Page 7 of Why Not Now?

When I get back downstairs, I find Ava looking out my back door, the glass giving a view of my patio.

“Ready to go?” I say.

She turns around quickly, her eyes widening a fraction before travelling from my head to my feet, gaze lingering on my crotch. I mean, that was the point of the pants, wasn’t it?

What the fuck am I doing? I’m going to die tonight, and it will be no one’s fault but my own.

Ava blinks and her gaze shoots up to mine. I keep my face as perfectly neutral as I can.

“You got a tattoo,” she says.

I laugh. “We haven’t seen each other for a long time, Ava. I’ve got a few.”

She stares at me, and I wonder what she’s thinking. Is she wondering where the other tattoos are? I’m certainly wondering if she has any.

“Want to see them?” I ask.

Whoa now, Derek. Stop flirting with her.

Then she smiles at me again, and I can’t remember my name.

“Not today. You, um, have a beautiful home,” she says.

“Thanks.”

“Do you…” she trails off and looks away.

“Do I what?”

She clears her throat. “Share it with anyone?”

Is she asking if I’m in a relationship? Why does she want to know? “Just Abby.”

Her eyes find mine and I wish I had turned on the light. I want to see the hazel colour of them. The flecks of gold that always shone for me, making me feel like I could do anything.

“Abby?” she asks.

I nod to where the little monster has come out of the kitchen to sit on the couch, cleaning her paw, her tail tucked around her body.

“Abyss. My cat. Well. I mean, she’s the ruler here. I’m more her human slave than she’s my cat.”

The tension leaves Ava’s face as she turns toward Abyss, who blinks up at us with bright yellow eyes.

“She’s very pretty.”

“She knows it, too. Ready?”

“Yeah.”

Just before we leave, Abyss jumps down and rushes to us. I think she’s going to whine at me to let her out onto her catio upstairs—it’s far too late for that—instead, she rubs against Ava’s leg, purring.

Ava crouches, stroking the little traitor’s fur.

“She knows a sucker for a snuggle when she sees one, huh?” Ava says, and I can hear the smile in her voice.

“Considering how I ended up bringing her home, you’re not wrong.”

I grab a hoodie and a ball cap, step into my black Chucks, and we head out to the car after Abyss has acquired the exact number of pets she needs and leaves us.

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