CHAPTER FOUR
Cat
Eighteen Years Old – Four Years Later
When I returned home from Hawaii, I’d gone over to Joss’s trailer to bring her a birthday present, but her entire trailer was empty. When I walked next door to ask Mrs. McKenna what was going on, she was ending a call with Seth. Apparently, Joss and Cruella got into a fight, and Joss took a bus to D.C. to stay with Seth. I didn’t blame her. If I were to run away, I’d go to him too. But Cruella had up and left too, and no one had heard from her. That was weird.
My senior year started off shitty. Since sixth grade, Joss and I had always done our own thing. We didn’t need a group of friends to hang with because we had each other. My senior year, I had no one. I knew a lot of the people, but I had no desire to hang out with them. As the weeks went on, and I found out that Joss really wasn’t coming home, I friended the new girl, Hannah. She slowly became my new best friend.
I’d also got my first boyfriend. It didn’t last. He was more into playing football, and I felt as though he was just like my brother. He even kissed bad. Granted, it was the first time I kissed a boy, but I didn’t think it should be that wet. I wanted a boyfriend who wanted to spend time with me. Someone who would take me to the movies.
Like Seth.
After I’d graduated high school, and for a week during the summer before I started classes to become a dental assistant, I wanted to visit Seth and Joss. After a year of back and forth phone calls, I was finally going to see them in person. Though, the phone calls had mostly consisted of Seth. Joss was just—odd. I wasn’t sure why she was being the way she was, but whenever I’d call, she didn’t really want to talk. You’d think that since she wasn’t under Cruella’s thumb anymore, she’d be the happiest person on the face of the earth.
Seth had been a cop for over a year, and whenever we’d chat, he always had some story to tell me.
“Gibbs and I were dispatched to some dude’s house today for a 10-10. Thought we were going to break-up a fight. Come to find out one of the guys had doll’s heads scattered throughout the house. And not just any doll heads. No. This weirdo had sewed the hair of his dead relatives and friends into the head of the dolls.” The only question I asked to that weird tale was if the weirdo killed those people for their hair. Apparently, he hadn’t. He just had some sort of fetish about keeping dead people’s hair.
The plane touched down, and I grabbed my bubble gum pink Razor flip phone from my purse.
Me: Landed.
A few seconds later my phone vibrated.
Seth: Almost there. No sense in parking. Text me what door you’re at.
Me: Joss too?
Seth: Nope. Just me, Kitty Cat.
Me: Where’s Joss?
People started to finally move down the aisle of the plane, and as I made my way to the front, Seth texted me back.
Seth: She sleeps a lot now and said she’d be at home waiting for us.
After getting my bag from baggage claim, I walked outside and texted Seth my door number. Excitement filled my body as I waited those excruciating minutes. I just wanted to hug him because I missed the shit out that boy. Though, he wasn’t a boy anymore. No. He was a twenty-two-year-old man who was trained to fight criminals.
A black Chevy Tahoe pulled up to the curb, and when I glanced to see if it was Seth, a huge grin split my face in half, and my belly fluttered. It was him. He got out and rounded the hood. My arms wrapped around his neck as he picked me up off the ground, hugging me for dear life.
“I’ve missed you, Kitty Cat,” he said into my ear.
I smiled against the crook of his neck. “I’ve missed you too, 5-0.”
Seth set me down and grabbed the handle of my rolling suitcase. As he put my luggage in the backseat, I climbed into the front. I couldn’t believe that I was finally in D.C. Hell, I couldn’t believe that it had been over a year since I’d seen him. Seeing him for a few months out of the year ended after he’d graduated high school.
When Seth got into his seat, he turned to me and smiled. My heart tightened in my chest. Seth was a man now. A fine piece of a man. His piercing green eyes light up his face, and he had a light beard which made me want to reach out and run my fingers over the stubble.
What was I thinking? This was my best friend, and he was four years older than me. We’d practically known each other since we were kids. And yeah, when I’d first met him I was smitten. That never went away.
