Page 64 of Fall Hard

“I love you,” she said finally, pressing a kiss to my lips as we got dressed and I smiled.

I was going to see my new home today, with my new girlfriend, and my new kitten. Life couldn’t get better than that.

EPILOGUE

“Ky,you need to do the peeinthe litter box,” I groaned and she blinked her little eyes at me as I cleaned up the mess she’d made. “You’re lucky you’re so cute.”

Bryn walked into the kitchen and made a face. “Aw, another accident sweetie?”

“To be fair, I think she was aiming for the litter box and just didn’t get there in time.”

Bryn picked Ky up and stroked along her head before tickling under her chin. “You’ll get there, sweetheart.”

I smiled, loving watching them together. Ky had settled in so well to the new apartment, aside from a few accidents, and it felt like Bryn and I were following in her tiny footsteps. We were decorating one room at a time with a good mixture of restrained elegance and a riot of color, it was a challenge but one we were both enjoying for now. I had my own room, directly opposite Bryn’s, but we spent the majority of both our days and nights together regardless. It was nice to have the option of space though, if we needed it. Things had been a slow-building simmer for us, but once I’d finally managed to make her mine it had all progressed quite quickly. It was working for us though, and that’s all that mattered.

Bryn had finished college for the summer and was interning at a local not-for-profit firm which still left plenty of time for us to see each other, whereas I was working at the animal shelter and May let me bring Ky into work with me. It was work I adored, the only problem was that I wanted to adopt every animal in the place. So far, I’d managed to restrain myself but I’d started cooking up a plan to open my own shelter or sanctuary one day. I needed to get more experience first, though I’d learned a lot just from having Ky.

“Um, Liv?”

I glanced up from the dishes I was busy washing and met Bryn’s eyes. “Yeah?”

“You know how the paint in the spare room is wet?”

“Sure,” I said, scrubbing at a particularly stubborn coffee stain in my favorite mug. “Why?”

“Our kitten is pink.”

I stood perfectly still for a second before turning slowly to see what Bryn was talking about. There, all down one side of Ky’s fur was a perfect, baby pink patch.

“Crap.”

A knock on the door left me torn but Bryn smiled gently as she tossed me the towel to dry my hands. “Go. I’ll sort her out.”

“Thank you.” I kissed her quickly on my way to the door and double checked she had a hold of Ky before I opened it to find Kat standing there with a manic look in her eyes. “Oh! Hi, everything okay?” I stepped back from the door so she could come in and she immediately began to pace. We hadn’t done a proper housewarming yet, though Kat and Jamie had been by a few times to play with Ky, and it felt like Kit was here most days.

“I need your help.”

I moved in a little closer after shutting the door. “Of course, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

She smiled, but it looked slightly crazed, like she couldn’t believe what was about to come out of her own mouth. “Yes. Yes, something happened.”

I frowned as I rested my hand on her arm. “Well, what is it?”

Bryn stuck her head around the bathroom door, a wet-looking Ky meowing in her arms and I shrugged my shoulders at her.

“I need you to plan my bachelorette party.”

My mouth dropped open and Kat laughed slightly hysterically.

“I’m engaged!”

---