Page 114 of Dead Girls Don’t Forget

“Hey, sweetheart.”

It took a while. He stayed crouched, deciding whether I was a trick. Then he uncoiled slowly and crept across the grass toward me, low and careful, stopping twice to reassess. On the third approach he closed the distance and sniffed my fingers. A second later he pressed his head into my palm like he had been waiting for someone to find him.

“Oh, no,” I murmured. “You’re adorable.”

Rick crouched beside me and reached out to pet him.

The kitten hissed and swatted his hand.

Rick jerked back. “Okay. Rude.”

The kitten immediately turned back to me and head-butted my knee.

Jason snorted. "Maybe it likes her because he's a cat himself."

I slid one hand beneath his stomach and lifted him against my chest. Light. Too light. He melted into me like he had always lived there.

Jackson’s brows pulled together immediately.

“You’re taking him?”

I glanced up at him. “You jealous of a five-pound animal?”

“That depends,” he said. “Is he moving in?”

“Are you even allowed pets in your building?” Lia asked.

“There’s nothing in my lease that says I can’t have a pet,” I said.

“That is absolutely not the same thing as being allowed.”

“Too late now.”

Rick leaned in again. The kitten hissed again.

“Okay, he hates me,” Rick said. “I accept this.”

Jackson’s hand settled lightly at the small of my back as we started toward the parking lot again. “You already have a name?”

I scratched behind the kitten’s ear. “His name is Artemis.”

Jason blinked. “You just… knew that?”

“He told me,” I said dryly.

The moment I settled into the passenger seat, Artemis curled into my lap and started purring like a tiny engine. He already acted like he owned me.

Jackson slid into the driver’s seat and glanced at Artemis, then at me, then back at Artemis.

His brows furrowed.

“You okay?” I asked.

His eyes drifted back to Artemis. “I’m fine.”

Artemis stretched a paw onto my thigh. Jackson’s jaw tightened.

He cleared his throat. “I’ll drive you home.”