CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
ETHAN
Somethingsoft and warm taps my chest.With my eyes still closed, I feel for Chloe’s hand, only to capture a tiny, hairy set of fingers instead.
My eyes flash open.
A pair of round, pale blue eyes study me.
“How did you get out?”I mumble to Kat, looking around for Chloe, who’s nowhere to be seen.“Did that girl from next door let you in?Watch out for her, she’s trouble.”
Kat settles on my bare chest, still pinning me with her intense feline stare.I don’t know how my brother interacts with these things on a daily basis.They’re all mixed up in a secret plot to overthrow the human race, I know it.
Kat reaches to paw my face, once, twice, and I roll away from her, lifting her off me as I go.What time is it?Chloe must’ve left before dawn if my alarm hasn’t gone off yet.
I reach for my phone.
“What the hell?”Sitting up in bed, my sleepy eyes blink at the screen.How is it afternine?Why didn’t my alarm go off?Opening my clock app, I find all my alarms turned off, right through to this afternoon’s reminder to call Wyatt for his birthday.
I face my phone to Kat.“Are you responsible for this?”
She licks the tip of her paw.A surefire sign of guilt.
Looks like the takeover has already begun.
I kick out of bed and head into the shower, a rush of memories from last night sending heat licking up the back of my spine.
When Chloe and I are together, it feels as if we could set the entire planet on fire.Just thinking about it makes me hard, and I have to relieve myself in the stream of water while imagining her pressed up against the glass wall of the shower, one leg draped over my shoulder.
Man… this woman does things to me.
I step into the kitchen, hair still dripping, and get hit with the smell of well-brewed coffee.Kat’s food bowl has been filled too.Normally, I don’t like people moving my things around, but seeing Chloe’s little touches has my stomach flipping.I pad around the kitchen, frying up some eggs and putting on an extra serving of toast.A postcard-perfect morning beckons through the window, so I carry my steaming plate and mug outside and shoot the girl next door a text.
Me
Morning… thx for feeding Kat
Chloe
Welcome.Didn’t want the pussy to go hungry.
Chuckling, I shake my head down at the screen.This woman has no shame.
Me
I promise to keep her well fed
Chloe
Good boy.You enjoy your sleep-in?
Me
Hated it
Miss Troublemaker doesn’t need to know that’s a lie.
How did u know my alarm didn’t go off this morning?
