Page 56 of A Forgotten Mistake

“I’m not calling him Butter.”

“It’s not outlandish. There are no puns involved. What could possibly not be delightful about it?”

“So his nickname is Margarine. Fitting.”

“NO! Don’t nickname the cat.”

Liam isn’t deterred. “Lucy Fur, what do you think of the name Margarine?”

Lucille, who is glowering at the new cat from her spot on my lap, does nothing but continue to glower, which Liam seems to take as approval.

“Look. She loves it.”

“No, she loves the name Butter,” I say as I give her a pet, which thrills her. She’s been even more needy since the new cat came around. It’s as though she thinks I might look at him a moment too long, even though he refuses to sit with me.

While Michaels insisted we take some time off this morning as well, I’m quite aware that I’ll only get Liam to sit here for another minute or so before he heads off to work.

“You know you’re not allowed to move a cat, right?” I ask.

“Why? Do they explode if you do?” He picks up the cat like he’s trying to decide where the detonator might be as Butter’s tail twitches back and forth. Seeing nothing, he sets the irritated thing next to me. Butter is displeased by this situation and glowers at me, like my simple words are the reason his life has been ruined. To top it all off, Lucille yowls out her misery about it all.

“Are all cats this dramatic?” Liam asks.

“No, no… I think just our cats.”

His eyes narrow as he scrutinizes the creatures. “I like how you said that in a way that was meant to reassure me, but it didn’t comfort me in the slightest. The only thing they have in common is that you named them.”

I just laugh as I put Lucille down, or at least try to as she hooks me with her claws like she could just attach herself to me. “Isn’t it nice having a friend at home so you’re not alone during the day?” I ask as I wave to the loaf who is already back to loafing. His tail is flicking this way and that, probably as he contemplates his new name that he must love.

Lucille assures me that it is not better in any way as her yowls follow me while we make our way out the door.

Liam says, “I want to stop by the hospital. Don’t mistake it as me feeling bad for Abby because I don’t feel bad for idiots who don’t listen to me and choose to leave their home and get tossed off a balcony.”

“Oh nooooo, of course not. How gross would it be to show feelings! How heinous!”

“I used them all up loving you,” he informs me as he hooks me around the waist and draws me in just before I reach the car. “There’s nothing left because I love you so much.” Then he kisses me sweetly as his arms draw tight around me. It’s ridiculously comforting, and I return the kiss before giving him a look. For some reason, the look just makes him smile harder.

“I love you too, but I promise I don’t need every ounce of your love to the point that you can’t care for others.”

“But caring for others makes me feel icky inside,” he says a moment before I see Davey, Cole’s father, glowering at us. Ialmostmention it to Liam before realizing that if I said something like “We should stop because the neighbor is being pissy again,” Liam would be like “Then I’ll simply remove his eyes so he can’t see to complain about us.” I see no part of it going well, and then next thing I know, Liam would be like “Here, I got you a present” and it would be the neighbor’s head.

So I just pat Liam some in a weird, awkward way.

“What is this?” he asks as I keep patting his shoulder, and when he goes in for another kiss, I pat his face.

“This is my love pat.”

“Yeah? I mean…” He flinches with each pat, as though I’m actually patting him hard inany way. “If you enjoy it… I will… suffer… through it…”

“Stop acting like I’m smacking you! It’s such a light pat!”

“If this is what you prefer over kisses… I will suffer.”

“Oh my god. You are a difficult pain in my ass, you know that?”

Liam gives me a look. “Excuse me? I’m giving you a hug and a kiss and you’re smacking my face! Which of us is difficult here?”

“Not me.”

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