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I shake my head, waving goodbye as I head out the door, thinking about what Jodie said.
Thinking about Sage.
Thinking about how many days until I see her again and wondering how the hell I’m going to find a loophole in my own heart to get me out of this train wreck before it crashes into me.
* * *
“So,not to bring up your love life again, but how bad do you want that Sage Everling back in your bed?” the voice asks when I answer my phone the next afternoon.
“Reed?”
“Yeah, it’s me. And I’ve got some hot news for you. I was scrolling through Instagram this morning, stalking my favorite designers, and one Sage Everling’s latest post showed up. Apparently, she has this hairless cat named Monticello who escaped last night from her condo. She’s offering a huge reward for information leading to the return of her cat.”
I sigh, thinking about how she was in the cat room at the shelter. I have a feeling that cat means everything to her, judging by her baby talk with the cats and the fact she volunteers there.
“Well, lucky for me, I have a job, so I don’t really need a reward,” I say.
“Listen. Imagine how grateful she’ll be if you find that cat. I mean, the cash reward would probably accompany a huge thank you, gratitude, who knows what else for the right guy. This would totally win her over. Plus, who knows, maybe she’d like throw in a bag or something.”
I shake my head looking at the ceiling. “So are you sure you don’t want to find the cat?”
“Well, trust me, I’ve been searching the area around Midsummer all morning. But I thought if we team up, we have a chance to find the damn naked cat. You could get more time with her to do whatever it is you crazy kids want to do, all Christian Grey style or whatever, and I could get my bag.”
“I’d hardly call our sex Christian Grey level. Yet,” I add, grinning to myself.
“Hey, no one’s judging. But the point is this. Get over here and help me find this cat, and maybe we both could get what we want.”
I sigh, leaning on my counter. “Even if I was so desperate to win Sage over, finding a cat in Ocean City isn’t exactly the easiest task. It’s like a needle in a haystack and all that.”
“Well, exactly. But with our two brilliant minds, maybe we have a shot. I messaged Sage on Insta to ask what streets she lost him between. It’s 78th and Baltimore.”
“Shit, that’s right near my condo.”
“Bingo. So we have a starting point.”
So Sage Everling lives within a block of me. Interesting. She completely failed to mention that one. Hell, we could carpool together.
“Are you listening?” Reed asks, bringing me back to the conversation. “I said I’ll meet you at your condo in fifteen if that’s okay. I’ll bring some tuna. Get your kitty-calling voice ready. We’re finding this cat if it kills us.”
He hangs up before I can protest. Great. Not exactly how I wanted to spend my day—sweating in the hot summer sun creeping around with Reed looking for a naked cat that’s probably either squashed or long gone. What the hell has life come to? People accuse Texas of being weird, but this place isn’t really selling itself as normal these days.
I sit back on the couch, thinking about all the things I could be doing this afternoon—work, getting an early start at the bar, or more likely, lying on the beach staring at scantily clad women all day. Instead, I’m waiting for another man to come over so we can go whistle for a cat all day. Just great. This woman isn’t my girlfriend. Hell, she was a one-night stand, and look at all the trouble she’s causing. I’ve got to get with it, put my foot down, and move on. This isn’t the kind of thing I do.
Twenty minutes later, Reed shows up at the door. “Hey, Cash, good news. I’ve been thinking this whole way here. I know exactly where to start,” Reed announces as he barrels through my door without even knocking.
I shake my head. “This ought to be good.”
“Michael’s Crab Shack,” he blurts. “Come on, it makes sense. It’s right near where Sage lives, and you can smell that place from here. If I were a cat, I’d be dumpster diving there.”
I raise an eyebrow. “And you think Sage hasn’t thought of this?”
“Have you seen Michael’s Crab Shack? The place looks like you’d get crabs walking by it. Doesn’t seem like the kind of place a woman like her would think of.”
I shake my head. “So what, we’re going to just go scope the place out for a cat?”
“You got it. Now come on. Time’s wasting.”
I pinch the top of my nose between my thumb and forefinger. “Okay, let’s go,” I say because I really don’t know what else to say. I follow Reed out into the summer air, passing a poster of the missing cat in question. As we walk the several blocks to our dilapidated location, I think about how in Texas, I’d never be going dumpster diving for a cat. I guess a whole lot can change in the blink of an eye
