Page 18 of Shield and Savior

“It’s a breach of my contract, but if that will make you feel safer, I can stay here.”

I throw my hands in the air like it’s some obvious victory. It isn’t. But I don’t care either. “Thank you. Now I can go to bed.”

He looks at my empty bookshelf. “Can I listen to a book on my phone? I’ll keep it really low.”

“Whatever.” I head back to my room.

He follows me a few steps and points to my ceiling. “Did you notice your water stains look like an anteater?”

“Mermadillo,” I say, and shut the door behind me.

I climb back into my cozy bed, and for the first time in weeks, I feel good. Safe. Warm. And I sleep.

ChapterNine

Lance

My text message to Alana letting her know about the change to the situation resulted in her sending back a frowny face and saying to keep it professional.

Me: When am I not professional?

Alana: grrrrrr

Me: Will you be mad at me if I buy you a gift?

Alana: Pressie!

The book about dinosaurs is already in my Amazon cart. I throw an extra copy in for Nessie because, clearly, they both need to brush up on their prehistoric animals.

The first night goes completely uneventfully. Boring.

Yep, not thinking about the way she looked with her wet hair and tank top slightly askew. Nope.

Around 2 a.m., Champ wakes and uses the bathroom. He doesn’t notice me and heads back into his room.

Day two is the same. My sandy eyes burn as I drop them both at school and work respectively before heading back home. Showers are stupid, sleep is good. I like sleep.

Kicking off my shoes, I’m about to flop on my bed face first, but Midge is curled up on my pillow. “Move.”

The cat lifts her head, yawns, and goes back to sleep. She’s ten pounds. I can move her if I want to. Instead, I use my arm as a pillow and tell my cell phone to wake me in a few hours.

The alarm goes off, and I’m trapped. Pinned. Paralyzed. No sleep paralysis demon haunting me. No, this is worse. It’s the fucking stubby-legged, squished-face cat of my roommate. It’s sleeping on my chest. I have two thoughts at once.

1) Why, in the two years we’ve had this dumbass cat, has it chosen today to sleep on me?

2) I HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!

The cat chose me.

ME!

All these years I thought she didn’t like me.

Carefully, I reach for my phone and snap a picture, sending it to Alana as proof. I don’t think the cat even lies on her like this.

Alana: You’re warm and not twitching in your sleep like you normally do. That’s why she’s with you.

Alana: At least you’re getting some pussy near your mouth today.