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I point between them. “This is a hostile environment.”

“Please.” Maisie is perched on the steps, scratching beneath the orange cat’s chin. “You voluntarily date him. You signed up for this. Imagine my suffering.”

I’m about to tell her I never saw a contract when his mother’s eyes widen. “Oh! And the green face!”

I groan while Gage starts laughing. “No. Absolutely not.”

“You looked adorable,” Nana says.

“We’re not reliving Goblingate.”

Maisie raises one finger. “That one was my idea.”

I turn slowly. She doesn’t even have the decency to appear ashamed. “I trusted you.”

“That was your first mistake.”

I touch my chest dramatically. “Et tu, Psycho?”

Maisie shrugs. Obviously, nicknames have been established. I loved her choice. She said mine was cliché. I squeezed her hand and said sometimes, the classics are the best.

Gage’s mother loops an arm around my shoulders. “Come inside before these two corrupt you any further.”

“Yes, come in,” Nana says, waving us through. “We’ve been cooking all day, and there’s no sense letting everything get cold while you people argue on the porch.”

A low whine sounds from the hallway, and a beautiful sable-and-white collie appears, enormous, with a sweeping coat and intelligent brown eyes. It sees Gage, and the dog’s entire body starts wagging.

“Duke.” Gage’s voice goes soft, and I practically swoon inside. Duke barrels past us, and Gage crouches to receive sixty pounds of ecstatic collie. “There’s my boy. Who’s a good boy?” He laughs while the dog shoves his nose into Gage’s beard, tail beating against the wall. My heart does an embarrassing cartwheel. He might be a cat dad, but he’s an equal-opportunity animal person.

Maisie walks in. Duke freezes, mouth closing, and a low, suspicious rrr vibrates in his chest. Maisie stops beside me. “Nice to see you too, Lassie.”

Gage scratches behind Duke’s ears. “Did the crazy cat lady scare you?”

She folds her arms. “He’s intimidated by excellence.”

“Pretty sure it’s because you smell like forty-seven cats.” Ahh, this feud has history.

Then, Duke notices me, ears tipping forward. I crouch carefully. “Hi, pretty boy.” He sniffs my fingers before nudging his muzzle beneath my palm.

“I think he approves,” Nana says.

“Acceptable,” Maisie corrects. “Duke does not make major decisions quickly.”

I rub along his chest, and he rolls onto one hip, exposing enough belly to make his intentions clear.

“Traitor,” Maisie mutters.

Duke rewards me with one quick lick across the cheek before abandoning me for Gage again. I wipe my face. “Wow. Used and discarded.”

Nana props one fist on her hip. “Gage. Did you bring it?”

“Absolutely.” He rises, brushing fur off his pants.

“What?” I look between them.

“Dessert,” his mother says. “You and your tattoos turn around and go get it right now.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He kisses her cheek and heads back to the SUV while Nana watches him through the open door, a cunning gleam in her eye.