“That’s great,” she says enthusiastically. “You hold on to he
r and bond some more and I’ll grab everything you need and you can meet me at checkout. You can pay the adoption fee with everything else.”
It doesn’t take her long to ring everything up and thankfully it all fits in one bag so I can carry Sasha and the stuff and make it back home without killing my arms.
I’m sure I look like a fucking weirdo walking down the street with a kitten and bag of who knows what. But I’ve never cared about what people think of me, so why start now.
I make it back to the apartment and open the door—promptly shrieking like a four-year-old girl.
“Why the fuck are you in my apartment?”
Thea stands up from the couch. “Is that a cat?”
I glance down at Sasha and she looks at me like, “Is this lady crazy?”
Yes. Yes she is.
“Um, yeah.”
I close the door and set Sasha down. She scampers under the couch and stays there.
“Nova’s been gone a day and you already had to bring another pussy into this place. Why am I not surprised?”
I snort and then realization dawns on me. “How’d you know Nova was gone?”
“Joel called me and told me. He said you crashed at his place and had left. He was worried about you.”
“Fucking Joel the Mole,” I seethe. “He shouldn’t be telling you my business.”
“Why not? We’re practically family.”
I drop the bag on the floor. Ignoring her, I ask again, “How’d you get in here?”
“I picked the lock.”
“You picked the lock?” I repeat. “How the fuck do you know how to pick a lock?”
She looks at her nails. “Girl Scouts.”
“I highly doubt you were a Girl Scout.”
She grins. “No, I wasn’t,” she admits. “Let’s just say … I have my ways.”
I sigh. “Can you go now then?”
“No, I’m here to check on you.”
“And you have. See, I’m fine.” I motion to my intact body. “I’m all here in one piece. I haven’t fallen apart.”
“Maybe that’s what you need to do.” She stands up and I pray to God she’s going to leave.
“What do you mean?” I ask, despite wishing she’d hurry the fuck up and leave.
She shrugs. “Maybe you’ve spent so much time trying to be strong for Nova when she needed you to break down like her. It probably made her feel weak when you were seemingly so strong. If I were in her position, I’d want Xander and I on equal ground. But,” she sighs and hefts her purse onto her shoulder, “what do I know?”
She gives me a look as she goes. A look that says I need to get my shit together.
If only I knew what that actually entailed.