Page 82 of Play Book

“Ally…” I try again.

“He’s so cute!” Ally gushes.

“She,” the employee corrects with a smile, putting the kitten in Ally’s arms.

Ally’s eyes fill with tears. “Please, Uncle Canyon? Pretty please? You don’t have to give me an allowance. We can return the lip gloss and?—”

“Stop,” I mutter, shaking my head as I reach out to gently scratch behind the cat’s ears. She purrs against me and I’m pretty sure I’m fucked.

“She’s so sweet,” Ally continues, hugging the kitten against her chest. “I’ll do whatever you say if you let me have her. Please please please?”

Fuck fuck fuck.

“You have to clean her litter box every day,” I say firmly. “I’m not going to do it, and neither is Rena.” My housekeeper is going to have a heart attack. We’d agreed no pets when I hired her, so I’m going to have some explaining to do.

“I will. Promise.”

“And you have to keep your grades up.”

“I will!”

Mother. Fucker.

We’re getting a cat.

Because I need even more stress in my life.

We’re supposed to be meeting Saylor for dinner, but I invite her over to the condo instead because there’s no way I’m leaving a new kitten alone in the house while we go out. I don’t know what we’ll do tomorrow when Ally’s at school and I have to be at a morning skate. They said she was already using a litter box, but so far she hasn’t.

“Oh, she’s beautiful,” Saylor gushes when she arrives. “What’s her name?”

“Luna,” Ally announces, which is news to me. Last I heard, she didn’t have a name.

“She looks like a Luna. That’s a great name.”

Ally picks Luna up and hugs her. “They wouldn’t let us have pets at our last apartment,” she says. “So we couldn’t get one.”

“Your first pet. What an important milestone.”

“Mom would have gotten me one if they would’ve let us,” she says defiantly.

“Okay, so pizza, Chinese, or Italian?” I ask, interrupting them.

“Chinese,” Saylor says.

“Pizza,” Ally says at the same time.

“I feel like Italian,” I mutter, knowing I’m going to lose.

“Can we get Italian that has a pizza option?” Ally asks.

“Sure.” I glance at Saylor, who nods.

“Absolutely.”

“You have homework,” I say to Ally. “So get started. Grades were part of the deal.”

She looks like she wants to protest but nods instead. “Fine.” She flounces down the hall to her room and I immediately pull Saylor close, kissing her.

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