Page 39 of Falling With You

As soon as we were done, we headed out to the parking lot, and I walked her towards her car. We didn’t say much, mostly just talked about our families. And I didn’t touch her, I kept a safe distance. Mostly because I felt like if I were to touch her right then, she’d jump out of her skin. She was still so damn afraid, even of walking out into her own parking lot. And that worried me. We’d already talked about enough that day though. I’d bring it up again later. Or I’d talk to Violet. Hell, for a guy who hated talking, I was sure doing a lot of it.

We were just to her door when she froze.

I froze with her and looked around.

“What?” I whispered.

“Do you hear that?”

“What is it?”

“It sounds like a little kitten. A meowing sound.”

She was off then, and I was chasing after her. We ended up near one of the bushes right by the front of her car, and then she went to her knees, squealing. “Oh my God, Aiden. It’s a little kitten. Doesn’t even look to be a couple of months old.” She reached out, and the mewling stopped before I could stop her.

“Stop. You don’t know if it could hurt you.”

“It’s a kitten, Aiden,” she snapped over her shoulder before she went back to look at the cat. “It’s okay, baby. Here, let Auntie Sienna help you.”

Before I could help her, she was straightening with a little ball of white and gray fluff in her hands. “Oh, look at her,” she whispered.

“Her?”

“Or him. I’m giving it some privacy. I don’t think there’re any other kittens around. We would hear them or see them. But let’s take a look. I cannot believe someone just left him or her out here.”

“Or the mama cat left it out here. Could be feral.”

“No, I don’t think so. Look at her. She’s been well taken care of, at least until now.”

I let out a sigh and then helped Sienna to her feet as she curled the kitten into her chest.

It looked at me with big, wide eyes, and I couldn’t help but want to reach out and pet its head.

So, I didn’t.

I wasn’t against cats per se, but pets and I didn’t usually mix. Mostly because I’d never had one.

Couldn’t have pets when you were in foster care, and Rose had been allergic to cats and dogs. So, we hadn’t had them.

Sienna and I searched for more cats, calling out for them, and all the while, she curled the little kitten against her chest.

“I think it’s just this one. Just the little baby in my hands.”

“Okay, what are you going to do about it?”

“What arewegoing to do about it? The answer is we’re going to the vet, and then if this little baby needs a home, she’s going home with you.”

I froze, blinking at her.

“Excuse me? You’re the one holding it. You’re the one who found her. I’m not taking that baby home with me.”

“Oh, yes you are. I have four cats at home already. Four very stable cats that would not be happy to have a little baby kitten that they would either be scared of or territorial about. Plus, I’m already the cat lady at the store. I cannot be a fifth cat,cat lady. However, you have all that space, and I will totally help you. I just can’t disrupt my house right now with a kitten. We’ll just go to the vet and make sure that he or she is fine, and then we’ll get you everything that you need. I have a feeling you’re going home with a cat, Aiden.”

“I am not going home with that cat.”

“Bet you.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Bet me what?”