Page 19 of Pet Project

Restraining order? I get up from the table, surprising Lucky with the movement as he turns to the two men who just entered.

“You can’t live alone, Shiloh,” Matt says, not noticing the little who is actively paying attention to their argument. “The guys would never agree. Plus, where would you find the money to break your lease?”

“You’re leaving us?” Lucky cries out and rushes toward his friend. “You can’t leave me, Shy-Shy! You can even have my Daddy if you want, but please don’t leave me!”

Shiloh just holds onto Lucky while he sobs. I’m glad that the shop is relatively empty this morning, and the people who are here seem to be familiar with or don’t have the energy to care about this drama happening in front of them.

“Drama at Kink Manor. What else is new,” Jessmumbles sarcastically from behind the counter, and I have to fight back a sneer towards my head barista.

“I have to leave,” Shiloh says, pulling my attention back to the scene that has turned my shop into a telenovela. “The house is too far away for the cops to get there if Michael decides to show up. There’s too much opportunity for him to hurt someone with me being out there. I just need to find a place close enough to campus to where I only have a short walk to be protected.”

A short walk to campus? Protected?

“Excuse me,” I interrupt before Lucky can start wailing again. “Can someone please fill me in on what is going on in the middle of my shop?”

With a sigh, Matt explains the situation of Shiloh having a restraining order out against his stepbrother who was recently released from prison. The two of them had just come from a meeting with the head of campus security over what the school will be doing to protect him.

.”… and then this headstrong kitty decided that he needs to live away from everyone who cares about him, like we can’t keep him safe”

Before I can say anything, Lucky pulls back from his friend and stomps his feet in protest.

“My Daddy is the bestest at keeping people safe! Or… well…” I watch in wonder as I can see the man overtake the little. I can’t stop my mind from trying to decipher what it is that pulled him out of his little space. “Actually, counting on Spencer and Eli might lead THEM to get into trouble.”

Shiloh holds his hand out towards the smaller man and gives Matt a look as if to say, “See?”

Matt sighs and looks to me for help, but Lucky bulldozes over me again.

“But you can’t get a lease or anything in your name or else el douchero step brother-o will be able to track you down. I’d say you could stay at Gramps’s place but that’s really far away from school and you’d be vulnerable with having to Uber it back and forth to school.”

Before anyone else can interrupt, I blurt out my solution with a little less tact than intended.

“There’s an empty room in my apartment upstairs!”

25

SHILOH

After clearing it with my professors, Matt drops me at home so that I can start packing up my things… the house. This isn’t going to be my home for the foreseeable future. Michael saw to that.

“What’s up, kitty cat?” Scott calls to me from the doorway. “What’s with the boxes?”

I don’t know what to tell him, so I just continue to pack, ignoring the burning sensation in my eyes. I explained to Matt that I wanted to get moved before telling anyone in the house because I know I’m not strong enough to stand up to them if they all try to make me stay. They need to understand like Lucky did. I thought it would be harder to convince him, but he gets it.

“Shy? Talk to me kiddo,” Scott says as he squats in front of me. He doesn’t look it, but he’s the oldest one out of all of us in the house. He’s shared a little bit with me about how he ended up here because I needed the helpto realize that I didn’thaveto do all of the domestic chores in the house to earn my keep.

Putting the last of my kitty toys into the box, I look up at the man who is essentially my true big brother and I can’t stop the tears from falling.

“I’m moving out,” I tell him as I get up to place the box of cat toys with the rest of my stuff. Pulling open the closet door, I let out an audible sob at the sight of my kitty collar hanging next to Toby’s pup collar.

I feel arms come around me and for once I don’t tense up. Usually, it’s only Toby that can touch me without fear of pain overwhelming me, but I guess my body finally recognizes Scott as someone who won’t hurt me.

“You’re only going across the hall, right? Toby will understand.”

I turn around in his arms and clutch my brother to me. Even though I’m taller than him by a couple inches, I want to disappear into his arms. I make myself smaller and let all of my pain and fear out while he rubs soothing circles on my back.

When I finally slow to just hiccups, Scott pulls back and wipes the moisture from my face using his sleeve.

“Feel better, kitten?”

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