AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nope. Just take care of her and give her a good home.”
A silent chuckle rumbles in my chest. I gentle nuzzle her head. “I’ll try.”
“Oh, and one more thing. This is a big one.”
“What?” I ask, at full attention.
The vet flashes a warm smile at me. “Give her a name.”
Back home, I bring the cat up to my room and she snuggles right back in the same corner she’s claimed for her own, falling asleep on the cat bed I bought her the other day.
Still lying on that same bed is the pink pig plushie that I’ve had since I was a baby. My mom knit it for me, and it’s one of the few possessions I own that I truly value. For some reason, the cat’s been obsessed with it ever since she got to my room. Plays with it all the time and sleeps next to it.
Watching her fall asleep so quickly makes me laugh. A visit to the vet must constitute a big day for a cat, so I don’t blame her.
I walk back downstairs to where the rest of the guys are hanging out in the living room.
“Hey, guys,” I say, sort of intruding in the middle of a conversation Tuck and Rhys are having about whether Atlantis was real. “I need some advice.”
Tuck perks up like a puppy dog who’s just heard the word catch. “Girl problems?”
Well, he’s not totally wrong …
“My cat,” I say. “She needs a name.”
“You haven’t named her yet?” Lane asks, some surprise laced through his voice.
Guilt tightens in my stomach. It has been a couple days …
I’m bad with names, okay?
I cross my arms over my chest. “Any ideas?”
“Mittens?” Tuck offers.
My lips tug down. That’s a bubbly cat name that doesn’t fit the prickly girl in my room at all. “I don’t think so.”
“What about just a normal name?” Rhys says. “Like, I don’t know, Sarah, or Kate, or Penelope. Something no-nonsense instead of a goofy animal name.”
“Hmm,” I reply, pursing my lips thoughtfully. No nonsense is my style, after all.
“Booo,” Tuck makes his disapproval known. “Don’t give a boring people name to a cat! That’s no fun.”
“I’d have to agree with Tuck,” Lane says. As soon as the words leave his mouth, his eyes go big. “Shit, did I just say that?”
“You sure did, Captain,” Tuck answers, grinning from ear to ear. “And I’m never going to let you forget it.”
“How about Beppo?” Sebastian says.
I quirk an eyebrow. “Beppo?”
“That was the name of Borges’ favorite cat,” he replies.
There’s a silence in the room as the rest of the guys and I look at him.
His eyes dart around, looking back at us. “You know,” he says, “Jorge Luis Borges. Argentinian author. One of the most influential writers of the twentieth century …?” When none of us make any sign of recognition, he shakes his head with disappointment. “I really need to get you guys more cultured. That’s it, I’m starting a team book club.”
“Comic books included?” Tuck asks excitedly.
