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“Then it’s settled. You’ll stay with me.”
Chapter 20
Mateo
“What the hell happened to you?”
Sriracha stared back at me balefully, the perma-grumpy look on his face even more severe than usual. There was a bow on top of his head. Not just any bow. A shiny baby pink one. His hair spilled out over top of it like a water fountain.
“She gave you a pink bow? I’m so sorry, buddy. That’s just wrong.”
I was about to free the poor thing from the wretched accessory when Eva’s voice rang out behind me. “Don’t even think about it. It stays.”
“It’s pink. Sriracha is a boy.” Well, technically, he was neutered, but still a boy to me.
“Pink used to be a very masculine color, you know. Blues were for girls since blue was supposedly calming and soothing, you know, as in the Virgin Mary. And red was bold and masculine, so pink was for boys. Pink looks great on him. And besides, look how adorable he is!”
“Your poor victim.”
“Victim? Don’t be silly. I groomed him. It helps me de-stress, and he liked it.” She took a step toward me, and it was only then that I noticed she was hiding something behind her back.
I frowned. “What do you have there?”
“Oh…nothing.” She came a little closer.
“What are you holding?” I asked, backing away.
“Nothing.” She matched me step for step, looking menacingly sweet and innocent.
I glanced over at Sriracha, who was in the process of trying to remove the bow from his head. Realization dawned just as Eva pounced. I found myself knocked over onto the couch with her straddling me.
“What the—” Oh. The feeling of the brush running through the fur on my chest chased away every protest I might have had. It felt…really good. And I realized I’d never once in my life been brushed before. My fur needed the occasional shampooing when I was in the shower, of course, but I always just towel-dried and left it as is.
“It’s a clean brush. I promise I washed it.”
It took all of three long strokes to get me purring like a house cat.
“See? It’s nice.” She repositioned herself on my lap. “And I need something to distract me now that I can’t volunteer anymore for the local cat rescue. I just had to turn down three cats and a kitten.”
“Oh, it’s volunteer work? I thought it was a side hustle.” Yesterday, she’d asked if she could bring over her grooming supplies, since she had a few furry clients to care for. I hadn’t realized she was doing it for a rescue for free. That was sweet of her.
Her brush swept over my shoulder, and I found myself tipping my head to give her better access.
“Nope. I don’t get paid for it. But I like thinking of how much better I’ve made these cats feel by the time they leave. Many of them are long-haired cats coming from bad situations. Some of them, their coats are so matted that they can barely move.
“That’s how I got Sriracha. He was a surrender. Someone got him without realizing that long-haired cats like Persians, Rag Dolls, and Himalayans need to be brushed daily to maintain their coats.
“Most abandoned cats do very well on their own, but long-hairs can’t survive once their fur gets so matted and gunked up with debris that they can’t hunt for food or climb to safety. I mean, look at him. Sriracha isn’t meant to be an outdoor cat. Persians got their reputation as princesses for a reason.”
Sriracha had given up on bow removal and was now curled up on the rug, napping in a beam of sunlight. With a smooshed in face like that, he certainly wouldn’t be able to hunt effectively. Nope, he was used to having his food served in a pedestaled dish.
We switched position on the couch so she could brush my back. I closed my eyes and let her work her magic. She was truly a cat whisperer. Eva of the Beast-Calming Brush. The lion part of me had never stood a chance. I’d been under her spell since the moment we met.
Since then, the wyvern in me had fallen for her bravery and fire, and the human for her brains and wit.
When I glanced back at her, she had a smile on her face. “You find this calming for you too?”
“Yeah. And I need all the calm I can get right now. I can’t believe Officer Biffi thinks I’d set my own house on fire. I’m not even sure what’s going to happen with work.”
