Page 205 of Pucking Sweet

I walk into the living room. “Here, kitty,” I call. “Princess?”

Groaning, I abandon my plans of beer and sports highlights, and instead go looking for the cat. There’s obviously a lot Poppy will forgive me for, but killing this cat definitely doesn’t make the list. “Here puss, puss, puss,” I call up the stairs, feeling like a goddamn idiot. “Come on out. I just wanna see that you’re alive.”

I move down the hall to the main bedroom. “Come on, cat. Please?” I drop down to my knees and check under the bed, letting out a breath of relief. She’s there, lying on her side. “Hey, fuzzball. Come on out.” I rub my fingers together the way Poppy and Cole do.

She doesn’t move.

With a groan, I flatten out on my chest, wedging myself under the bed frame. I wrap a hand around her and pull her out. “Please don’t be dead.”

She’s not moving. Her little belly looks distended and she’s listless.

“No, no, no.” I pull out my phone, panicking. I can’t call Poppy. She’ll freak out and cry and blame me. I can’t call Cole. He’swithPoppy. Then they’ll both freak out and blame me. Cursing, I race downstairs and get the cat carrier out of the garage. “It’s okay fuzzball,” I say, gently placing her into the carrier.

As I hurry back down the stairs, I search on my phone for the nearest animal hospital. It’s after hours, so the only one is an emergency vet fifteen minutes away. I get in the truck, buckling her carrier in the front seat. Then my truck is roaring to life. As soon as I get on the A1A, I make a quick call to the only person I think will help me and not be a dick about it.

He answers on the third ring. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Hey, I’m sending you an address. I need you to meet me there right now, before I freak the fuck out and ruin my goddamn life.”

I don’t even wait for a response before I’m sending the address and tossing the phone in the cup holder. “You better not die,” I say at the little gray cat. “Do you understand me? I have big plans for my life now, and for better or fucking worse, you’re in them.”

Twenty minutes later, Langley comes busting through the doors. “Dude, what the fuck?”

“They just took her back,” I say, rising out of my chair. “I don’t know what’s wrong.”

He looks around, confused. “Wait—why are we at a vet? What the hell is going on?”

“Poppy’s cat is sick,” I explain. “And I cannot let this cat die. She’s bonded to this thing, man. If it dies, I’m gonna be in so much trouble—”

“Poppy has a cat?”

“Well, technically it’s my cat,” I say. “I’m on all the paperwork. Poppy couldn’t adopt it because of the rules at the apartments so—”

“Hold on,” he says, holding up a hand. “You called me saying I had to come to this address.”

“Yeah.”

“You said you were about to ruin your goddamn life.”

“Yes.”

He frowns. “But I’m here for a cat?”

Okay, now I’m confused. “The address I sent you was for a vet. How are you fucking confused?”

He huffs, crossing his arms. “I didn’t read what the address said, I just followed the damn GPS. Nov, I didn’t even tie my shoes.” He points down at his untied shoelaces.

Okay, that’s commitment. I smile at him, feeling a little better. But then my smile falls. “Wait—what did you think you were coming here to do?”

“I don’t know.” He waves an arm. “You said you were freaking out and about to ruin your life. I just assumed you and Poppy were eloping. I thought maybe this was a courthouse or something.”

“You thought I called you in a panic, wanting you to come watch me marry Poppy?”

“Watch it, stop it.” He shrugs again. “I figured I’d feel out the vibe when I got here.”

I glare at him, arms crossed. “Why would I want you to stop my wedding to Poppy?”

“Seriously?” He huffs a laugh. “Maybe because it’s you, Mister ‘My Longest Commitment Is With My Bauer Nexus Geo.’”

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