I guarantee she’s got a string of Doms by now. Ihopeit’s a string and not one. The day she finds a Dom she wants to stick with… That’ll just about kill me.
There’s a light trill at my feet, and Devil Cat bumps my leg. I bend and pick her up, smiling at the little bite she gives me before allowing me to scratch her ear. From the incredibly bizarre calico pattern on her body to her creepily mismatched eyes, she is flat-out the ugliest creature I’ve ever seen.
“Like I said, Rae seems pretty happy now that she’s off doing her own thing.”
“Does she?” I can’t help hoping it’s her work making her happy and not a man. Devil Cat’s purring gets extra loud as my scratching gets harder.
“I’m sad she left us, but making those little doohickies has just lit her right up.”
“The book nooks.”
“Yeah. Love those things. She’s killing it. Too busy to make one for me.”
I picture Rae in her tiny home, making her little book nooks. My chest hurts, the way it does every time I think of it. I’ll admit that I’ve watched her socials exploding in real time. As of her last post, she’s closed to commissions. Too busy. Too popular. Too everything.
Something drops with a thud on Dorothy’s porch, followed by a second thud. “My dogs are barkin’.”
“Pretty tired myself. I’ll just head in and—”
“I love my kid. You know that, right? Only good thing to come out of my marriage. But I sometimes wish she had a little of that Rae magic, you know? That…”
“Zest for life?”
“Yeah. Some of that. Ambition and… the other thing.”
I know exactly what she means.
“She rubbed off on you for a minute there,” Dorothy says.
“What?” I look over.
“At the retreat. You were fun. I liked that Grant.”
“So, what am I now? Chopped liver?”
“Ah, you’re all right.” She exhales. “But you were better as part of a couple. With Rae.”
“I’m not a couples guy.”
Dorothy scoffs. “You are the very definition of a couples guy, kid.”
“How so?”
“First of all, you’re boring.”
“Jesus, Dorothy, don’t hold back.”
“You need Rae.”
“I don’tneedanyone.” This feels so much like a lie that I have trouble getting the words out. Sensing my weakness, Devil Cat nips at my finger. I move my scratching to her chin.
“You do. She elevates you.”
She does… No, did, dammit. She made me feel… so much bigger. So much more than what I’d set out to be.
“Seriously, though. What are you doing with yourself? You look like hell.”
“I work.”
