chewing, flea-ridden yard dog, and you’re a wolf. And how is this better than me being a lamb?”
“You’re almost just like me, Cleo. But you’re the good version. You’re the version people want to take home, and to bed.” I give her what I hope is a devastating smile, and Cleo smirks back.
“I’m going to let this drop, Walsh, but it’s not over. I’m not a dog. I can’t stand drool or silent farts. To be completely honest, I’m really more a cat person. They groom themselves and stay out of the way. Loyalty—whatever that is? Cats give as good as they get.”
As we bump over the red dirt road that streaks beneath a copse of pecan trees, I wonder why she thinks she should only give as good as she gets. After watching her from afar for so long—after trying so many labels on her, from scared to treacherous to clueless—I’m almost surprised to find that Cleo Whatley is a real person. She’s nothing like I thought.
I remember her mouth around my cock and grit my teeth. I want to make it up to her. To take back all the observations I shared. I’m fucking weird sometimes—I know this. I shouldn’t have said something so strange. Certainly not if I want her staying at my house.
I think again about the amount of money I agreed to pay her and have to rub my lips together to keep from laughing.
“You know that you have dimples when you frown, but not when you smile—right?”
“I’ve been told.”
“That’s kind of weird.”
We pass a crooked green mailbox. There’s an old farmhouse at the end of that driveway, with an even older farmer pulling weeds. I shrug. “I’m weird. Not scary weird.” I look her in the eye. “I followed you to get an idea of how much you were dealing, Cleo. That’s all.”
She snorts. “Hashtag: were there any signs?”
My mouth curves up without permission. “You’re different... than I thought.”
“I hope that’s a compliment.”
“Mostly.”
She scoffs.
We pass a few more mail boxes mounted on a giant piece of plywood, and I veer right at a “Y” in the road, following Pecan as it rolls onward, deeper into thick, oak-pine forest.
“How am I different than you thought?” she asks.
I can’t help smirking. “More difficult.”
“How?”
I shrug. “Just are.” I realize I’m being more forthcoming with her than I’ve been with any girl in years. It’s... inappropriate. A moment later, I’m relieved to see the pale blue mailbox to the right, followed a few feet later by a thin, dirt drive that curves into some trees.
“I’m a ninja,” Cleo says as I turn.
I press my lips together, suppressing a bark of unexpected laughter. “What?”
“That groin kick is my least fancy move. I’ve got more where that came from.” She sits up straighter and arches her brows at me. “In other words, don’t try anything sketchy, unknown guy with whom I’m driving into the woods.”
I rub my temples. “Would it help if you drove?”
She shrugs. “Probably.”
I pull over on a red dirt shoulder, and she cuts her eyes at me. “You sure? Your car is worth like, more than my family’s house.”
Shit—could that be true? I’ve got no damn clue what to say about poverty, having never experienced it myself, so I shrug. “Just a bunch of glass and metal.”
I watch her neck as she drives. I watch her shoulders. She seems tense. I smooth my hand over my pants and glance over at her, then I set my eyes back on the road. “There’s a stray at my place. Black cat. A ‘she,’ I think.”
I watch her delicate brows lift. “Oh yeah?”
“Mm-hmm.”
She smiles at me, bright and unexpected. “Can I adopt her?”
“She’s kind of mangy. She might be sick.”
Cleo shrugs. “I don’t care. I’ll take her to the vet and make her better.”
“If we can get her.”
“I think we can,” she says.
I tuck my thumb inside my fingers. “Do you consider yourself an optimist, Cleo?”
“I don’t know,” she says, braking a little as we reach a fissure in the dirt road. “People say glass half empty, glass half full like it’s so easy to just pick one. I think things are more complicated. My full might be different from yours. Or maybe all the glass is, is a glass.”
“You think this cat will be your new pet?” I manage a smile.
“My Eight Ball tells me ‘very likely.’”
“And if we catch her and we have to put her down instead?”
I watch her throat as she swallows. Her skin is pale