Sheriff crows again outside.
Cole’s eyes flick toward the window. “That thing ever stop?”
“Nope.”
“That’s… aggressive.”
“Sheriff takes his job seriously.”
Outlaw stretches lazily on Cole’s chest, kneading once like he’s settling in deeper.
Cole looks down at the cat again. “This one’s judging me.”
“He judges everyone.”
“He’s winning.”
I grin and finally shift enough to roll onto my back so I can look at him properly. The movement makes his arm slide slightly buthe doesn’t pull away, it just ends up draped loosely across my waist instead.
Up close he still looks half asleep, hair a mess, eyes a little darker than usual from the low light in the room.
He glances down at me again.
Then around the room.
Then back at me.
“This is a lot of animals for one bed.”
“Only the important ones get bed privileges.”
“Define important.”
I point lazily toward Moose. “Moose thinks he’s a bodyguard.”
Moose snores louder in agreement.
“Daisy is emotional support,” I continue, nodding toward the little golden ball behind my legs. “Cricket is… chaos management.”
Cricket bounces across the blankets like she heard her name.
Cole watches her for a second before looking back down at the cat sitting on his chest.
“And this one?”
“That’s Outlaw. He commits crimes.”
Outlaw blinks slowly at him.
Cole shakes his head slightly like he’s accepting that explanation even though it makes absolutely no sense.
Another crow explodes from outside.
Cole sighs and rubs a hand over his face before glancing toward the window again. “Your rooster hates mornings.”
“My roosterlovesmornings.”
“That’s worse.”
