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Cries of agreement.
“Yee-haw!” Earl crowed.
“Were my notes… bad?” Sully asked.
“Not bad, but way, way, waaaaay too complicated,” Cam informed him. “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you everything you need to know.”
Sully shoved his gym bag in a cubby and tried not to gulp as he approached the barbells. Cameron grinned in a way that suggested he was about to lay down some serious pain.
Ch. 10 Alanna
Sooooo,turnsoutadoptinga cat with serious behavioral issues might have been a slight miscalculation.
“Just let her be,” Dede said gently from the doorway of the guest bedroom. Ignoring her mother, Alanna peered under the bed. Two angry blue eyes held her gaze, the warning in them clear.Come any closer and shit is gonna go down.
Alanna’s first two days as a “pet guardian” hadn’t exactly gone to plan. As in, it’d been an utter dumpster fire. When Petunia wasn’t hunched under the bed growling and spitting at any attempted encroachment, she was pissing and shitting in the corner of the room, patently ignoring the fancy, Wi-Fi-enabled, self-cleaning litter box in the closet. The demon spawn’s other new hobbies included scratching the wooden bed post into kindling and gleefully knocking every last thing off the bathroom sink. The cat’s latest victim had been a bottle of Alanna’s Dirty Vanilla from Heretic Parfum, which had created a delightfully expensive and fragrant puddle on the floor.
Alanna stared daggers at her furry nemesis. Why hadn’t Layla warned her about this horrific bitch of a cat?
Oh, wait… she had… multiple times…profusely.
Not that Alanna would ever admit to being wrong, not even on pain of death. Instead, she held Petunia’s gaze. No way would she be the first to blink.
The past two days had been a blur of action. After belatedly requesting her mother’s permission to allow a cat in the house—a favor her mom granted with a deep sigh and a head shake after noting the occupied cat carrier in her daughter’s hand—Alanna had set up Petunia in the guest bedroom where she was also staying. Then she’d run to L.A. to pack a few bags for an extended stay in Yucca Hills. True to his word, Chip Rupert the Third had packed up her office and sent her things to her condo. Hence, the half-dead peace lily now quietly ailing on the windowsill of the guest bedroom.
Since her return to Yucca Hills, Alanna had been glued to her phone, working with Thomas to schedule her arbitration.
Now, though, it was time to show Petunia who was boss.
“She needs space,” her mother said. “I was watching this show calledCat from Helland there’s this blinking thing he does—”
“I’ve got the situation under control,” Alanna said curtly to her mother. She didn’t need any expert advice. She knew exactly what was going on. This was a battle of wills. How many puffed-up male egos had she battled with just to extract the respect she deserved? This was no different.
Alanna blinked.Dammit! She sat back on her heels and rubbed her eyes.
“I’ll make you some tea and find the alcohol and Band-Aids,” her mother said as she retreated from the doorway.
Alanna huffed. The only wounds about to be inflicted were on the pride of a certain terrorizing cat.
Reassuming the awkward kneeling position, Alanna locked eyes with Petunia. “Now, look here,” she said in her most imperious boss-lady voice. “I am yourowner. You hear that?Oooowner. From now on, youwilluse your litter box. Youwillscratch your scratching post and nothing else, and youwillwear your collar!”
The collar.
That would be step one in establishing dominance. Alanna grabbed a Yucca Hills Pet Palace bag from the closet and pulled out a dazzling pink rhinestone collar. The personalized heart-shaped ID tag she’d created at the pet store two days ago now seemed wildly inappropriate.
“Come on, Petunia.” She knelt and reached under the bed. A warning growl rumbled from the darkness.
“That little scare tactic won’t work on me,” Alanna said to the cat. “I’ve gone toe-to-toe with a lot worse than you.” She reached further under the bed. The orange-and-white cat backed up and hissed. “Come. On. You. Stupid. Horrible—”
A paw flashed like lightning. Alanna snatched back her hand. A mix of shock and rage bubbled inside her as she watched scarlet pearls of blood seep from three ragged scratches across the back of her hand.
“Oh, it is ON!” she hollered. Flopping to her belly, she wriggled under the bed to her shoulders. Her hands gripped a furry form…
And then the catnado descended upon her.
Claws. Teeth. Spitting growls.
Pain.
