Page 107 of Rebel's Fairytale
Explaining the dynamics of the club and how they were a family, Ruby knew she had fallen into gushing about the Howlers, the Claws, and the Ol’ Ladies, but she couldn’t help it. She hadn’t only fallen in love with Rebel, she’d fallen in love with every single one of them. They were her family, too. She went from having one brother and no sisters to having a shit ton of both. Ruby knew when her parents and brother saw how she was treated by her new family members, they would put aside any misgivings and accept Rebel and his family with open arms. She couldn’t wait for that.
They had ended the lunch with a promise to have dinner together soon. She told them she would talk to Rebel about having dinner at home, because she would like them to have a chance to spend some real time with him and the twins.
Excited and filled with hope, Ruby entered the house through the front door and stopped dead in her tracks at what she saw.
In the wide-open area between the living area and the area that held the kitchen and dining room, two large lions were rolling around on the floor in something. She couldn’t quite see what it was, but it looked like dried oregano.
“What is going on?” she asked as she shut the door behind her and tried hard not to laugh. She assumed the lions on the floor were Pike and Siren.
Rebel and the twins were standing on the other side of the lions. They were all bent over, their faces red, laughing so hard that sound no longer came out of them, and they were wheezing.
After a few moments, Rebel was able to pull himself together long enough to explain, “We got the cat stuff. Bleu doesn’t care about it, but apparently, Pike and Sirenreallylike catnip.”
Ruby could no longer hold back her giggles. As she further studied the scene, she saw Bleu, the cat from the library, sitting on the island in the kitchen, looking down at Pike and Siren on the floor.
“You brought the cat here?”
Rebel’s expression clearly meantDuh. “She needed a home. She couldn’t just keep living at the library.” He looked nervous, rubbed the back of his neck, and looked around. He shrugged. “I guess I should have asked first.”
Ruby smiled. “It’s fine.” She looked back down at the lions on the floor. “I take it that’s catnip they’re rolling around in.”
Rebel snort laughed. “Yes. I sent the twins to go get cat supplies and told them to get catnip. I figured we could use it to… I dunno… try to convince the cat to like me. The twins came back with a large bag of it. The second Pike and Siren smelled the catnip, they started rolling around on the floor in it and eventually shifted.”
She crossed the room and carefully stepped around the lions, so she didn’t accidentally step on a tail or something. After approaching Rebel, she pressed her lips to his and smiled at him. “I’m glad you adopted Bleu.”
He blushed and shrugged again.
Damn. He was so cute when he got nervous or embarrassed.
The twins finally pulled themselves together and greeted her. After giving her hugs, they asked her about her lunch and her family. While explaining what happened, Ruby walked over and picked Bleu up. Petting the gray cat, she talked with Rebel and the twins and watched as the lions continued rubbing and rolling their bodies around in the catnip.
It wasn’t until Ross came out with the sash from a robe and dangled it over the head of one of the lions that Rebel finally intervened. As the lion started batting at the sash, Rebel uttered, “I think it’s time we clean this up. We should probably call Pixie and Sugar, too.” Even though he was taking care of his friends, there was humor still in his tone.
Ruby bent down and kissed the top of Bleu’s head. “Catnip not your thing? Or are you just too dignified to lower yourself to rolling around on the floor with those alley cats?”
Pike shifted back and shot her a playful glare, his eyes a bit glazed. “Hey,” he protested, but he immediately lost interest in her or her words as he rubbed the side of his face against the floor.
“How did you get the cat here?” Ruby asked Rebel.
The twins started laughing again as Rebel scratched at his beard and answered, “Well… I had Pike put the cat in one of those baby-carrier things that you wrap around your torso. Bleu snuggled right in there and didn’t seem to mind when Pike started his bike. So… yeah… that’s how she got here.”
When Ruby started giggling again, Bleu meowed, started purring, and began rubbing her face against Ruby’s cheek.
After Pixie and Sugar came to collect their men, since the men were too high on catnip to ride their bikes, Ruby helped Rebel and the twins clean up the ridiculous amount of catnip and fur that was spread across the floor.
Once that was done, Ruby found a spot in the laundry room for Bleu’s new litter box. Then she filled and set out the cat’s food and water dish in the kitchen, before she dumped the rest of the dry cat food into a resealable container and put the cat treats in the pantry.
While she did that, Rebel had taken all the cat toys out of the packaging and also put together the six-feet-tall cat tree, while Bleu watched him with distrusting eyes from across the room.
While he finished that, Ruby went into their bedroom and got in an hour of exercise before heading off to the shower. She dressed in one of Rebel’s tees and a pair of her leggings. Not planning to go anywhere else for the night, she was all about being comfortable.
When she stepped out of the bedroom and was strolling toward the kitchen to make some tea, she glanced over at the floor and stopped. In the middle of the living room floor, Rebel was sleeping on his stomach with his cheek resting on his folded arms. Curled up and sleeping on the center of his back was Bleu. As carefully as possible, she retrieved her phone from her purse and snapped a picture.
Staring at the two of them, her heart felt too full, overflowing with happiness, love, and contentment.
Rebel
When Rebel woke up from his impromptu nap, he didn’t open his eyes. It was the sound of Ruby’s voice that had woken him. She was talking with Ross. He just laid there and listened for a moment.