Chapter 8 #3
“We should get going—” Aries grabs his helmet and starts to stand, but Killian shoves him back into his chair and plops down beside him.
“Hell no, we just ordered food. I’m starving. Besides, I want to get to know the famous Summer.”
She arches a brow at me while I pull out a chair for her. “I’m famous?”
“Of course. I talk about you all the time.”
She grins up at me. God, how can she fake a smile that radiant? “Are you undercover?” she teases, nodding at my hat and sunglasses.
I shake my head, maybe a little too quickly. “Just . . . protecting my skin from sun poisoning.”
Right. That’s a good excuse. Damn, I’m clever. Maybe professional stalking isn’t my destiny, but improv might be. God, I think that might terrify her more.
“He’s hiding his identity.” Killian gives her a shit-eating grin, and I brace myself. “We know how much you’re into that.”
I kick him under the table, but Aries is the one who yelps.
Her brows furrow in confusion. “What—”
“How are you, sweets?” I blurt. “I missed you.”
She bites back a smile at the silly nickname. “I’m wonderful, honey bunny. How are you?”
I have to cover my laugh with a cough. “Better now that you’re here.”
Aries groans, stealing a fry from my plate. “You two are already nauseating.”
“Nice to meet you too, Aries.” Summer flashes him a sweet smile. She’s so damn good at this. Is this the real her or the fake-girlfriend version she pretends to be?
“Our parents couldn’t shut up about you.” Killian rubs Bud’s head to comfort him when he whines at his empty cup. “They already love you. Definitely like you more than his last girlfriend, but that’s not exactly hard.”
I kick him under the table again, but he doesn’t even flinch. Aries, on the other hand, hisses through his teeth and rubs his shin. “Ow. What the fuck?”
Summer steals a fry from my plate too and drops it into her mouth, past those pink-painted lips. For some reason, the gesture is far more erotic when she does it. Her gaze darts between Killian and me. “What was so bad about Naomi?”
Killian shoots me a look, his unspoken words clear. What was good about her? I stare at the bistro, willing the server to return to extinguish the awkwardness, but she doesn’t.
“Naomi is a vet. She owns the previous clinic I worked at, so she was my boss.” At this, Summer’s face pales. “It made things . . . uncomfortable. Especially when she became a lot more controlling.”
“And jealous.” Killian stuffs a handful of fries in his mouth, and I’m tempted to remind him and Aries that they ordered their own food. “Remember when she was blowing up your phone because you weren’t responding to her during a family dinner?”
“Yeah.” Aries snorts, derision coloring his tone. “Then she showed up.”
“Crashed the family dinner, screamed at Noah from the front door, called him all kinds of names. Took me and Aries holding Vee back to stop her from committing murder. Can you believe that?” Killian asks Summer.
Summer’s gaze lands on me, but it’s not the pity I’m expecting. More like a mixture of sorrow and . . . outrage. “That’s awful.”
That was my last straw with Naomi. After I saw the looks on my family’s faces, I knew I couldn’t stay in that relationship another day.
I broke up with her before work that Monday and told her I understood if she wanted me to leave the clinic.
She said I was welcome to stay, that I had been her employee before we dated.
But if dating her was a nightmare, working with her post-breakup was hell. I lasted all of a week before I put in my resignation.
Luckily, I wanted out of the clinic environment, I’d already paid off my student loans and built up my pet-sitting side hustle to make more than I was full-time at the clinic, and I have an inheritance from my grandparents to fall back on.
My family celebrated the news of our breakup, but they were convinced that Naomi did a number on me.
“I broke up with her and quit soon after that.” I pat Bud’s head, where he’s back to lying at my feet. “But now I get to spend my days hanging out with a bunch of dogs and cats and the occasional guinea pig, so I’d say it all worked out in the end.”
“Obviously.” Summer leans back in her chair and preens. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have met me.”
Killian lets out his booming laugh. “I like her.”
“Me too.” I can’t help but grin at her.
She’s right. I met her, and that’s made every day that’s come before worth it.
The server arrives with food for Killian and Aries, and they stuff their faces while Killian entertains Summer with ridiculous stories about training clients at the gym, ninety percent of which I’m certain can’t be true.
There’s no way a seventy-year-old woman deadlifted two hundred pounds and asked for his number in the same day. Not a chance.
“Do you have any boarders yet?” Aries asks me.
“One cat. He’s the cutest, orneriest little asshole you’ll ever meet.”
Killian jumps up, tossing a few ten-dollar bills on the table. “Let’s head out. I want to go play with a kitty.”
Aries shakes his head and stands, tucking his helmet under his arm. “You’ve got to stop saying shit like that out loud, man.”
Killian ignores him and turns to Summer. “Please tell me you like cats. If you’re not a cat person, I’m not sure we can keep being friends.”
She beams at the word friends. “I like cats.”
“So you’re coming with us?” Aries asks. They both watch her like they’re hoping she says yes.
I can’t remember the last time my family liked any girl I brought home this much. Too bad none of it’s real.
When she hesitates and glances at me, Killian adds, “Come on. You can’t miss out on petting a horny cat.”
“I said ornery cat,” I correct him.
“You’re right,” she says. “I can’t miss out on that.”
Without another word, I hold my hand out to Summer, and she takes it.