I ate and drank standing up and leaning against the counter while kitty walked along the granite demanding I pet her.
“You were lonely in there, huh?”
She meowed in answer and I picked her up. Her purr made everything seem so silly. Why wasn’t I ecstatic about a real-life adventure? It wasn’t exactly Bear Grylls level bravery, but this could be fun. An opportunity to prove to Chance, Aubrey, and to myself that I could do this.
I put on some music and twirled, dancing my troubles away with kitty. She liked it at first until I got a little carried away and tried to lift her Patrick Swayze style over my head. She jumped with so much force it propelled me back and onto my ass.
“What in the hell are you doing to my cat?”
With my back to the door, and my ass still firmly planted on the hardwood, I closed my eyes and wondered if I could scoot into my bedroom without having to explain.
While I considered it, his heavy steps got closer and then there he was looking down at me, blue eyes dancing with laughter and a smug smile on his lips.
With the cat in one hand, he pulled me to my feet with the other, so I was standing close to him. Too close. I could smell the faint cologne he wore, and I wanted to lean in closer to get a better whiff.
“We were dancing.” I didn’t step back. I couldn’t. He had the hat on again, but sometime between this morning and now he’d shaved. I had the oddest desire to reach out and run my hand along his cheek to see if it was still smooth. Thank God I didn’t.
“Is that what that was? It looked like you were sacrificing her to the gods.”
I snorted and he smiled back at me, that imperfect smile that made me realize we were still standing close. I stepped away and retreated to the kitchen.
“I thought the boyfriend was coming into town?” he asked, following me.
“He is. He did.” I nodded toward my room.
“And he’s sleeping?”
“Yeah, it’s three hours ahead in New York.”
Finn made a noise in his throat that sounded like a scoff or a laugh. “Wouldn’t stop me if I hadn’t seen my girl in…”
“Two weeks,” I filled in for him.
“Too long,” he said, and his eyes slowly moved down from my face to take in my tank top and sleep shorts.
“Why are you back so early?” I sniffed the air. “You don’t smell like booze or cheap perfume,” I said teasingly.
“I had dinner with a teammate.”
“Oh.” Earlier he’d let Chance believe he had a date. I’d believed it too. He must have read it on my face.
“I didn’t want to be a fifth wheel.” He settled in like he wasn’t going anywhere. I took a strawberry and then lifted the bowl, offering him one. He took one and then asked, “Wanna tell me why you’re out here instead of in there with your man?”
“I told you, he’s sleeping.”
“Right, but I know chicks like you. You love cuddling or spooning or whatever you call it. Something is on your mind and I’d bet that bowl of strawberries that it has to do with him.”
“Did you talk to Chance?”
He grabbed another berry and took a bite before he answered. “Not since this morning. Why? Does he know why your panties are in a twist and you’re dancing with my cat instead of in there with the boyfriend?”
“His name is Richard.”
He shrugged with one shoulder like he couldn’t care less to know his name.
“Richard asked me to move to New York with him.”
“And?”
“And it’s a big decision.”
“Seems pretty simple to me.”
I rolled my eyes. “My family is here, my job, my friends – everything I know.”
“Except him.”
I nodded. He was right. It sounded like I was placing all of that ahead of Richard. Luckily kitty provided a nice distraction as she leaped over boxes like hurdles.
“Have you picked a name for her yet? Did you veto today’s suggestions?”
I glanced down at my gratitude journal and found them all as I’d written. He either hadn’t looked or just hadn’t hated them enough to cross out.
“I don’t really care. You pick.”
“You’d let me name your cat?”
“She’s not my cat. Not for long anyway.”
“Did you find another home for her already?”
“Not yet, but my buddy Foster thought his sister might want her.”
“No!”
Finn chuckled.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t get rid of her. She’s bonded to you.”
“I think you mean you’ve bonded to her.”
“Well maybe, but I just couldn’t bear the thought of you two being separated.” Kitty came over and pranced in front of him until Finn picked her up. “She’s smitten.”
“Once the season starts, she’d be alone a lot. It’s not really fair of me to keep her.”
I nodded in understanding. “Maybe you could take her to kitty daycare or hire a nanny.”
“A nanny for my fucking cat?” He shook his head. “I’d never hear the end of it. I’d be laughed off the field.”
I smiled big.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.
“You just called her your cat.”
We finished the strawberries and I took the bowl to the sink. I noticed Finn staring at the boxes in the entryway.
“Is that more stuff from your old apartment?” I wondered if it was hard to see his old life boxed up like that.
“No,” he said firmly with no indication he planned to say more.
“What’s in the boxes?”
He shook his head.
“Come on. Tell me.”
He stayed silent which only made me more curious.
“Fan mail? Is that the weekly shipment of used panties and heart-shaped cards?”
He snorted but didn’t reply.
“Free merchandise?” I guessed. “Do you have some sort of shoe or merchandise deal where they send you loads of free stuff? Chance’s still getting royalty payments off merchandising.”
“No.”
“Tell meeee,” I begged.
He walked over to the closest one and kicked it lightly with the toe of his shoe. “Nothing I care about.”
“The suspense is killing me.”
He turned then and studied me closely. I couldn’t tell what he was deciding, only that he was making some sort of call – to trust me, maybe. To open up. Finally, he nodded once. “Open it and find out.”
I raced across the room and squealed as I tore into the first box. Whoever taped it had done a good job and it took a lot of effort before I finally pulled the flaps back to display the contents.
“Gifts?” I asked dumbly, staring down at the white and cream paper with exquisite bows. “Oh my God, Finn. Are these…?”
“Wedding gifts?” He nodded.
I pulled the smallest present out and sat down on the floor with it. It was so sad, and I had no idea what to say except, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It’s fine.”
Finn had a way of masking his emotions and putting on a front. I’d seen him do it with Chance and I knew he was doing it now.