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.Handing the flashlight to Bobby, I reached in, snagging her by the shoulders.She came without a fight, blinking when she emerged into the flashlight-drenched world.“Fuck me, Cole,” Bobby whispered.“You are so going to get laid for this.”“Shut up.” I gripped Neko tightly, trying out some baby talk to keep her calm.“I didn’t do this to get laid.”“Then I’ll tell him I found her,” he teased.“What I saw through the door was fucking hot.I want to get laid for finding the cat.”I decided that once I got Jae’s cat to someplace safe, my first order of business would be to punch Bobby in the face.Maybe break his nose.I informed him of my plans as we picked our way out.“Keep dreaming, Princess,” Bobby said, unlocking the door to the truck.I slid in, holding the cat tight against my chest.The last thing I wanted was to lose her now.“Home, Robert,” I yawned, trying not to hit my jaw against her tiny head.“Nuh-uh.I’m afraid our night isn’t over yet.” Bobby tapped the call button of his navigation system, bringing the information screen online.I groaned when I saw the listings he pulled up.“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding.She’s fine.She looks fine.”“Hey, last thing you need after rescuing your boyfriend’s cat is for it to get sick from breathing in all that smoke,” he pointed out.“Dead cats don’t get you laid.Here’s one close by.Nothing says I want you like a huge emergency vet bill.”Dawn was shaking the world awake by the time I got in.I didn’t want to look at the clock because I feared it would tell me I only had a few minutes left of the night before Claudia would begin her round of wake-up-Cole calls.I jostled the cat carrier inside, apologizing to Neko when she screamed her disapproval at the treatment she was getting at my hands.Behind me, Bobby carried the paraphernalia the emergency vet said I would need to make Neko happy while she stayed with me.I’ve seen a mother of infant twins carry less shit with her than what that cat scored at the vet.“Where do you want this?” Bobby asked, scraping off the price tag from the litter box.“Downstairs bathroom?”“She going to find it there?” I peered into the carrier.Neko spat another demand to be released, and I was fairly certain I heard a death threat included in her displeasure.They’d given her a bath to wash off the soot and drywall debris from her fur, and now she was a poofy black ball of cute.Demonic and possessed, but still cute.“Doc said she would.” He shrugged, ambling off to the bathroom.I left him to assemble the potty and braved opening the cage, belatedly wishing I had a rolled-up magazine to defend myself with when she leapt out to rake my throat open.My chest smarted where her claws dug into me during her examination, and my thumb throbbed under a thick bandage the vet assured me could come off in an hour or so.I was planning on leaving it as a type of gauze armor in case she decided she wanted another piece of me for a snack.I didn’t believe them when they told me cats sometimes got aggressive when they were stressed and was rather insulted when they laughed at my request for kitty Prozac.She bounced out of the carrier, a gleeful bundle of furred and clawed vengeance looking for my jugular.Stretching, Neko took her time in exacting her justice, sniffing at the couch and then heading over to the bag of food I’d not opened yet.I did her bidding and filled a dish with kibble, then poured water into another one and watched her inhale a good portion of both.“Okay, I’m going to head out.” Bobby stopped at the archway leading into the living room.I finished picking up the last of the papers we’d left on the floor, stacking them as neatly as I could considering I couldn’t see more than a few inches in front of me.“Get some sleep, Cole.We’ll do this again tomorrow.”“You want to crash here?” I offered, but he shook his head.Grunting a goodnight, I walked him to the door and locked it shut after he left.Turning around, I found Neko in the middle of the foyer, offering me a view of her foot as she cleaned her leg.“You’re a very classy broad there, cat.I’m going to bed.Well, right after I leave a message for your daddy telling him I found your scrawny ass.”The water on my skin made the cat scratches itch [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]