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“The city’s overrun with stray animals, so I’m sure the shelter gets more than it can keep. Might not be worth saving.”
Horrified, Haven ripped the kitten from his hands, taking it back. “They can’t just kill it! That’s not fair! It did nothing wrong!”
Gavin let out a sudden laugh of surprise as he held up his hands defensively. “Geez, all right, relax. There are other options.”
“Like?”
“Like you can let it go and hope it can fend for itself.”
Out of the question. “Or?”
“Or you can take it to the vet.”
She glanced at the cat before looking back at him. “Do you know a good vet?”
“I might know of a place,” he replied, eyeing her curiously. “Why are you here, anyway? I mean, don’t get me wrong—it’s a pleasant surprise, but still a surprise. I was actually about to head your way.”
“My class got cancelled,” she replied. “I was going to the library and kind of just ended up here instead.”
Gavin stared at her with disbelief. “You just ended up here?”
“Yes. And since I was here I thought I would say hey, so . . . hey.”
A smug smile formed on his lips. “You must’ve missed me.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Because you didn’t see me yesterday and you wouldn’t see me today if you didn’t have class. It’s the weekend, so that means you’d have to wait until Monday to see me again. That’s a long time.”
She rolled her eyes at his cocky tone. “It was nothing like that.”
“Admit it,” he said. “You missed me.”
“No.”
“You like me.”
“No.”
“Not at all?”
“Well, maybe just a little,” she admitted.
“I’ll take it,” he said. “It’s better than nothing.”
“But just as a friend,” she clarified. “Not more.”
Gavin shook his head as he took a step away. “Stay here and I’ll get the address for the vet.”
He disappeared back into the trailer as Haven strolled farther away, petting the kitten. It stared up at her, bright blue eyes alive with excitement, mismatched from its dull and lifeless exterior.
“Snowy,” she whispered, the word popping in her mind. “I’ll call you Snowy.”
Gavin came back out, pausing on the steps of the trailer as he hollered for someone. The firmness was back in his voice, the hard edge once again etched in his expression. The man from earlier jogged over, and Haven watched as Gavin said something to him. He spoke too quietly for her to hear but the man’s head dropped low, his shoulders slumping in defeat. He gave a slight nod before turning, and Haven tensed as he approached her.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” he muttered, refusing to meet her eyes. “I hope you can accept my apology. I ain’t mean to hurt the cat or anything. I was just messing around. Send me the vet bills. Mr. Amaro can take it out of my pay.”
Haven stammered with surprise, only able to get out an “okay.”
