23. Viviana
Viviana
I haven’t seen any of the other guys since we got home.
I’d kind of assumed they were upstairs in their rooms or something.
Instead, all three of them walk through the door with to-go boxes and stare at me dumbfounded.
In their defense, I am standing in the middle of the living room completely topless.
Zane is the first one to pay close enough attention to see the marks all over my chest and stomach.
I’ve just finished cleaning each scratch with alcohol and I’ve moved onto smoothing an antiseptic ointment over the wounds.
“What the fuck Lennox?! I thought you said this was just a surveillance job!” Zane shouts, storming toward me. Uh-oh he just full named Nox. Zane is big mad. He leans in close to see the damage. “Are you okay? Who the fuck sliced you up? They better be dead.”
I wince at that. “Well, it wasn’t a person. It was a cat and he’s very much alive.”
Zane’s eyes widen as they find mine. “A cat? What were you doing? Wrestling it?”
Nox chokes back laughter at that. “No, she was stealing it.”
Sloane chuckles as Cain scowls at me. Zane on the other hand is starting to get excited.
“You stole a cat?” Cain asks, his voice level.
I fidget with the ointment in my hands. “He was being neglected. He needs a better home.” I refuse to make eye contact with him.
Nox hands me my shirt and I pull it on over my head. Cain isn’t letting the topic go though. “You brought a cat home?”
Zane is bouncing up and down now. “We have a cat? Where is it? I want to pet it and love it.”
I grin at him, glad that at least someone is on my side. Maybe he’ll come with me if I have to move out with the kitty. “He’s upstairs in my apartment.”
I don’t have to say anything else, Zane is already gone and thundering up the stairs.
Cain stalks into the kitchen to put away his food, and when he gets back to the living room he still has a scowl on his face, but less severe.
“I thought we agreed that we’re too busy for a pet,” he says calmly as he folds himself into the armchair.
I guess we’re having a calm conversation about this.
I was really expecting a lot more yelling, but Nox and Sloane just calmly take opposite seats on the couch.
Before I can take the seat between them, Zane comes back into the room holding the squirming cat against his chest, taking the seat between them himself.
There’s another chair but it’s further away on the other side of the room, so I sit down on the arm of Cain’s chair.
“He’s so cute! What’s his name?” Zane says as he rubs his cheek against the top of the cat’s head.
The cat seems to enjoy the attention so I let him be. “I don’t know what his name is.”
Cain’s arm comes around me and he rests his hand on my thigh, his fingers tapping irritatedly over my jeans. Zane smiles down at the little black cat. “We’ll just have to give him a new one.”
I think about it. “What about Jack? Like Jack the Ripper?”
Zane hums, “But then people might think you named him after that guy in the boat movie… You know, if she had just moved over they could have both fit on that door.”
I grin at him. “Jeffery?” Sloane suggests, and Cain gags.
“We’re not naming it after a cannibal. Not that we’ve decided to keep it anyway,” Cain objects, and I give him a disapproving look.
“John? Or Wayne?” Zane suggests. I shake my head, not liking that either. Zane holds the cat up toward Nox “What do you think?”
Nox leans as far away as he can. “I think you should keep that little psycho away from me.”
Zane and I make eye contact at the same moment, our lips turning up into wide grins. “Psycho!” We say in unison.
Sloane blinks but shrugs. “Sounds good to me. He’s cute for a scruffy little cat.”
Cain sighs, “So, are we keeping it then?”
I frown down at him. “Psycho is a boy. Don’t call him an it.”
Nox laughs at Cains expense. “I told Viv that we would all have to agree to keep… him.”
My narrowed eyes turn on Nox now, I just know he was about to call Psycho an it. I look down at the kitten in Zane’s arms. He’s gotten comfortable and is now rubbing his head against Zane’s chest for more pets and attention. Yeah, I’m keeping the cat whether I have to move out or not.
“I vote yes,” Zane says, not taking his eyes off the cat.
“I’ll vote yes as long as we agree that Zane and Viv don’t get to name our future kids. We’d end up with some serious Addam’s family shit if they do,” Sloane adds.
I look at him with big eyes. “I would pick a normal name for a kid. He’s a cat, and Psycho suits him.”
He grins at me. “So, what do you want to name our future kids?”
“I… Umm… I haven’t thought about it before,” I stutter out.
“We’re getting off topic. Nox, what’s your vote?” Cain says, bringing us back on topic.
Nox sighs, “I vote yes.” Though he doesn’t look happy about it.
Cain’s hand twitches on my thigh. “Well I guess we’ve got a cat. Make sure you two clean up after it.” Zane practically melts as he gives Psycho more pets.
After a while, the cat gets tired of it and wiggles out of his arms. Hopping down onto the floor, he comes over and leaps up into Cain’s lap before making his way over to lay on mine. My fingers run through his fur in slow passes as he snuggles into me.
“I’m really surprised you voted yes,” Sloane says, looking over at Nox.
Nox shrugs his shoulders. “I’m pretty sure Viv was planning to move out with the cat if we said no.”
Four pairs of eyes find me and I shrug, refusing to meet any of them. “What if one of us said no? You would have just let her move out?” Zane demands, glaring at Nox.
Nox smirks. “It’s my house. I would have just vetoed the vote.”
“You can’t do that,” Sloane disagrees.
Nox shrugs, raising one eye brow at him indignantly. Before they can continue to argue any more, I cut into the conversation. “There is no letting me move out. If I want to move out, I will. If I want to go join a hippy communist cult, I will. Nobody will be telling me what I can and cannot do.”
Zane’s shoulders slump. “Sorry,” he says softly.
Cain’s fingers trace soothing little circles over the side of my thigh.
He never really touches me casually like this so I’m enjoying it while it lasts.
Maybe I just need to take the initiative with him more often.
Unfortunately, Psycho must have been paying attention to the tantalizing circles he’s been drawing on my leg, because his paw bats at Cain’s hand like he’s trying to catch him.
Cain laughs softly, leaning forward to get a better look at the fur ball. He pets his head softly and Psycho starts to purr for the first time since I’ve met him. “He is pretty cute,” Cain says softly.
“Yes, he is,” I respond, but I’m not actually sure if I’m talking about the cat or the man sitting beside me.