We stared at each other for a beat and just smiled. I wasn’t sure why he was staring at me, but I was looking at him in a whole other light even with the sky black.
“Hungry?” Seth finally asked as he pulled away from the curb.
“Starving.” I shook my head to clear my naughty thoughts.
“Pizza sound good? We can bring it back and see what Joss is up to.”
“What’s her deal anyway?” I asked, looking in his direction.
Seth turned his head to me. “What do you mean?”
“Doesn’t she seem off?”
He thought for a moment, looking back at the road. “I think she just misses Bryce. I’ve tried to locate him, but since he’s a minor, I can’t find him.”
“What about Cruella?”
Seth sighed. “It’s like they just vanished, Kitty Cat.”
“Cops still can’t find them?” Seth had mentioned once that there was a missing person’s case open for Cruella and Bryce, but it wasn’t Seth’s case. He was a patrol cop and not a detective, but given what he was saying, I figured he’d looked into it, too.
He shook his head. “Nope. I can’t even find an employment history for Cruella.”
“That makes no sense. That bitch worked every night.”
He turned his head to me again. “If I tell you something, promise not to tell Joss?”
My eyebrows crinkled. “Yes, of course.”
He paused, looking back out the windshield. After switching lanes, he said, “There’s only one profession that I can think of for Cruella not to have an employment history. Hell, she didn’t even file taxes.”
My head turned slightly as I stared at him, trying to think of what he meant. “What’s that?”
Seth sighed again. “I think she was a prostitute.”
“What?” I screeched. “No way!”
“Think about it, Kitty Cat. Works nights, no employment history. Unless some diner in Miami was paying her under the table, my money is on Cruella being a streetwalker.”
I blinked, trying to process his revelation. Growing up you’d always hear about hookers, but you’d never see them unless you went to the right part of town, and I never went to that part of town.
“Don’t tell Joss my suspicions,” Seth continued. “I don’t want to stress her out even more than she already is. Getting her to actually get her GED was brutal. Now I just want her to move on, start community college—something. I’ll find her brother one day. I know I will.”
“Yeah, I won’t tell her.”
And I wouldn’t. Over the past year, Joss and I had drifted apart. Whatever was going on with her wasn’t something I wanted to stir up. I had no doubt Seth would find Bryce. This was Seth we were talking about. He would do anything for her just like he’d do anything for me.
We finally made it to the pizza place, and after our hot, cheesy, goodness was ready, Seth drove us to his apartment. As we walked up the steps to his door, I could see the blue glow of the TV through the blinds that covered the window. Seth released the handle of my bag and stuck his key in the lock, gesturing for me to go ahead. Part of me thought Joss would run and hug me as soon as the door was open.
She didn’t.
When our gazes met, she smiled a small smile and sat up. I didn’t fly over a thousand miles for this bump on a log to only smile at me. I handed Seth the pizzas, and just like the first day I’d met Joss, I straightened my shoulders and walked to her.
“I’ve missed you so much, Joss.” I leaned down and hugged her.
Her arms wrapped loosely around my back. “I’ve missed you too.”
I pulled back. “What the hell is going on? Why do you seem so—down?”
Joss shrugged. “Just tired.” She was lying. I could tell by the way her eyes looked down at the light-wood coffee table behind me and not back into my eyes.
Whatever.
“Well, I’m here to go see the Capitol and work on my tan. I expect you to do the same since this guy has to work a lot of the days I’m here.” I hooked my thumb in the direction of where Seth was in the kitchen.
“I tried to take more days off, Kitty Cat,” Seth called back.
I grinned, looking at Joss as I spoke. “No worries. Joss and I will have girl time.”
I could hear Seth groan as he rummaged in some cabinets, but I knew he was used to our girl time. He’d watch TV while Joss and I did our nails and talked about the girls we didn’t like at school. Each summer, Seth pretended to tune us out, but I knew he was listening because sometimes I’d see him smile or roll his eyes after we said something.
“Right?” I asked Joss. I was talking about girl time.
She gave a tight smile. “Right. Of course.”
