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„That’s so adorable!” I say. Hearing him talk about those cats definitely doesn’t help with my massive crush on him. I want to kiss him so badly that it almost hurts.
„You really care for them, don’t you?” I say instead, trying to drown the urge to wrap my arms around him. „Will you keep them then?”
His expression hardens in an instant, and he looks somewhat uncomfortable.
„I’m not sure yet,” he says.
„But you didn’t want the shelter to help you find good fosters either,” I interject. „You can trust Paula, she’s the nicest person I know.”
He looks at me, somewhat wary and with his shoulders pulled up to his ears.
„Maybe,” he says, shifting awkwardly in his seat. „I’ve got to go.”
Of course, he does.
My heart sinks, when he gets up on his feet, but then lingers, before he slowly pulls his satchel over his shoulder. It looks like he wants to say something, but his lips remain sealed.
„Thank you for the coffee,” I say, and our eyes meet for a brief second before he tears himself away.
„You’re welcome,” he utters under his breath before he turns his back to me and walks away—seemingly as fast as he can.
Chapter 20
Aston
How on Earth did she get up there?
I’m standing in the middle of my kitchen, staring into a pair of striking green eyes on top of my more than seven-feet-tall fridge. I never expected any of the cats—especially not a kitten—to manage to get up there.
But Pi found a way. And now it looks like she doesn’t know how to get back down. She’s sitting on top of the fridge, curled up and her eyes narrowed, as if I was somehow to blame for her unfortunate situation.
„How long have you been up there?” I ask. „Are you trying to break a leg or something?”
The cat remains silent. Unlike the others—especially Zeta and Alpha—she’s rather reserved and not quite as chatty. But she’s definitely the most adventurous when it comes to climbing.
She doesn’t fight me, when I pull up a little stool and climb up to help her get down. Her green eyes stare up at me, almost lovingly, before I put her down on the floor and she thanks me with a meow.
That meow causes the rest of the family to appear, and they come running from different directions. I’ve gotten used to this little routine. Every time I spend more than a minute in my kitchen, I’m quickly followed by the cats, in hope of food.
I placed their little bowls next to the large kitchen aisle, and as I bow down to pick them up and fill them with fresh food, all four of the cats erupt in a chorus of excited meows.
I can’t suppress the smile that creeps up on my face. How am I ever going to get rid of them again? And do I even have to? It’s unlikely that anyone is looking for them, given how they were clearly abandoned on purpose, but what if that’s not the whole story? What if there’s someone out there looking for them?
I will ask Alexander to get a few posters ready and hang them throughout the neighborhood, so I can make sure that no one is missing them. Then I’ll think about what I’m going to do.
Once the bowls are filled with lumps of high-quality wet food, I place them down on the floor and the cats welcome them with another round of meowing, before they dive in. Alpha gets so excited that he almost falls into the bowl, and I laugh at the sight of it.
Claire would love this. I can only imagine the smile on her face while she watches these cute little creatures devour their food.
But then again, there are a lot of things I like to imagine about Claire. The list grows longer the more I get to know about her.
She’s such an enigma, such a delicious conundrum that keeps me up at night. I was dangerously close to losing control, with the way she decided to act during and after class a couple of days ago. I never expected her to be such a brat, because she was so different when we were texting. She was coy, reserved, and innocent. But she was also curious and eager. And she was willing to meet me at a kink club for our very first date—not many girls would be brave enough to do that.
But she never struck me as a tease. And I did not expect her to make things this difficult for me, after we found out that nothing can ever happen between us.
Or can it?
I know I shouldn’t entertain such thoughts, but I can’t help it. She’s making it impossible to forget about her. And it doesn’t help that she’s not just stunningly pretty but smart and marvelous. She got that TA position for a reason, and she seemed visibly excited about her tasks.
