Page 17 of Ink & Snow
Cherry meowed again, and Amory reached for her once more, breaking my gentle hold with ease. I let him take the little furball out of her temporary home and onto his lap.
“She pees on you, I’m not taking the blame.” Vet Duncan had been really delighted about her ability to do that, not something I thought Amory would agree with.
The kitten wiggled before she realized she was getting petted, which had her settle down and soak up the attention.
“Oh, she won’t do that. She’s so cute.”
I huffed, shook my head. “You’re cute, neighbor. I never got around to making breakfast,” I said, deciding to ignore the fact I’d had bagels earlier. “I haven’t been shopping yet, so nothing stellar, but I have somewhat stale bread. Want to stay for some French toast?”
“You really meant that about the cooking?” Amory asked shyly.
“Mmm-hmm.”
“I could eat. But I really only have an hour, tops. I need to reschedule the appointment I had for today, move some of the bookings for piercings up.”
I stopped on my way to the kitchen. “Shit. Your hand.”
Amory shrugged, moving from the floor to the couch. “No biggie. In fact, with this weather, people won’t be all that mad they don’t have to make the drive. I mean,Silken Chainsis open, of course, but the people from there don’t mind if I rebook them either.”
I started moving items from boxes to the kitchen, finding the things I’d need. My cast iron skillet, the bread, some fancy jam I’d put on top in lieu of berries.
“What’s Silk and Chains?”
Amory huffed out an amused little noise. “No,Silken Chains. Like, chains made out of silk. It’s the mayor’s club.”
“The mayor also owns a nightclub? I guess power floats to the top everywhere.”
Amory chuckled. “It’s a sex club actually. Elias keeps inviting me. He says I can just come to hang out at the bar with him, grab a drink.”
I tried to remember if someone had mentioned Elias before, and if so, who he was. Maybe someone from the hiking store? I needed to start taking notes of all the people in this weird little town.
And I needed to absolutely keep my eyes on Amory. Between getting Doctor Ben to jam a needle in his behind for a tetanus booster and getting invited out to drinks at a sex club, I wasn’t so sure he really was as much of a wallflower as I’d been taking him for. Assuming I wasn’t worried over some straight guys simply wanting to hang out, Amory had admirers.
Didn’t I just want to fuck him, no strings, only yesterday?a small voice in my head asked.
I frowned as I whisked my batter together.
Maybe. But things changed.
My inner voice liked both sarcasm and cruelty.Right, because rushing into a new relationship after ending an old one spells such a glorious outcome.
“You make that look simple,” Amory said from the door. He leaned against the frame, watching me, Cherry trying to eat his index finger.
“It’s simple. Whipped cream would make it fancy, but I ran out.”
“Right. I can’t cook like that. I can make instant noodles in a chili peanut sauce though. That’s my go-to.”
I chuckled. “Instant noodles, huh.”
“I also have an emergency stash of instant coffee at my shop.”
“You joke.”
“Nope.” He popped the P and grinned at me.
“Such a renegade. What are you piercing today?”
“I’m not sure I should tell you that. Client confidentiality, you know. Are you pro or con piercings?”
