Page 10 of What I Should Have Known

Then, like an RPG, a meow shot through the haze.

Ripping my eyes open, Kat came walking out of the cat room holding Muffin. The animal screamed again, swatting at her bare arm. I stood upright, releasing the countertop as Muffin leapt from Kat’s arms and raced across the plastic. She stopped directly in front of me and plopped her ass down, her tail swishing steadily behind her.

I was once again locked in eyes so wide they nearly swallowed Muffin’s entire face. I stared. Not much else registered around me as the ringing faded beneath a fuzzy drum of muffled sounds. Barking from a far distance, the ticking of a clock miles away, melded with the quiet chatter of Muffin.

Footsteps faded from me as I inhaled and exhaled deeply, glued onto the damn cat’s eyes. “You are an ugly thing,” I muttered.

She yowled at me, yawned, and continued to stare.

“I have no fucking clue what to do with a cat,” I mumbled.

Muffin blinked but remained still.

“All right, Raiden,” Kat’s voice slipped through the sludge from down a hallway to my right.

Slowly, I turned my head, letting my gaze linger another half-second on the cat, and then pried it away as my hand found the back of Muffin. She didn’t move as I stroked her softly, the strange sensation of her spine resting directly beneath her skin bumped against my palm.

A border collie tore through into the front room, practically dragging Kat after him. She dug her heels into the floor as the dog leaped up and planted his two front paws on my not-so-little brother’s chest.

It wasn’t until that moment that it registered that he was only a few inches shorter than I was now. Raiden’s grin widened on his face, his eyes sparkling as Kat released the leash and walked back behind the counter.Lifting a couple of papers from beside her computer, she placed them next to Muffin, quickly withdrawing her hand as my cat swatted a paw at them.

“If you’ll quickly read through these and sign them, I’ll run your card,” Kat explained, plopping a pen down on the stack.

The words were a blur as I skimmed briefly and signed on a few lines. My mind didn’t register what I read, which I didn’t care about. All I wanted was to get out of here and home, even if I had no fucking clue how to take care of a cat.

Pushing the papers toward her, she avoided locking eyes with me as she slipped them down from the counter. Computer keys clacked, piercing the tension slithering around us like a steel cord. Raiden happily ran around the room, his dog chasing him with excited yips.

“You’re all set. Congratulations on your new pets,” Kat said.

What the fuck had I just gotten myself into?

Chapter 4

BERNIE

With a plunk, the last scoop of kitty litter settled into the box. Rising from a crouch, I tossed the scoop into the bag and closed the closet door where the extra litter would be stored. With the white dryer thumping quietly, I padded softly across the tile out of the washroom and nearly ran smack into my mom.

With her hands on her hips, she pursed her lips with raised brows.

“For the third time, I’m sorry I didn’t ask first,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair.

She sighed heavily as a smile crept across her face. A light chuckle bounced from her lips.

“Are you—Are you laughing at me?” I gasped.

“I just—” She patted her chest a couple of times, glancing away from me. “You do impulsive things all the time, but this was not one I expected. A hairless cat of allthings? You? A cat guy?”

“You know what,” I started and then closed my mouth and eyes. “I’m gonna go make sure she hasn’t absolutely destroyed the curtains in my room and then I’ll cook dinner.”

“Alrighty, Bernie. But, if I find cat shit somewhere around this house that’s not in that litter box, so help me,” my mom stated through another chuckle.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ve already shown Muffin where the box is, so I think we’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.”

“Me fucking too,” I grumbled, opening my eyes as my mom walked away. I studied her fading figure down the hall as she plodded across the gray carpet and then disappeared down the stairs to the left. My eyes trickled across the wall, locking onto the family portraits she’d hung before Raiden’s bedroom door.

The last family photo that included my dad before he passed from cancer ten years ago hung in the middle of more recent ones, including my military portrait. Even a few with my team I’d sent home littered the wall. But it was the ones of Raiden that I stared at.

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