Godzilla mrrwowed obligingly and circled in my lap, rubbing his tail against my nose and sticking his gross cat butthole way too close to my face. “Gross.”
From his perch on the back of the sofa, my other cat Smoggy, aka The Smog Monster, thumped his tail heavily against my neck. He’d always thought I was an idiot.
I hadn’t been able to have pets when I was playing. I felt like it wouldn’t be fair to them since I wasn’t home all that often and I moved so often. Plus, Ryan didn’t like cats.
But now I was settled and who gave a fuck what Ryan Kanton thought anyway. I loved them, and we had a deal. I fed them, scooped the litter box, and they didn’t try to kill me by tripping me down the stairs or twining between my ankles.
The way they rested against me whenever I sat down was comforting, reminding me I wasn’t alone. They were also good alarm clocks, telling me when it was bedtime, time to wake up, and, most importantly, dinnertime. I ran my hands down Zilla’s back. His fur was thick and coarse and I liked to bury my fingers in it. He didn’t seem to mind.
“I’m officially an idiot.”
Smoggy bumped his head against my temple in agreement or sympathy, so I reached back to pet him. His fur was a gray fluffy cloud, plusher and softer than his brother’s, and he was more snuggly.
I tried not to think about anything and just sat there petting the cats and replaying every touch, every kiss, and every stolen moment Jake and I had shared. Getting to sleep took a long time.
Jake’s comment about me being the boss echoed in my mind as I arrived at the rink bright and early Monday morning. What he didn’t seem to realize was how many stupid details running a business required. While Ryan considered this an investment, for me it was what I did. And really, what else did I have to do? Sit around and catalog my books?
My rink manager, Maddie Kane, strolled in a little bit before noon. Maddie was one of my oldest friends. After all the crap with Jake had gone down, she’d even been my beard, letting my dad and everyone think we were dating until we graduated. Initially she and Jake had bonded over hating Ryan, but after Jake left, he’d leapfrogged to the top of her shit list. She still hated Ryan though.
“So, I hired some new kids,” Maddie said. She was perched on the edge of my desk, totally disregarding the fact that it had probably graced the Oval Office at some point. Or some important office anyway. “Brothers. One for the pro shop and one for the concessions stand.” She tossed some paper at me, their applications presumably.
“Breck Pfeiffer and his brother…” I checked the other paper. “Ridge? Breck and Ridge. Breckenridge? Really?”
“Hey, I knew twins named Wayne and Dwayne. These kids said they were from Colorado, so at least it makes some sense.”
I ran through a quick list of employees. I liked to think I was a good boss, so I tried to get to know everyone. As far as I knew, we were all staffed up. “Did I need two more workers?”
“Zack quit. Said he was going to hit the ski-bum circuit out West this year.”
Zack worked at the pro-shop. He was twenty-seven years old and according to him, the last owners had let him quit to work some circuit or another every few years. I saw no reason to end the tradition.
“He’s just one person,” I pointed out. “One person who could be replaced by half a person.”
“So, we’ll find something else for one of them to do. One of them is super bouncy and extroverted. We’ll put him on the front desk,” Maddie said. “They’re adorable. And a matched set. We’ll get people coming just to see them.”
“So, you hired eye candy? Aren’t they a bit young for you?”
“Only nine years younger, plus I’m just looking. Besides, I think at least one of them is gay. The talkative one. Please, can I keep them? Please?” She clasped her hands together and batted her eyelashes at me.
I sighed.
“Please?”
“They’re not kittens, Mads.”
“They kind of are. Soft, fluffy, the quiet one probably has claws.”
“Fine.” The chances of them both lasting longer than three months at the job were small. Turnover was high around here. I added figuring out how to fix that