I can’t like Chase ...but bitch, you do.
The curtains in the living room are still drawn as I turn to look out of the windows, but I’m still so preoccupied, I just stand there in the dimness before I give my head a shake.
I’m grumbling and plotting his demise as I walk toward my room. The door’s cracked open, but the light’s on behind it. I always leave it on, but Chase must’ve done it for me this time before we went for round three in his room.
My palm slides against the grain of the wood, pressing it open as a crunch followed by a deep, menacing stuttered growl pierces my ears, making the little hairs on my neck stand on end.
Princess is in the middle of my bed, standing over a dark-red mess of black fur, her gold eyes locked on me as she chews on a long spindly tail ...
Oh my god.
I scream and swing around, trying to hurry out of my room.
“Chase!”
I’m scrambling back as I hear two loud bangs next door. If I had to guess, one was him hitting the floor, and the other was him hitting the door because, as I think it, he bursts through it, eyes wide, hair a mess, his hand over his junk.
“Oh my god. Get dressed. Get dressed.”
I’m already past him into the living room, so I throw a pillow from the couch at him. He catches it, using it to cover himself.
“What the fuck is going on? What’s wrong? Why are you screaming?”
I shake my head, dancing on the balls of my feet. “There’s something dead ... it’s on my bed. Ohhh my god.”
“What do you mean?” he yells at me again.
I let out a breath, shaking out my hands, and look around for Princess. “What I mean is Goldie’s fucking cat left me a present. A dead rat, to be exact.”
“Noooo,” he drawls, taking a step away from my room as I nod.
“Yes.” My head momentarily tips back as I pace by the kitchen counter. “This is why people shouldn’t have a cat door. That monster’s gone full predator.”
Chase puts his hand over his mouth, then parts two fingers to whisper, “Are you sure? Go back and check. What if it’s still alive?”
“Chase,” I bark. “I am not putting anything out of its misery. Fuck.” My eyes lock back to his. “Lion King over here needs to get it together. This is not cool.”
“Well.” He shrugs. “I blame your sister and Noah. They left her, and now she’s got abandonment issues and decided to go full Dexter.”
I scrunch my nose, looking serious. “Go check. You have to ... It might still be alive.”
“No.”
“Chase.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Okay, then I’ll call a guy I went to college with who lives out here. He’s a firefighter ... Come to think of it, he did this thing with a hose once ...”
“Fine,” he bellows before walking to the couch to grab another pillow and covering his ass with it. “Let me put on my doing-disgusting-shit pants.”
A chuckle almost bursts from my mouth, but I keep it in as he walks back inside his room. Princess meows, and I shiver as I glare down at her where she’s licking her paws in my doorway.
“Do I need to call the people fromCriminal Minds, or have you had your fill?”
I turn my head, looking back inside my room, quickly doing the heebie-jeebies dance all over again before shaking my head.
This is why I will only own dogs.
