Chapter 4
Four
NOAH
“You have a degree. You shouldn’t be a pet sitter.” Vee huffs beside me, cheeks flushed as she hauls yet another cat tree into the catio.
The enclosed outdoor patio will provide the cats I board with plenty of enrichment, perches, platforms, and hiding spots. If I were a cat, this would be my paradise.
My sister is one of the biggest gym rats I know—second only to my brother, a physical trainer—and she’s the only one of the six of us who hasn’t taken a break yet while we’ve tackled the DIY project.
Aries gave Vee’s pink crop top and leggings best suited for yoga a single once-over before shaking his head.
Why the hell did I think it was a good idea to get drunk the night before my family and I would spend all day hammering and drilling? I’ve already popped two painkillers, and it still feels like Killian might as well be driving that screw directly into my skull.
I barely pushed through cleaning Summer’s bathroom this morning. The vomit I’d left behind had dried, and I gagged the whole time I had to scrape it off the wall of her shower. I could gag right now just thinking about it. Hopefully, she didn’t hear me.
In the stark light of day, Summer was even more beautiful than I remembered.
Hair unbrushed and unwashed thanks to the vomit in her shower, makeup smeared, sweats in place of her paper-thin dress, but without the cloudiness from the alcohol, I could memorize every inch of her face.
Every detail of the impossibly kind and exceedingly patient woman in front of me.
As soon as she texted me this morning, the memories came flooding back.
She was so easy to talk to last night. It felt like catching up with an old friend I hadn’t seen in years.
I can’t remember the last time I felt that at ease around anyone, let alone someone armed with a sharp object.
Sure, she woke me up by looming over me with a knife, but considering the circumstances, I’m just lucky she didn’t plunge it into my gut.
Now, the spare key to her apartment is burning a hole in my pocket. Before I knocked on her door this morning, I searched for the key she mentioned last night, certain she wouldn’t leave it under the mat or on the doorjamb.
Nope. Wedged in a small crevice in the windowsill. A silver key so tiny you’d miss it if you didn’t know to look for it.
Who knows how long I’ll have before Summer notices it’s gone missing. I need to get a copy made today and return it as soon as possible.
This is insane. What kind of psycho steals a woman’s spare key and makes a copy so he can access her home without her knowledge?
Apparently, I’m that kind of psycho.
Since I left her apartment to stumble to Aries’s, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her tipsy confession.
I secretly fantasize about someone stalking me.
Consensual stalking. That’s what Summer wants. A suave, charming man who will follow, track, and monitor her with unrelenting devotion. Whose very mission in life is to keep her safe and make her happy.
At least, that’s what I gleaned from the back covers of the books on her shelf.
Too bad I’m not sure I have what it takes to be the man she wants. Hell, even if I did, she wouldn’t want anything to do with me after the disastrous way we met. You don’t start a romance with a woman by psychologically scarring her.
Unless she’s into that. Is Summer into that? God, my head hurts—
“Don’t tease your brother.” In the corner of the catio, Mom perches on the only chair and points a buzzing, portable fan at her face. “He’s following his dream.”
“A whole catio in one day.” Dad surveys our handiwork with hands on his hips.
He tends to interject his random thoughts into our conversations, especially when there’s conflict or tension.
He’s convinced someday he’ll manage to derail our arguments.
Hasn’t happened yet, but he hangs onto that hope like a life raft. “We did good.”
“His dream?” Vee frowns. “His dream was to be a vet. That’s why he became a vet tech and why he should’ve applied to vet school.”
Vee will never let me live that down. She hounded me for months about getting a four-year degree and applying to vet schools, but few people are smart and driven enough to become a doctor of animals, and I’m certainly not one of them.
“My dream was to work with animals,” I cut in. “I’m still doing that.”
Killian claps a bandaged hand on my shoulder. He made it about ten minutes into the project before hammering his knuckles. “At least Noah doesn’t have to eulogize them anymore.”
“Euthanize,” Vee corrects with an eye roll.
I smack the final nail in place before tugging on the basket to make sure it’s firmly affixed to the wall. “I eulogized them after euthanasia. Don’t make me sound like a monster.”
“He’s got a heart, Vicious,” Aries cuts in. His nickname for my sister since she chased after him with a shovel when we were kids.
“Don’t call me that.” Vee’s eyes practically shoot fire at Aries. Half the time, I invite him just to piss her off. Talk about free entertainment.
Dad claps his hands to break up the bickering. “I think it’s time for some beers. What do we say?”
