I dropped him and took off my clothes, got in the shower and cleaned off the sweat and gun smoke.
When I stopped the shower, Boo was sitting on my toilet seat, staring at me and then he told me how he felt about me stopping his cuddles and taking a shower.
“Oh Boo. Shut up,” I said.
He gave me a look and jumped down off the toilet seat, did a little graceless skid on the bath mat, corrected himself and flounced out of the bathroom, all haughty.
“Damn cat,” I muttered, smiling to myself.
I slathered with lotion that smelled of cucumbers and melon and pulled a comb through my hair. I put on underwear then I yanked on a pair of faded, navy blue, fleecy sweats with a drawstring waistband that I let ride low on my hips. The sweats had loose hems that had a small notch on each side at the ankle. They were too long and rested over most of my feet and dragged under my heels. I pulled on a white, thermal, long-sleeved shirt, scooped up Boo and headed over to Nick’s for leftovers. I knocked on the backdoor and stuck my head in.
“Nick?” I called.
“In the living room,” Nick yelled back, sounding impatient. “Monday Night Football,” he finished, explaining the impatience. You didn’t interrupt Monday Night Football at Nick’s. Or Saturday collegiate games. Or Sunday NFL day.
I walked in, dropped Boo and he pranced into the living room, big, bushy, black tail straight up. Then I heard him immediately complain to Nick about the lack of treats and cuddles on the other side of the house.
I opened Nick’s fridge. “You got any leftovers?” I shouted, head in the fridge.
“In here,” Nick yelled again.
I pulled my head out of the fridge, straightened, closed the fridge, turned and stopped dead.
Vance was standing in Nick’s kitchen in the exact same pose he’d been standing in mine that very morning, arms crossed, hip against the counter.
My eyes narrowed and I crossed the room in a flash, getting in his face.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed in a whisper, forgetting for a moment about our date and thinking he’d broken in, just like he had on my side. I was angry but also a little amazed. He hadn’t made a sound.
“Oh, Jules?” Nick called from the other room, “we got company. Seems you’re a little late for your date. I let him in so he could wait over here.”
Then I heard Nick chuckle to himself.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
When I opened them Vance was grinning at me.
I clenched my teeth.
Vance’s eyes scanned my face. “Murder is illegal,” he said to me.
“I’m willing to do my time; I just don’t know which of you to kill. How much more do you get if it’s a double homicide?” I asked.
His hand shot out and wrapped around my neck then he pulled me to him and I hit his body, full-on. I put my hands on his chest and pressed back with both my neck and my hands but I didn’t move so I gave up.
He got close to my face. “You don’t want me dead, you want me to f**k you. You can kill me after,” he said.
My eyes rounded at his bluntness then I pressed again and his other arm wrapped around my waist and he pulled me deeper into him. I tilted my head back and opened my mouth to say something smart but he got there before me.
“Be careful, Jules,” he warned, voice low so Nick wouldn’t hear, his eyes flashing with an anger that I hadn’t noticed before. “I’m bein’ patient here. I’m not overly fond of bein’ stood up.”
Unfortunately, at this, since Vance hadn’t made anyone levitate recently and I was standing in the kitchen of the only family I had, therefore felt safe, I decided to spit in the eye of the tiger.
“I didn’t agree to go on a date with you. If I remember, you told me we were going out,” I said in a quiet voice too.
“We have things to talk about,” he returned.
“No we don’t. You already know everything. Your cop friends were searching my name yesterday and you have a computer guy at the office who’s been looking into me. You just used that as an excuse to make me talk.”