The door opens behind me and I hear the sound of someone setting something down, then more stuff, then finally, the door closes. I look over my shoulder, curiosity getting the better of me.
My eyes land on a pet carrier. “What the hell is that?” I ask Kat, who’s setting a box down on my kitchen counter. She opens the box and lifts out a bag of pet food and some other shit.
“Thatis a kitten who needs a home. She’s the last one left from her litter and a shelter is no place for a little thing like her. I volunteered you to be her foster dad.”
My eyebrows furrow even as my scowl deepens. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” my sister says airily. I watch in disbelief as she opens the door to the carrier, and sure as shit, lifts out a tiny grey ball of fluff. She rounds the end of the couch and sits down next to me before placing the thing in my lap. “There you go. Now you won’t be so lonely when you’re brooding.”
My eyes flick down to the kitten, who’s standing up and arching its back, and then to Kat, then back to the kitten. “What the fuck, Kat. I don’t need a kitten.”
“Well, too bad, the kitten needs you. Now, how was the wedding?”
My head shoots up at her question. “What do you mean?”
Her eyes narrow at the weird sound of my voice. “What do I mean? I mean, how was the wedding? How awful was Lily’s family? Did something happen?”
“Have you talked to Lily?” I say cautiously, tempering my tone.
“No, I came here straight from the shelter. I was going to call her later. What’s going on, Jude? Is she okay?”
Now that I’m fairly certain Kat has no clue about this morning, I relax slightly. But not a lot, thanks to the fluff ball that has started kneading my leg with sharp as knives claws. “Ow. Stop it.” I lift the kitten off my lap and set her on the floor where she starts to wander around. “She’s fine. I think.” Turning to face Kat, I remember my resolve to ask her more about Lily’s fucked-up situation. “But a little warning about her shitty family would’ve been nice. Did you know her cousin married Lily’s ex-boyfriend?”
Kat frowns. “Yeah. It’s messed up. I forget that you weren’t around as much when we were growing up. The short version is her parents are insane; her mother and aunt have pitted Lily and Marnie against each other since day one. But where Lily hated it and had zero desire to compete with Marnie, Marnie took it the opposite direction. Her life goal has been to put Lily down and make her feel like the loser of the family. And Marnie’s mom, and Lily’s, never stopped her.”
“From what I saw, her parents were just as guilty of putting her down as Marnie,” I grumble. Nothing that Kat said surprises me, based on what I experienced over the last forty-eight hours. But damn, it's depressing to hear my sister confirm it. “That’s fucked-up. Has she ever had anyone on her side?”
“Her Nana.” Kat smiles. “She’s awesome. Doesn’t take shit from anyone. Unfortunately, the rest of the family doesn’t seem willing to change. Lily’s had to deal with her parents, her cousin, and her aunt and uncle basically shunning her for years. When she told them she wanted to go into physical therapy, they took away the education fund that she and Marnie both had. They said the money was meant to be used for something worthwhile, but what they meant was, anything that didn’t toe the family line was unworthy.”
“Damn.” I whistle under my breath.
Kat stands up from the couch. “She’s my best friend, Jude. She deserves everything, but she doesn’t see it. Because no one has ever made herfeelit.”
I stay seated, lost in thought as Kat gathers up her things and heads to the door.
“I’m glad you were with her this weekend. She needs someone who can stand up to her toxic family.”
There’s meaning layered into what she’s saying, meaning that I’m worried is Kat making assumptions that she really shouldn’t be making. But when I push up to stand and make my way over to her, intent on clearing things up, she just wraps her arms around my waist.
“I love you, big brother. Take care of the kitten, and yourself, okay?”
“Love you,” I reply gruffly. The door closes behind her, and tiny claws dig into my pants. I look down to see the damn kitten trying valiantly to climb my leg. I detach it from me and make my way back to the couch, sitting down and swinging my legs up. Despite actually sleeping last night, I’m exhausted.
But when I wake up an hour later from dreams that involved Lily, a bed, and a lot less clothes than there were this morning, it’s not her weight I feel on my chest.
It’s the goddamn kitten curled up, purring.
Chapter thirteen
Lily
Sleep did not happen for me last night. Nope. Not even after I pulled out my box of toys and tried to orgasm myself into oblivion.
The orgasms happened, that’s for damn sure. All I had to do was remember the feel of Jude’s hard body underneath me, his hands gripping my ass, his lips covering mine, and I was going off like a rocket.
All day yesterday I had to pinch myself to be reminded that it really happened. We might have been half asleep, emotionally hung over from the day before and the disaster of my family, but we were both fully aware of what was happening. I trust Jude to know he would have never crossed the line if he thought I wasn’t on board.
And oh boy, was I on board.
