Page 33 of Cop-Off

“Nice to see you too, Kitty Cat. Gonna invite me in? I’ve been traveling for twenty-four hours—you would have to move to the arse end of nowhere, wouldn’t you?”

Apparently he didn’t need that invitation after all. She watched him push off the frame and waltz his suit trouser-clad arse right into her living room, pushing his floppy black hair out of his face as he scanned his surroundings.

“I’m running late for a thing...areallyimportant thing.” she announced impatiently. She really didn’t have time for this. “So, I have to go. Like now. Do you want to come or crash here? I’ll be gone an hour, two max.”

Dropping his bag on the floor, he walked back toward her. “Okay, let’s go.”

***

Cat arrived at Little Rock Falls in record time. That was one good thing about living in the ‘arse end of nowhere’. No traffic. Checking her watch one more time, she scurried out of the car and gestured for her brother to do the same.

Already exasperated with her, he gestured at his outfit. “Are you seriously taking me on a hike right now? I’m not exactly dressed for a workout.”

And he wasn’t. He was wearing what he had arrived in—smart trousers and a white shirt. A white shirt that by all logic should be creased by now. Yet it wasn’t. Like his trousers, it looked perfectly pressed. But Cat wasn’t too worried. Little did Jack know, today had nothing to do with hiking.

“Will you stop complaining. You’re the one who wanted to come along, remember? Now hurry up, we’re late.”

Jack let out a huff but followed her up the sloped path toward the entrance. As soon as Zach, Libby and Cody were in sight, she put on her most apologetic expression. At least she hoped she looked apologetic and not constipated.

“Sorry, sorry, I know I’m late. But there’s a reason. A very good one.”I couldn’t find a bra.

“It’s my fault,” Jack chimed from behind her. Thank God for big brothers. She’d forgot she could blame everything on them.

“Oh my God, Jack! What are you doing here?” Libby flung herself into her brother’s arms, actually managing to coax a smile from him.

Zach and Cody weren’t smiling, though. They both looked positively murderous. She probably should have explained who the good-looking English man was already.

“Guys, this is my brother, Jack.” Better late than never.

Some of the tension in the air began to dissipate and she noticed Cody’s jaw unclench. Zach still didn’t seem too thrilled, though. Cat was guessing that probably had something to do with the fact that Libby was still in Jack’s embrace.

“When did you get here? Cat never mentioned you were coming,” Libby went on, ignoring the snarl coming from her boyfriend.

“About twenty minutes ago.” Jack chuckled. “And that’s my fault, too. I kinda surprised her.”

Ambushed her more like.

“You mind letting go of my woman now?” Zach asked through gritted teeth.

“Zach!” Libby reprimanded before untangling herself. “You’ll have to excuse him, Jack. He’s a bit of a caveman.”

“No worries, babe. If I had a girl as gorgeous as you, I would be, too.” Her brother winked, causing Zach to actually growl.

Okay. This is not going well.

Cody seemed to pick up on Cat’s silent plea for help and intervened, introducing himself to Jack and then prattling on about the history of Little Rock. Within one minute, Libby was safely tucked under Zach’s arm again as they all began their ascent up the waterfall.

This was Cat’s first time there. Even though she’d seen several of Libby’s photos, the camera hadn’t done it justice. Soft green moss lined their path as the sound of water beating against rocks echoed in the stillness. Sucking up as much air as she could, she breathed in the intoxicating freshwater smell surrounding them, despite not having even seen a drop of it yet.

Just then, Zach turned his head to signal her, and she nodded. It was go time.

“Libby,” Cat caught her friend’s attention, “come take a picture with me?”

It worked. Libby willingly turned and walked back to her, allowing Zach to sneak off ahead to set up. She just had to keep her busy for a little while.

As they switched between taking selfies and posing for Cody, Cat tried her hardest to stall by pretending she didn’t like the photos. In the process, her best friend was quickly becoming impatient.

“You look beautiful, Cat. In all of them, I swear. Look, we’ll take some more in front of the waterfall, okay?” Libby very sensibly tried to reason with her. “Cody, will you please tell your girlfriend how silly she’s being?”

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