Page 72 of Stay in Your Lane!

That was a pretty damn good idea, now that I thought about it.

Nodding, I took his hand, and I felt guilty for the relief that filled his expression. I’d never rejected his touch before, and I had no doubt I’d seriously hurt his feelings. I hoped I could make up for that.

“Good idea,” I said softly. “Let’s get my stuff and the cats in the car, and then we’ll go get you packed.”

At that, his face lit up. “We’re taking the cats?”

“Well, yeah.” I couldn’t help smiling at his enthusiasm. “I can’t take the fish, but the cats are portable.”

“Cool! Okay, let’s do this.” He paused. “But first let me say goodbye to Steve.”

CHAPTER 21

EVERETT

There was an argument going on in the car. Which, to be fair, seemed to be the way Kyle’s family rolled, so it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Compared to my own family, which tended to ignore problems until they blew up into something completely unavoidable and dramatic, it was maybe the better method. But listening to it still felt a bit like eavesdropping, even though Kyle and I were a…huh. What were we now?

“—because you won’t have space for it all! What part of pet sitter don’t you understand?”

“You didn’t say we couldn’t bring the cats, so we’re bringing them.”

“Did you have to bring a trunk’s worth of shit along for them too?”

“It’s a litter box and some litter, what?”

“It’stwolitter boxes and?—”

“Well yeah, I’ve got two cats. They can’t?—”

I stared at my index finger, which still stung from Steve’s goodbye nibble. Kyle had covered the bite with aStar WarsBand-Aid. I didn’t even know theymadeClone Wars-era Band-Aids anymore; it was pretty sweet.

A fluffy orange paw extended out of the cat carrier on my left and swatted at my hand. “Aw, Jeff.” I reached inside with a fingertip and was pleasantly surprised when he rubbed his big furry head against my skin instead of biting it.

Jeff: 1, Steve: 0.

“I know you don’t like it, buddy.” Everyone in the car knew, given how Jeff had spent the first half an hour of the drive caterwauling—pun intended. Kyle had said it was normal for Jeff in cars, but I still felt bad for him. Patches, on the other hand, had curled into a ball and fallen fast asleep.

I kind of wished she was awake too. Then I’d have something else to distract me from the argument and my own thoughts.

By now my family had been told I was gone. I had no idea what that was going to mean to them. Would Leanne feel guilty because she’d told Theo so much? Would she feel justified? Would my brother wonder if I was okay? Would he invite Penny over because for once he wouldn’t feel weird about them being really loud in his room with me right next door? And my dad…I didn’t have to think too hard about his reaction, at least. He’d be shaken, and mad, and inevitably disappointed in me for getting involved in something he thought I had no business being a part of. That was just how he thought when it came to me.

Jeff batted my finger again. “I know, buddy, I know.” I winced a little as one of his claws found purchase in the top of the bandage and ripped it slightly. “More paw, less claw, dude. I don’t have another of these.”

A second later we turned off the interstate. We were two towns away from ours, far enough that I didn’t know the streets very well, but Colin seemed to know where he was going as he turned into the first trailer park we saw. He confidently drove down the streets, and he finally stopped in front of a blue single wide that looked like it had seen better decades.

I shivered. The last trailer I’d been in had led to a complete overhaul of my entire life thanks to Ricky’s murder. The grim part of me wondered whether I was in for something similar, but the optimist in me told the other part to shut up and put on a smile as I got out of the car.

At least I wasn’t alone. Kyle was with me. We were together, which maybe wasn’t the best thing ever since I didn’t wish any kind of harm on him and this was a decidedly harmful situation, but I was so grateful not to be alone.

“Here’s your home away from home for the next few days until we get the situation under control,” Colin said as he opened the front door of the trailer. It was very compact inside—a combo kitchen and living room, then a tiny hall leading to the bathroom and…main bedroom, I guess. Did trailers have main bedrooms? This one had two, and the one at the far end was a lot smaller than the one I put Jeff’s carrier down in, so main bedroom was as good a term as any.

“There’s no internet and no phone,” Colin said, “but you can connect via the burners I brought you.” With a stern look at me, he added, “No calls, though.”

“I won’t!” I held up my hands in mock surrender.

“You say that.”

“This wasn’t my fault.” Itfeltlike my fault, but saying that would be taking agency away from my sister, who was perfectly capable of screwing things up without assistance from me.

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