“Good. Now let’s stuff our faces and make Seth watch Miss Congeniality 2 with us.”
“I heard that!” Seth yelled from the kitchen.
This trip was going to be so much fun.
“Ready to go to the pool?” I asked Joss after I’d made us lunch. Seth was out doing his police stuff, and I was still trying to break down Joss’s wall that she had up. It had been two days, and sometimes I saw glimpses of my best friend, but the majority of the time she was just blah. What the hell happened to her?
“I’m not feelin’ it, Cat.”
I groaned and plopped down next to her on the couch, crossing my arms over my chest. “Joselyn Marquez, I didn’t come all this way to stay in this apartment the entire time and play Guitar Hero. Let’s go have some fun.”
“Tanning is fun?” she challenged.
I rolled my eyes and looked at her. “We used to tan all the time back home. What’s up? Why don’t you want to do anything?”
“I want to do stuff.”
I frowned. “Like what?”
“We went to the Capitol didn’t we?”
“We practically dragged you.”
“I still went.” She sighed.
I turned my body to face her fully. “Tell me what’s going on with you. I get it. You and your mom had a huge fight, and you ran away—”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?” I grabbed her hands in mine. “You miss Bryce?”
A tear slide down her face. “I should have taken him with me.”
I let go of her hands and wrapped her in my arms. “Come on. There’s no way that would have worked out. That’s like kidnapping or something.”
“You know just as well as I do that she would have never reported him missing,” Joss sobbed into my hair.
“Yeah, but given Seth’s job, there’s no way a little boy could live here without someone finding out. He was barely able to make it so you could stay here.” But really, I didn’t know how that had played out.
“I’m just scared. Seth said he can’t find him. What if … What if he’s dead?” More sobs escaped her breaths with each word.
I started to tear up. “Why do you think that?”
She pulled back and shrugged. “You know my mom. She doesn’t care about him. She didn’t care about me, and if it weren’t for Mrs. McKenna, Bryce and I would have starved.”
“I don’t think he’s dead.” At least that was what I had to tell her.
“Then where are they?” she cried.
That was the million-dollar question. I mean, Joss ran away, and Cruella thought the answer was to move so Joss could never find her? That was some fucked up shit.
“I don’t know, Jossie. What I do know is our best friend is a cop who knows other cops, and he’ll keep looking.” Joss crossed her arms, not saying anything. “Let’s go have some fun and when Seth has news, we’ll worry about it then. I’m sure Cruella got scared and just left. She probably thought you would report her for being a bad mom.”
“I wish I would have.” Joss looked down at her lap, wringing her hands.
I nudged her shoulder, and when she looked at me, I gave a tight smile. “Let’s go have fun. You’re no longer under that witch’s thumb, and you know what?”
“What?”
“We’re eighteen now. We can go to strip clubs.”
Joss laughed. Like full-on laughed. I hadn’t heard that laugh in forever.
The sun had set on my final day in D.C., and Joss and I were on our fifth run through of Miss Congeniality 2, when I heard the key in the lock. My heart fluttered. Hell, it had been doing that every single day when I would hear Seth come home or just straight up saw him sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee. I didn’t know what it was, but I’d never had this reaction to a guy before. And don’t even get me started on what seeing him in his cop uniform does to me. The virgin in me wanted to be bad. So bad. Bad to the point where I would be handcuffed and—
“Did you hear me?”
I blinked, realizing Seth was actually speaking to me as I stared at him. “Um, what?”
He chuckled. “I asked if you wanted to go bowling tonight.”
I looked back to Seth with only a shrug. “Yeah, sure. Whatever.”
“Good. I’m going to change, and then we’ll meet up with some friends of mine from the precinct.”
“Ohhhhh,” I sang. “We get to meet your other friends?”
Seth chuckled. “Joss has already met them.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, and he stuck out his tongue at me. “Are any of them cute?” I asked Joss and smirked back at Seth. He rolled his eyes and went to his room. I wasn’t sure why he needed to change. He was in street clothes since he wasn’t on duty, but whatever.