“Absolutely!” Mom jumps to her feet, even though her primary contribution to today’s project was instructing everyone on where to hang the tiny hammocks and asking if I really thought that was the best spot for the cat tree.
I wince. “I’ll pass.”
Aries pats my back before he mimes drinking. “He had a rough night.”
I nearly shove him.
Mom claps a hand to her chest. “Oh, honey. I know the breakup must be so hard.” She glances around the catio with wide eyes before her pitying gaze settles back on me. “Is that why you’re spiraling?”
“I’m not spiraling, Mom. You know I’ve been pet sitting for years.”
“So why did you get wasted last night?” Vee challenges.
“Can’t a guy get hammered for fun anymore?” Killian shakes his head, barely able to cross his arms with those giant biceps he built in the gym.
“Not after twenty-five,” Vee tells him.
“He got his heart broken.” Mom puffs out her lip at me. I’d almost think she was mocking me if she weren’t always so sincere. “It’s not easy getting over a breakup. I just hope you’re making this decision because it’s what you want, not because you want to get away from—”
“This is what I want.” I flash Mom a reassuring smile. “I knew I couldn’t work in a clinic forever.”
Long hours, emergency calls, belligerent owners, insufferable superiors, exhausted coworkers, and anxious animals didn’t exactly make for ideal working conditions. As much as being a vet tech gave me purpose, I can keep working with animals in a more relaxed, low-stress environment.
Pet sitting outside work hours quickly became a welcome reprieve from the chaos and anxiety of the clinic environment. I’d much rather play with dogs and cats all day long, and I make double what I made at the clinic.
Not to mention getting away from Naomi has brought nothing but peace to my life.
“You shouldn’t run from her.” Vee plants her hands on her hips. “You didn’t do anything wrong. She was your boss. You should be suing the shit out of her, not letting her win.”
“Lay off him, Vicious—”
“No!” Vee glares at Aries and then at our family like they’re all traitors.
“He’s upending his whole life because of this woman.
Abandoning his career, giving up his salary, and building a damn tiny home for cats!
He’s on his way to becoming a cat hoarder, and it’s our responsibility to put an end to this before that happens.
I am not letting him get eaten by a dozen homicidal felines in his sleep. ”
I wrap my arms around Vee and squeeze her to me, even as she remains limp.
“You’re a good big sister, Vee. Thanks for worrying about me.
” I pull back to fix her with the same reassuring smile I gave Mom.
The same one I’ve been forced to flash over and over since the breakup.
“I swear I’m fine, though. I’m much happier, I promise. ”
My family only witnessed the aftermath. They’ll never know what it was like to work for Naomi and the hell she put me through after I ended things. If anything, the breakup gave me the kick in the ass I needed to put me on the right path, not a self-destructive one.
“And we’re heading inside!” Dad shouts, pumping his fist and leading the way back through the sliding glass door. Always the peacekeeper.
He slips his arm through Mom’s and helps her cross the threshold back into the house. They’re already giggling by the time they reach the kitchen. Nearly thirty years together and they only seem to like each other more.
Aries nudges Vee’s shoulder. “Come on, Vicious. You need a drink.”
She shakes him off but doesn’t deny it. For the first time since she stomped into my house this morning, her eyes soften.
“Noah, you know I love you, but you’re too nice.
You let women walk all over you, and it only hurts you.
Every girl you’ve dated, you’ve always put her needs above yours, like your needs don’t matter.
But they do. Any woman who’s worth your time will know that.
She’ll treat you like her partner, not her servant. ”
I shouldn’t have told Vee about all the chores Naomi had me running around to do for her.
Dropping by her house between shifts to walk her dog and water her plants, grabbing her a coffee on my way to work and driving back if they didn’t make it to her exact specifications, taking her laundry to the dry cleaners and relaying her list of demands about how they should do their job with her clothes.
Hell, even cleaning her whole house before her parents visited for the weekend.
In hindsight, Naomi’s demands were . . .
excessive. Worse, they weren’t favors—they were expectations.
Vee is right about one thing: I don’t know when to call it quits. Don’t know where to draw the line.
Clearly, I still haven’t learned my lesson because when Summer confessed she wanted a stalker, my first instinct was to give her what she wants. To break into her apartment again, study those books on her shelf, and bring her every fantasy to life.
So maybe Vee is wrong. Maybe putting a woman’s needs above my own—doing anything to give her what she desires—is exactly how I’ll get the woman I want.
At last, Vee follows Aries inside. The pop of Dad cracking beer bottles open taunts me.
As Killian and I follow, he squeezes my shoulder before leaning down to murmur in my ear. “Aries said something about a break-in?”