Kit-cat follows us and Maya picks her up, expression softening with affection at the loud purring. My steps falter, heart thudding. Kit-cat can be shy, but she’s warmed right up to my girl.
“She likes you. She doesn’t usually let other people pick her up.”
“I’m good with animals. Always have been.” She lets Kit-cat sniff her nose, puckering her lips to kiss the air. “Actually, I like animals better than people most days.”
“Most people,” Reagan interjects.
“Most people,” Maya agrees. “The tolerable ones get a pass.”
“Do I count as most people?”
She laughs at the charming grin I offer and bumps her shoulder against my chest.
“You count.”
I turn around and raise my voice to tell the empty street the good news. “I count!”
“Shh.” She tugs on my sleeve, careful not to upset the cat. “You’re going to wake up the whole town.”
“Come on.”
We go into the house. I pause in the entryway, taking the cat into my arms. Her purring sounds like the motor of the world’s smallest pickup truck when I nuzzle my nose against her head and smooth a hand down her back.
“Did you eat all the field mice you could find today, pretty girl? What about the coffee shop, they gave you some milk again, didn’t they?”
Maya stares at me, the corners of her parted lips tugging up.
I might be six-five, built, and the captain of the hockey team. Doesn’t mean I’m not man enough to baby talk my cat.
I smirk at her awestruck expression. “What?”
“Nothing, you doing that is just really hot for some reason.”
My mouth stretches into a cocky grin. “Is it the baby talk or the way my biceps bulge when I cradle her like this, like she’s my baby girl?”
She shakes her head with a wry smile. “Shut up.”
Her cheeks flush, eyes dancing with mirth. She takes the cat from me and goes to find everyone else.
“Which one is it?” I call after her.
“I’ll never tell.”
We end up piled onto the plush couches and chairs in the living room. Kit-cat hasn’t left Maya’s lap. Whenever she’s not looking, I take about twenty photos of my two favorite girls cuddling together. My chest expands so much it feels like it might burst open, no longer able to contain my happiness.
Someone starts the PlayStation and Reagan connects her phone to our speaker system to play music while we hang out. The chill vibe is nice. Tonight is the most fun I’ve had at the house in years.
I never minded the parties, but they pale in comparison. I’d take a hundred nights like this over the way things used to be before I met Maya.
I’m given the controller when Manning taps out against Cameron. He gets us set up for the next match.
“I’ll be back,” Maya says.
She kisses my cheek before getting up. My gaze tracks her through the room, the edges of my mouth quirking up.
“Oh!” Cameron pumps his fist in the air when he obliterates me because I’m not paying attention to the game. “That’s how it’s done boys.”
I hand off the controller to Elijah when he gets in from walking Hana home. “Here, rookie. Smoke Reeves for us. You’re the only one who can beat him. Avenge me.”
