Page 65 of Cat’s Guide To Romance

I chew my bottom lip and look around the apartment. There are still boxes everywhere. The bedroom needs painted. I haven’t hung anything on the walls. It’s not remotely ready for company. But Lucien has seen me covered in mud and trapped beneath a collapsed tent. I think he can survive some cardboard boxes.

Sparkle: Come over?

The dots appear immediately, disappear, then appear again.

Lucien: To your apartment?

Sparkle: That’s generally what come over means.

Lucien: I’ll bring food.

Of course my brain decides to panic now.

I leap off the couch and start grabbing boxes. “No. No, no, no.” I’m doing it again. I slowly put the box down. Lucien doesn’t give a shit if my apartment is messy. I don’t give a shit if my apartment is messy. I look toward the dirty dishes. Those can stay too.

Lucien knocks. I stare at the door. He actually knocks. Again. A ridiculous little smile pulls at my mouth before I open it. Lucien stands in the hallway holding two bags of food in one hand and a small gift bag in the other. His hair is still slightly damp, like he showered recently, and he’s wearing black jeans with a soft-looking pink sweater that makes his purple skin stand out. My gaze gets stuck on him for a second.

His smile slowly grows. “Are you checking me out?” He comes right in and his tail brushes mine as he passes, and the contact sends a little shiver up my spine.

He pauses in the living room, looking around without saying anything. Suddenly, I’m nervous. This is the first person I’ve invited here who isn’t family or helping me move.

“That chair is aggressively pink.” Lucien points toward my favorite new purchase before his attention lands on the pitcher of flowers in the kitchen. His expression softens. “You kept them.”

“Of course I kept them.”

His tail starts wagging.

I immediately point at him. “Don’t make it weird.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Your tail did.”

Lucien glances behind himself like he has no control whatsoever over the appendage.

I laugh and take the food from him. “What did you bring?”

“Thai. And before you ask, I ordered several things because I didn’t know what you liked.”

“I’ll eat almost anything.” I carry the bags into the kitchen before looking back at the gift bag still dangling from his fingers. “What’s that?”

Lucien’s expression changes.

Oh, no. “What did you do?”

He sighs and holds out the bag. “It’s small.”

I take it suspiciously and pull out the tissue paper. Purple ribbons. Dozens of them in different shades and textures. Satin. Velvet. Some glittery. Some thin. Some wide. My throat tightens.

“You said sometimes you tie purple ribbons into your tail,” Lucien says, suddenly far less confident than usual. “I saw them and thought of you.”

I run my fingers over a lilac satin ribbon. He remembered.

Lucien’s smile fades around the edges. “Too much?”

I set the bag on the counter and step into him, wrapping my arms around his waist. He freezes. I press my face against his chest, suddenly embarrassed by how much the ribbons mean to me. “Thank you.”

Lucien’s arms slowly come around me. His tail curls around my leg as he kisses between my ears. “You’re welcome, pretty kitty.”