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“He doesn’t hate when I do it.” I’d figured out how to properly feed Larry and now he was eating out of my palm. Literally. He was licking my hand. “That tickles.”

“What if he reacts to Adonis the same way he reacts to me?” Scarlett asked.

Huh. “Well...” She had a good point. What if Larry acted super fiery with Adonis? Like...trying to scratch him fiery. “I think it’ll be fine. He probably just hates redheads.”

“Excuse you?”

I laughed and pointed to where it said he hated the color red. “And if Larry is a little feisty, he’ll still be a good guard cat.”

“A guard cat? I don’t think that’s a thing.”

“Of course it is,” I said. “And the poor thing hates confined spaces and he’s in a cage. I think we need to get him out of there.” Besides, even if Adonis hated Larry, I was quickly falling in love with him. Larry, not Adonis. I bit my lip. Okay, maybe Adonis too. And the idea of him being alone at home at night really bothered me. Especially because one time I told him I wanted to be alone. When I was still messed up in the head. And he’d told me no one wanted to be alone.

That included him. And I remembered. So Adonis was getting Larry whether he liked it or not. If worse came to worst, they’d just coexist and both be less lonely. Because Larry needed a friend too. He looked so damn sad. And I was the only one who knew how to feed the poor thing properly.

“I really don’t think this is a good idea,” Scarlett said. “Let’s get Adonis this one.” She lifted the kitten off her chest that was still asleep.

I shook my head. “No, Larry is perfect.”

“But this guy will be really snuggly and Adonis will fall in love with him.” She held the kitten out to me again.

“No, Adonis will appreciate a cat like me.”

“Just because Larry’s fiery?”

I nodded. I’d been so fiery with Adonis at first and he’d kept pursuing me. He’d like Larry. “And because he’s a picky eater too. Adonis will love him, I know it.” I hope.

Scarlett sighed. “If you say so.” She scratched the kitten behind his ears and slowly put him back into his cage. “But I don’t really see how anyone can like a cat who hates everything.”

“Trust me, Adonis will love him.” And Larry didn’t hate everything. He was just misunderstood. He certainly seemed to like me. I waved over one of the pet store employees. “We’ll take this one.” I pointed to Larry’s cage.

The guy frowned. “You want Larry?”

Larry hissed at hearing his name.

“Yup,” I said.

“Um...are you sure?”

“Positive,” I said. “He’s perfect.”

I swear Larry smiled at me.

“I gotta be honest with you,” the guy said. “Larry is not a nice cat.”

Larry hissed at the use of his name again.

“Well, I think maybe it’s because he doesn’t like that name. Which you know. Because it’s on his long list of hates.”

The guy shrugged. “I’m not gonna fight you on this. If you want that cat, you can have him.”

“Great, can you ring us up?”

“He’s free,” the guy said.

I stared at Larry. Good cat. He was such a fiery little thing that we’d gotten him on sale. “We need a bunch of other stuff though. Like one of those litter box things. And just to check...there isn’t like a secret cat food that is both somehow wet and dry at the same time?”

“No,” he said.