled straight into the outstretched arms of Arlo.
I tried reaching out again only for Red to swat at me for even trying to get close to him. The cat fucking loved everyone but me. I had let the kid adopt a grumpy old cat and now I could only hope that Red liked Drew enough to convince her that what I did wasn’t a violation of our agreement.
“Man he hates you,” August chuckled. “It’s kind of hilarious.”
“I like this kid,” Arlo mumbled, too busy scratching Red’s belly to notice Cael messing around on his phone.
“What are you doing?” I asked him.
“Changing your name from Gramps to Cat Daddy in the group chat,” Cael laughed, not looking up from his phone. I sighed and left the four of them to fuck around with our newest family member, I needed a cold shower and a game plan.