Page 42 of Feline Good

With a simple nod, she leaned into him when he came up behind her and turned her head to kiss him. She giggled as his damp hair touched her face and brushed it aside before kissing him again. Before he could deepen it, she turned back to the streamers she was carefully rolling back up.

Maya and Asher settled into a comfortable routine. She would roll, he would de-stick all the shiny hearts from the wood, and they would both place the items into a box he’d brought up from the basement. She had no idea where the other two had gone.

Maybe chasing mice?

Giggling at her own thought, she smacked Asher’s hand away when he pushed a glass to the edge of the bar.

“What are you doing?”

He stared at her wide eyed— innocent. “I dunno.” And then he promptly smacked the glass off onto the floor. It shattered, and Maya shook her head, battling the smile on her face as he stared at her in bewilderment. “I honestly have no idea why I just did that.”

“Mhm. Sure.” Once she finished with the streamers by the bar, the other two finally joined them, and Asher swept up the glass. A comfortable silence settled over them as they all went to separate corners of the room and continued undecorating. August became enthralled with a flying piece of streamer, and Maya smiled when he caught it in his hand reflexively. Maya grinned, then outright laughed. They looked at her like she was crazy, but she just shook her head.

Cats.

Peace reigned in the bar for the time being. The doors would open in a bit, but Maya had talked the guys into a little pre-gaming before the work night. It was the mix of alcohol and the comfortable atmosphere that led Maya to make bets with them.

“Can too.” She sneered at Asher.

“Cannot!” He dared her, an amused grin on his face, before turning to Amir. “You do it.”

A simple shake of the head was all Amir needed to shut Asher down, and Maya pouted at him, fighting the smile on her face.

Maya stood ready to the side of the bar, hands on her hips as she waited for someone to experiment on. “What, are you scared little Maya is gonna hurt you?”

Glaring at her from his spot on the bar stool, Amir stood with stubbornness etched in his features and in the way his shoulders were tensed.

“If you knock me out, you’ll have to carry me upstairs. Who taught you this, anyway?”

Maya shrugged as she grabbed an empty beer bottle from August, who stood with Asher behind the bar, watching intently. “Uncle Malak trained me, and this was one of the attacks he pushed me the hardest to master.”

“So, this is kind of like an archer and an apple?” he clarified.

“Exactly like that. Except with my foot and this bottle here.” She shook the bottle between her fingers and handed it to Amir to place on his head, carefully.

“Now, don’t move.” Maya grinned, backing away and ignored the worry on Amir’s face.

Standing about a foot and a half away, she took a deep breath, and steadied herself.

“Are you sure you want to—” He wasn’t even able to finish his question in time as Maya chambered her leg, pivoted, and extended her leg high, the top of her foot colliding with the bottle and knocking it right off his head. It bounced to the floor with a clatter, and she grinned at the shock on Amir’s face.

“You doubted me?” Pouting at him in a teasing manner, she crossed her arms and stuck her chin up. “Rude.”

Their voices collided as they all spoke at once. “That was fucking amazing!”

“What the hell, Maya?”

“Great Scott!”

Maya rolled her eyes at August, but giggled when Amir bopped her on the head before returning to his seat. “Okay, fine, I admit it. That was impressive.”

“That’s not the only thing I could show you, you know,” she teased.

Maya winked at the darkness that bled into his gaze, looking forward to it after the night was over.

* * *

All throughout the afternoon, amongst their banter as they waited on customers, a niggling something wouldn’t let her completely relax. The amulet.