“Not really.”
I sighed. “Well, that sucks.”
“I guess.” She shrugged.
“You guess? No D.C. boy has sparked your interest?”
Joss looked away, biting her lip as she stared at the white wall across the room. “Not interested.”
“Are you, like, interested in girls?”
Joss turned and rolled her eyes at me. “No.”
“Well, we need to find you a guy tonight. It’s my last night here.”
“And where do you want to do that?”
“I don’t know, but we need guys in our life other than this turd face.” I pointed to Seth as he walked back into the room. My words almost got stuck in my throat when I saw the black tee he was sporting. It was clinging to all his muscles, muscles he didn’t have the last time I’d seen him in Florida. Muscles I didn’t see under his cop uniform when we’d met him for lunch a few times.
“That ain’t gonna happen,” Seth stated.
“Pa-lease, 5-0. You might be my best friend and think you have to approve my boyfriends, but you have another thing comin’.”
“I at least get to do a background check, remember?”
“I’m eighteen, Seth. The guys I’m interested in are too young to have had enough time to have a criminal record.”
“You’ll be surprised, Kitty Cat. They could have juvy records or some shit.”
I groaned. “Whatever. Are you going to treat Joss the same way?” I gestured to her.
“No need. I won’t have time for boys,” Joss stated.
My head snapped back as if she’d slapped me with her ridiculous words. “What?”
“I’ve decided that I’m going to get my prereqs and then go to the academy like Seth.”
“You want to be a cop?” I asked.
“Yeah, I do.” She moved to the front door, apparently ready to leave.
“Did you know about this?” I pointed to Joss as I spoke to Seth.
He opened the door. “We’ve talked about it.”
We all walked outside. “So I’m going to have to deal with two cops?”
“Looks that way, Kitty Cat,” Seth answered as he closed and locked the door behind us.
“Well, I’m not going down that road. You two can fight bad guys while I clean teeth.” My dad was a dentist, so I was going to follow in his footsteps. Kind of. I didn’t want to be a dentist myself. Drilling into enamel wasn’t my thing. I just wanted to clean some teeth and help my dad.
Seth laughed and swung his arm around my shoulder, bringing me to his side. “I wouldn’t want you in the line of fire anyway.”
I pushed off of him. “You think I’d be a horrible cop?”
He smirked. “Nah, Kitty Cat. I just don’t want to have to worry about the both of you.”
“I can handle myself, thank you very much.”
“I’d still worry.”
“But not about Joss?” I asked, gesturing toward where she walked in front of us to the parking lot.
“Of course I’ll worry about Joss. But she grew up with the baddest bitch we know and survived.”
Whoever doesn’t like to bowl is crazy! Even if you suck at throwing the bowling ball down the lane, it’s still fun. Mix in hot guys and watching them bend over …
Sign me up for a league King Pin!
Da—amn!
We were between games, and Joss and I were at the snack bar waiting on some nachos I was craving. I could see Seth and his friends laughing a few lanes over, and my damn heart was doing that fluttering thing again. Joss was right. None of his friends were cute. They were old—like thirty or something, but Seth …
Watching him tip the beer bottle to his lips made me wish I was that amber liquid sliding down his throat.
I was seriously losing my mind.
I’d only ever had one serious boyfriend, and I was still a virgin. Joss and I weren’t the popular kids in school, so we didn’t have many friends. We were known as what people called “trailer trash” even though I didn’t live in a trailer park.
“Here you go, honey.” I looked back at the blonde who passed me a plate of nachos and filled my cup with Coke.
“Thanks.” I smiled as I took my food. “We totally suck.” I laughed as we made our way back to the guys.
Joss chuckled. “Yeah, we do.”
“I don’t think we should be on the same team anymore. Break it up so at least one of us can be on a winning team.” Of course, I wanted that to be my team.
She shrugged. “Whatever.”
“Crap. I forgot napkins,” I said, looking down at the orange, nacho cheese that had dripped on my fingers.
