Page 108 of The Woman with the Wallet

But, quite frankly, it no longer felt like home.

It never would again, since it turned out that Nicole was horribly allergic to cats, so I couldn’t live with her and have Hissy at the same time. And there was no way I was abandoning Hissy. She’d come so far so quickly, from kitten that hissed and scratched and startled at the smallest of sounds to a purring, snuggling, sweet adolescent.

“Oh, hey!” Megs said, beaming at me as she paused her sweeping. “Uh-oh,” she added as Nicole came out of her room in a thick robe, despite it finally warming up outside. “Max has her serious face on.”

“My face is always serious,” I said with an eye roll.

“Not so much lately,” Nicole disagreed.

“What’s up?” Megs asked, concern etched on her face. “Is everything okay with Miko?”

“Uh, that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about,” I told them. “I… there’s no easy way to say this. But I’m… I’m moving out.”

There was a second of tense silence before Nicole burst out laughing. “Max, you’ve been moved out for, like, two months now. There’s literally nothing left in your closets or drawers.”

I didn’t think they would have noticed that. But that was probably stupid. We were constantly going into each other’s rooms to borrow stuff.

“Actually, we’ve been wanting to talk to you about the same thing,” Megs said as Nicole wrapped an arm around her waist. Like they wanted to be a united front. “We… we are planning on not renewing the lease.”

“Really? Why?” I asked, knowing they likely couldn’t afford anywhere better.

“Well, it’s just that Tyler decided to take a job with his father’s business. Which means he will be in the city full-time, and making a lot more money. So his roommate is moving out. And he wants us to move in with him.”

“That’s great!” I said, meaning it. I knew how hard it was for all of them to be separated so often. Besides, I kind of liked the idea of the girls having a guy around. And living in a door-manned building like Tyler did. “I’m so happy for you guys.”

“We’re happy for you too,” Nicole said, giving me a smile. “I love Miko.”

How could she not after that epic vacation he’d sent them on?

“He’s a pretty good guy,” Megs agreed, slightly more reserved with her affections because she claimed she wasn’t sure anyone was worthy of me. Which was absurd. But sweet. “And his apartment is amazing.”

“And he rescued that cat for you,” Nicole agreed, already starting to sniffle a bit, and I wasn’t even anywhere near her.

“Wow,” Megs said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “It’s a whole new era for all of us.”

It was that.

It had been over a decade that Megs and I had been surviving together. But it was time to stop just surviving. We deserved to thrive. With the people we loved.

I did, too.

Love Miko.

I had for longer than I’d even realized.

That warm, cozy sweater feeling?

Yeah, that had been the beginnings of it.

It had only gotten more intense in the weeks we’d been together.

Miko, to his credit, had been so gentle with me. Giving me space, but reassurances. Pulling me close but not smothering me. Letting me occasionally be my prickly self, but managing not to get hurt.

I wasn’t obtuse.

He was treating me the way I’d been treating my cat. In a way, I guess we were both part-feral out of necessity. But once we found someone to give us a safe space, to offer us unconditional love, we were easily and happily tamed.

Miko - 8 months

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