“So splitting up was a bad idea, then?” Brewer asked when he charged into the apartment later that evening.
“Yes, as it turns out.” Amy shot me a surreptitious wink. “Moss and I did get some photos of our guy, though, so it wasn’t a total loss. We’re a good team, the kitty and I.”
Yeah. She was right. We were a good team. We’d be an even better team when I was back in my skin and able to be a real partner in this budding relationship of ours.
For now, I raised my tail and rubbed my side against her leg to show my affection.
Brewer gagged. Served him right.
“C’mon, everyone, let’s eat,” Kaye called out from the kitchen. “While it’s still hot, please. Then whoever draws the short straw can go clean up the chicken mess in the backseat.” She shot me a sour-faced glare. Eh, still worth it.
I let Brewer go ahead of me, specifically so I could trip him up. Just when he thought he was rid of me, I darted between his legs and jutted to the side. He didn’t fall, but he did have to do some fancy footwork to maintain his balance.
“What’s the problem, Moss?” Brewer demanded, glaring down at me with a red face.
I looked up at him with big, blue eyes and said, “Not a thing, Brewer.” Of course, he only heard meows of varying intonations and volume, and—honestly—I liked it better that way.
I also liked the little pieces of baked chicken that Amy slipped me from her plate. Darn near as good as the fried.
“Well, I guess we’ve figured out what type of food Moss likes best,” Kaye said dryly. I looked up with a wing in my mouth. If Kaye had gotten her way, I would have been forced to starve at the dinner table, just because I’d already eaten more than my fair share in the car.
As I sat licking my chops, the guys cleared the table and Kaye sat rubbing her eyes.
“I’m beat,” she said around a yawn. “What a long day.”
“Turning in already?” Johnson said, coming up behind to rub at her shoulders. “Hey, why don’t the two of us bunk together?”
She gasped and slapped him on the arm. “Fat chance, lover boy.”
Amy glanced at me with one eyebrow raised. So, they weren’t shacking up. Just flirting. Heh, I liked that Kaye put him in his place.
“So, if you aren’t doubling up, how are we sleeping tonight?” Brewer asked. He winked at Amy. “Hey, you wanna bunk up?”
Amy crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. “I don’t even know your first name.”
Rather than acting put out, Brewer just burst out laughing. “Well, that’s a third date sort of revelation.”
“Oh, then I guess I’ll never know,” Amy said and pursed her lips to keep her smile at bay.
I snorted and let a slow laugh bubble up my throat.
“I may not be able to understand you, but I get the picture,” Brewer hissed at me.
“My first name is Hank,” Johnson said, extending a hand to Amy.
She beamed at him as they shook hands. “Nice to meet you, Hank.”
“How about Amy and I sleep in my room, and you guys can sleep in Amy’s?” Kaye suggested, rising from her chair. “There’s a trundle bed underneath hers.”
“That works. I don’t mind sharing with you, Kaye,” Amy said in a silly voice, which made Kaye and Johnson laugh, but made Brewer fume.
Ha!
With our sleeping arrangements settled, we tucked into some silly movie about a blonde sorority girl who became a lawyer. I had a hard time following film plots lately, so I curled up on Amy’s lap and drifted off to sleep.
The next time I opened my eyes, the living room was dark, and the television had been turned off.
Which meant I now had the couch to myself. I stretched and flipped onto my back, lengthening my spine, and dozing off again. But this time, I didn’t sleep quite as easily.
Instead, I dreamed about chasing an evil red dot, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t catch it. I hoped this old magic exposer man didn’t prove half as difficult. For all our sakes, we really needed to solve this case… like yesterday.
“Moss,” a whispered voice, interrupting my frenzied pursuit of that crimson orb. I still couldn’t exit my dream world though.
“Hey, Moss,” that warm and kind voice said again, just as a hand reached down to scratch the top of my head, setting off my purr box.
“Hmm?” I murmured blearily.
“Do you care if I share the sofa with you?” she asked.
That got my eyes open. I lifted my head and looked up at Amy’s blonde hair, highlighted by the golden stream of the nightlight shining down the hallway. “What?”
“I love Kaye,” Amy confided in a hushed voice. “But, between you and me, she snores like a freight train.”
I chuckled and hopped onto the coffee table so that Amy could get situated on the sofa. “You get settled. I can sleep on the floor to give you your space.”
“Don't be silly,” she said. The next thing I knew, I was tucked between Amy’s belly and the sofa back, all warm and snuggly and simply purrfect. I curled up and closed my eyes, basking in this heavenly moment.
But then, I realized something. Amy never would’ve even considered sleeping in the same bed as Brewer, and she told him so, too.
But I was so non-human, so non-male in her eyes, that she could curl around me and sleep. Like she would with… well, a cat.
And that’s exactly how she thought of me.
As a cat.
Not a man. Not a potential love interest.
A cat.
This unfortunate epiphany kept me awake late into the night while Amy fell asleep easily, safe and sound beside her trusted pet.
I wanted her to feel safe around me—of course, I did. But I could no longer enjoy the moment. In fact, I was beginning to lose heart altogether.
Would she ever see me as a man?
Or would I forever be stuck in the fluff zone?