“Do I want to know what you’ve been doing?”
Leaf pulls a face. “Not unless you have time for a six-hour Michael rant.”
I do not. “CliffsNotes?”
“It’s not important,” Leaf tells me. “What are you doing?”
“I’m heading back to the cat café. I’m gonna talk to one of the owners about adopting a kitten.”
Leaf grimaces. “Uh…I saw their Instagram page, dude. It doesn’t look like they have kittens. I’m not convinced those cats aren’t rabid.”
I wave him off. “They were sweet. Just…kind of old and in need of some TLC.”
Thom gets big puppy eyes. “Aww. Neglected kitties?”
“Go over there and check them out,” I tell him. “Don’t take Robbie.” There’s a ninety-eight percent chance Thom decides to bring one home, and Robbie’s rage will be epic.
And hilarious.
Thom jumps on his phone, and I push away from the desk. “Anyway, you good for the week, or do you need me to drop by for anything?”
Leaf waves me off. “Nah, we’re good for now. But maybe come by for dinner sometime. I have new neighbors, and I was thinking about having Thorne grill and inviting them over.”
I nod. The idea isn’t the worst. I could bring Rome with me if he’s free, which could be an interesting test to see how he treats me when we’re around all our friends.
We haven’t done that since the welcome home party, which hadn’t gone his way. Or mine. I’ll have to keep him away from Robbie’s gummies though.
Whoever he gets those from is a fucking troll.
“Text me about it,” I say, then head out to my car to make the drive across town.
There’s no traffic, so I pull into the café parking lot just minutes after my appointment time is meant to start. I’m the only one there, it looks like, which makes me sad for the cats. I’m not sure these animals are pulling in customers like they hoped.
Pulling open the door, I see the guy who was at the coffee bar last time at the welcome counter.
Percy, I think his name was? He’s shorter than his other two brothers, but he makes up for it in the bulkiness of his arms. I wonder if he has a home gym.
“Hey,” he says when I approach. His voice has that same raspy quality I’d heard when he called out our drinks. Last time, I thought it was a cold, but now I’m wondering if maybe that’s just him. “Appointment?”
“Yeah. Under Dex,” I say. “Is Milo in?”
Percy doesn’t smile. In fact, he looks threatening as hell as he nods. “Yeah. You have a problem with him, or?—”
My eyes widen, and my heart ends up in my throat. “What? Oh my god, no. I wanted to talk to him about some cat stuff.”
Those shoulders relax instantly. “Oh. Yeah, this whole thing is his baby, so he’s definitely the man to help.”
“Are you his dad?” I chance.
Percy’s face erupts into a blush over the top of his nose and the apples of his cheeks. “Wow.”
“Um…”
“He’s my brother.”
Fuck. “I’m so sorry.” I always fucking do this.
He stares at me hard for a moment, then cracks the smallest smile. “No, it’s fine. I have fifteen years on that little shit. Sometimes it feels like I gave birth to him.”
