Page 60 of Secret Submission

“Okay, well, I’m going to take Connor around and introduce him to everyone… and also go grab us a drink.”

“Drinks are in the kitchen,” her mom said.

“I know,” Julie muttered, tugging on Connor’s hand to lead him away.

He went with her, smiling at her parents as best he could, not sure of what else to do. There were an awful lot of people to meet, but he’d really wanted to make a better impression on her parents. That was hard to do if he wasn’t going to be given the opportunity to talk to them. On the other hand, he also needed to be here for Julie and what she wanted. So, he let her lead him away.

Rather than introducing him to anyone, she took him straight into the back of the house, quickly closing the door behind them.

“My parents have two cats,” she explained as she did so. “They like to try to escape. But you probably won’t see them unless they’re streaking past you out the door. They really don’t like people other than my parents.”

“Gotcha.” He’d known cats like that. His grandmother’s cat had rarely let anyone near her. Connor had eventually gotten her to come sit with him, but whether he’d be allowed to pet her was always up in the air. Sometimes, yes; sometimes, he got his hand scratched for his efforts.

It seemed as though almost everyone was in the backyard. The house was quiet and empty. The door had opened right into the kitchen, and she headed over to the coolers that lined the wall next to the fridge.

“What do you want?” she asked. “There’s water, beer, wine, sodas…”

“A soda would be good,” he said. At his size, he could definitely handle his alcohol, but he wasn’t sure how her parents would feel about him drinking the moment he showed up. He’d rather be firing on all cylinders, anyway. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” As she bent over to open one of the coolers, movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned to look into the room that was connected to the kitchen. It looked like a living room with a couch and a coffee table. He didn’t have a full view, so he couldn’t see what else was in the room, but what surprised him—after Julie’s previous statement—was that the movement had been a cat. Not just any cat, either. It was the kind of cat he’d only ever seen in pictures—totally hairless.

Awed, he was drawn toward it. He’d never known anyone who had a hairless cat. It was pale with huge blue eyes that watched him unblinkingly as he slowly moved closer. Despite Julie’s claims of unfriendliness, it didn’t go running or even look like it was unhappy to see him coming into its space.

Sitting on the glass coffee table, it held completely still.

“Connor?” Julie asked from behind him.

“Shh, I’m almost to him,” he whispered, not wanting the cat to run. He really wanted to touch it, just to see what it felt like.

“Oh, that’s Avery,” she said, a little closer to him now. Obviously close enough that she could see the cat. “He’s the slightly friendlier one, though I’m surprised he’s out right now. Normally, when the backyard is full, they don’t leave the second floor.”

“Hi, Avery,” Connor crooned. He was close enough now to stoop down a little and rub his finger over the cat’s head. Rather than running, Avery leaned into the touch, purring. His skin was soft, softer than Connor expected, and warm. Different from fur, definitely, but the reaction from Avery was the same.

“Well, shit.” Julie sounded very surprised. “He likes you.”

Turning his hand, Connor kept an eye on the cat as he moved his hand down Avery’s head to scratch his neck. The cat kept purring, stretching out his neck and turning his head to let Connor scratch under his chin.

“Wow. He really likes you.”

Fairly certain that the cat wasn’t going to suddenly attack him, Connor kept giving him scritches while he looked down at the glass table the cat was sitting on. There were several odd circular marks on it, far too small to be from a glass or cup and definitely not something that looked like it was supposed to be on the surface.

“What is that?” he asked, reaching down with his other hand to rub one of them and see if it came off.

“Don’t touch that!” Julie’s sudden command made him jerk back from both the coffee table and the cat.

Avery yowled indignantly as Connor pulled away. Tipping his nose in the air, the cat stood up with a faint popping sound.

What the…

It wasn’t until Avery hopped down from the table, leaving behind a little circular spot on the glass—just like the one Connor had been about to rub—right where he’d been sitting that Connor started to understand. He stared at the little circle.

“They have no hair, so they get kind of… suctioned to the glass when they sit on it. I keep telling my parents to get a different kind of table, but mom likes the glass one, so she usually just cleans it twice a day…” Julie’s voice trailed off, caught somewhere between exasperation and amusement.

“Thank you so much for not letting me touch it,” Connor said, straightening up. He hadn’t thought about that aspect of a hairless cat. Butt marks on the furniture… good grief.

Granted, he knew cats put their butts on everything—that was a running joke of most cat owners he knew—but they didn’t usually leave behind such clear evidence. Most people got to be ‘out of sight, out of mind’ about it.

“You’re welcome,” Julie grinned at him as she handed him a soda. She’d gotten herself a glass of wine. “Okay, everyone should have had enough time to talk about us and get used to the idea that I really did show up with a new boyfriend, so we can go back out there, and hopefully, it will be a little less awkward.”

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