“I’ll grab some. Your hands are full.”
“Thanks.” I smiled.
Joss turned to go back to the snack bar, and I walked to the partition that separated the wood-waxed floor and the carpet. On the side where the lanes were, the divider held bowling balls.
“So, that Cat, huh?”
My ears perked up at the mention of my name.
“What do you mean?” Seth asked his buddy Drake.
I stood still, not wanting to make any movement so they didn’t see I was behind them.
“She’s fine as hell.”
“Dude, she’s eighteen.”
“Still legal. And that ass … You hittin’ that?”
“What?” Seth snapped.
“If you’re not, I might wanna go.”
Seth stood, anger lacing his features. His partner, Gibbs, pushed at his chest, and before Seth could respond, he saw I was behind them. Our eyes locked, and it was as though the music stopped and time stood still. My traitorous-self wanted Seth to utter the words, “She’s mine.” He didn’t, though. Instead, Joss returned, and a new game was started.
“I’m gonna shower and go to bed,” Joss said the moment we walked in the door.
Seth and I shared a look. This was my last night before leaving. And God knew how long it would be before I saw them again. “I’ll shower after you,” I stated.
“You can use my shower, Kitty Cat.”
Butterflies. So many damn butterflies.
“Oh-kay,” my voice cracked.
As I grabbed my clothes from the room I shared with Joss, my mind was going a million miles an hour. I was about to shower in Seth’s shower. Seth’s shower where he showered naked. All those muscles and Seth just standing under the hot water with suds—
“Hurry up, Kitty Cat. I want to shower too.”
“Keep your pants on!” I shouted. Or don’t. Fuck, Cat. Get it together.
Joss closed the door to the hall bathroom as I made my way to Seth’s room. It smelled like mahogany and teakwood. It smelled like him. I quickly showered, not wanting to be in there long, because the longer I was in there, the more I thought about Seth naked. My hormones were something else.
When I exited the steamy room, dressed in pajama shorts and a T-shirt, Seth was sitting at the end of his bed, waiting. “Want to watch a movie?”
“Sure,” I replied without thinking. I didn’t care that it was almost three in the morning. This was my last few hours of spending time with him before I had to go home.
“Pick it out, and we’ll watch it in here so we don’t wake Joss.” My eyes shot to the mattress behind him. Watch a movie with Seth in his bed? Before I could respond, he added, “And not Miss Congeniality 2. No girly bullshit.”
I laughed. “Fine.”
As Seth was showering, I rummaged through his collection of DVD’s. He had every Harry Potter movie that was currently out, and since I hadn’t seen Goblet of Fire, I grabbed it. Just as I was about to walk back to his room, I glanced at the framed picture of me, Seth and Joss that was sitting on the end table next to the couch. We’d taken it a few years back. I was going to miss my friends.
I sat on his bed, the movie paused at the beginning and ready to start. Seth emerged from the connecting bathroom—shirtless. The entire time I’d been visiting I hadn’t seen him without a shirt on. I didn’t know what he slept in because every time I saw him in the mornings he was dressed and ready to go to work, and if he didn’t have to work, he was in pajama bottoms and a T-shirt. My mouth started to water—another reaction that had never happened to me before, but man, being a cop looked good on him. He obviously worked out to keep up with the bad guys, and I wasn’t complaining one bit.
“You’re staring again, Kitty Cat,” he said, rubbing a towel on his head.
“I can’t help it,” I blurted out before I realized what the hell I’d said.
He smiled, and that just made the entire situation worse. “What movie did you pick?”
Right. Movie. “Harry Potter.” I held the case up so he could see which Harry Potter I meant.
“You’ve seen the other three?”
“Yep.”
“Okay. Well, let’s get to it.” I watched from the end of the bed as Seth turned off the light and then climbed onto the bed next to me. “You gonna sit up the entire time or what? I won’t bite.”
I rolled my eyes, needing another reaction to replace the lust I was feeling, and moved down to lay next to him. The TV was on the left side of the bed against the wall. As we lay, my back faced his front as though we were spooning. But not. We weren’t touching though I was hyper-aware of every move he made.
