“Yeah,” I grumble. “That’s her.”
Piper Rhodes.
“She’s stunning,” Avery says softly.
Yes, it’s true,Piperis attractive, and she smells incredible. But my goal was for her to take the cat, and nothing more.
Even though my inner Alpha growls at the sight of her.
“Well?” Maddox turns to me expectantly. “What was she like? What did you say to her?”
“I said, ‘I have a cat to drop off,’” I snap. “What else was I supposed to say?”
“How about ‘thank you for what you do; it’s not easy to run a cat rescue, and if I weren’t a complete moron, I would ask you out?’” Maddox’s blue eyes narrow. “Seriously. What is wrong with you?”
“Yeah, Poe. What the hell,” Avery murmurs, not looking at us. He’s scrolling through the rescue’s website, letting out a displeased grunt. “These photos are awful.”
“What a fumble,” Maddox sighs, shaking his head. “I expected more from you.”
“What? You want me to go back in there and ask her out? I didn’t make the best first impression.”
Maddox scratches at his stubble and groans. “Of course you didn’t. You also look like you haven’t slept in forever. I wouldn’t want to go out with you either.”
“Maddox,” Avery warns. “Be nice.”
Usually, I can handle Maddox’s banter, but I’m so exhausted from the last few weeks that I snarl at him.
“We’re never going to see her again,” I snap. “So fuckingdrop it.”
But instead of Maddox matching my energy, he simply gives me a shit-eating grin while Avery sighs.
“That’s not true at all,” he says gleefully. “Because guess what?”
“What?” Avery asks, closing his laptop and turning to look at him.
“Snow has a sibling,” he says mischievously. “There’s a little white kitten in your herb garden.”
I let out a groan, remembering Piper’s words from earlier.
Sorry, I don’t control the cat distribution system.
Well, that’s just great.
“There’sanothercat?” Avery asks, delighted.
“We’re not keeping it,” I snap.
“That’s not up to only you,” Maddox says. “But…this does give us the perfect reason to visit Piper.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not going.”
“Of course you’re not going,” Avery says, standing and heading toward the backyard with Avery. “You’d just mess it up.”
I scowl as my two packmates leave me in the front room, my headache growing worse.
Great.
3