Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 55395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
“Yeah, she deserves a break. Lyric also doesn’t want anything drastic. It needs new drywall, paint, and flooring. The roof is still in good shape. The electrical and plumbing, I’ll take a look at once she gets it hooked up. She doesn’t even want to take the tile down in the bathroom. I figure we’ll work on the master bedroom and bath, close off the hallway as much as we can to keep the dust down,” I relay to him what I told Lyric. The thought of her spending money on staying in the bed and breakfast didn’t sit right with me. Especially since she’ll be paying utilities at the house and a whack when it comes to the estimate I emailed her a few minutes ago.
“Doesn’t hurt that you want her,” Jude states a fact that I can’t deny.
I’m about to make a crude joke about how I want her beneath me, on top of me, against me, and any other way I can have her when I realize this is Lyric I’m thinking about. She’s the one who got away, the one I’ve been trying to do anything to get over, to ease the ache in my chest and the burn in my gut. No amount of people in the past accomplished that; neither did the adrenaline rush I’ve become accustomed to. I should have gotten off my ass, talked to my friends who are more like brothers, and while they all knew Lyric meant something to me, I also made them swear to not do anything involving finding her. Apparently, I can hold a grudge for a long-as-fuck time.
“No, it doesn’t. Hey, gotta let you go,” I tell Jude when I look down to see a black cat slithering in between my legs. The cute thing doesn’t have a collar on, and the ear isn’t clipped noting it’s a feral animal, which means he or she is probably lost, or the poor thing has been dumped. I’m thinking it’s more along the lines of being left out on the dirt road before it leads to my property.
“Alright. Later, Jagger,” Jude responds.
“Later.” I hit the end button, drop my phone to the railing, and bend down to pet the midnight-black cat.
“What are you doing out here? You’re a tiny thing.” The cat keeps weaving in and out, rubbing its face along my jean-covered leg while I resume stroking the length of its back. I pick her up and bring her to my chest, figuring a sweet thing like herself must mean she’s a girl. “Come on. I should have some canned tuna inside. Hopefully, you’re weaned, because going into town will take some time, let alone finding replacement milk in our area.” I talk to the cat as if she can respond to me. It looks like on my list of things to do tomorrow is stop at a pet store and load up on everything I’ll need for the kitten. For now, I’ll make do with canned food, a container of water, a box I’m sure I have in the garage, and whatever shavings I can sweep up from the floor until tomorrow. I planned on getting started on Lyric’s house first thing in the morning, but I guess it’ll have to wait until the afternoon. It’s probably for the better. There’s still a lot to do, like ripping the carpet out, pulling down the kitchen cabinets, and starting on the drywall. The downside is, I don’t have a roll-off dumpster, which will mean making a mess in Lyric’s front yard after she worked her ass off on it yesterday.
I walk inside, keeping the cat close to my chest. Her soft purring vibrates against me, and when I place her on the ground, she doesn’t so much as move away. It seems I’m not the only one who’s starving for affection. I move through the kitchen, pulling down a paper plate and a glass bowl before fixing the little thing up some dinner and water. She’s black with specks of brown mixed in, has a long tail and bright yellow eyes.
The minute I pop open the can, her ears perk right up, the meowing goes up a notch, and I move fast in case she hasn’t eaten in a while. I place the food on the ground, the glass bowl filled with water beside it, more than ready to take a shower, have another beer, and relax for the night. Once I’ve got the cat settled, I move through the house, hitting the door for the garage and going about finding what I need for her to use the bathroom. I’m playing it by ear, hoping that I don’t wake up to a mess in the morning and figuring I might need to do some studying on what a cat needs. I grew up with a golden retriever, and losing him was hard. My parents never brought another pet in, and with my schedule, I knew it wouldn’t be fair on a dog to be stuck inside all day.