“Can you see?” I asked, looking over my shoulder.
He smiled again. “Yeah, I can see.”
I smiled warmly at him then returned to the movie. Everything was going great …
And then it happened.
Harry was dancing at some ball, and the moment the scene changed to crazy punk dancing, Seth’s hand went to my hip. Over the years, we’d touched plenty of times, so I thought he was just resting his arm on me, but that thought quickly changed when Seth’s hand started to move up my side. My body tensed. Was this really happening?
Turning to look over my shoulder, my gaze met his, and I saw the heat in his eyes. They were like sparkling emeralds tempting me to steal them. I turned on my back as Seth leaned forward. No words were spoken as my heart stopped beating in my chest. This was totally happening. Or I could be dreaming.
If that were the case, I didn’t want to wake up.
The moment our lips touched, everything I’d ever wanted didn’t matter anymore. I no longer cared that I didn’t get a pony when I was five, or that my brother got to stay out past curfew and I was never allowed. Nothing mattered except the feel of Seth’s lips on mine.
He moved over me, pressing his lips harder against mine and opening slightly. I followed, my mouth parting, and then I knew I wasn’t dreaming. The feel of his tongue in my mouth was like nothing I’d ever felt before. It was like driving a jet ski across the ocean in Hawaii: paradise and excitement rolled into one. It was nothing like my first boyfriend. It was better. So much better.
We kissed for a long time. I didn’t know how long, but Harry and his friends were no longer at the ball. I wasn’t even sure if the movie was still playing, and I didn’t care because the kiss turned into more.
So much more.
Seth’s hand skated up my hip and under my T-shirt. When his palm met my bare breast, he groaned in my mouth. I was no longer feeling butterflies in my stomach, but another feeling I’d only experienced by myself. Between my legs dampened, and my thighs had a mind of their own as they parted, allowing Seth to move between them. My back arched slightly as he lightly pinched my nipple. Good Lord, this is amazing.
Then it turned into even more.
I could feel the hardness of him grinding against my center. Heat spread through my body as our pelvises worked in sync with each other. We were both wearing thin pants that did nothing to cause any sort of barrier. It was all hard against soft and fantastic. Seth would groan, I would moan, and then he finally broke our lips apart. He gazed into my eyes, and we still didn’t utter a word. We’d been friends for so long that words weren’t needed. We both knew we wanted more.
And that was what happened.
I thought Seth looked good shirtless, but I was wrong. So wrong. All of him was perfect. He was perfect.
When I’d thought about losing my virginity, I’d always pictured candles lit, soft music playing in the background and maybe even the sun setting in the distance. I never thought it would be the blue glow of the TV cascading around our naked bodies as sorcery spells were cast in the background. But this felt right. It was as though all those years of picking on each other were some sort of foreplay. In the kisses we shared—the touches—the friction our bodies were creating was as though we were channeling every pent up emotion we’d kept hidden.
Seth broke his mouth from mine again and stared down at me. Again nothing was said, only a little nod on my part, and then he reached over to the nightstand. If I were in a sound mind, I’d have realized that he kept condoms in his drawer for nights like this and not just with me, but all I could process was it was finally happening with the one guy who had always been there for me. The one who would stick up for me when some dick wad whistled like I was a piece of meat. The guy who wanted to do background checks on future boyfriends so he could make sure they were right for me.
You know what they call that?
Love.
I was in love with this man. He was so much more than my best friend. He was my future. The one guy I could spend hours with and never tire—the guy who I wanted to spend hours with. The guy who stole my heart the summer I was twelve. I realized, at that moment, that I’d loved him for the past six years because he was Seth.
My Seth.
I watched as he sheathed himself with the condom and then looked down between my legs. He licked his lips and then returned his gaze to mine. “I’ve wanted this for a long time, Kitty Cat. Are you sure?”
I swallowed. I was completely sure. “Yes, but I’ve never—”
“I know,” he cut me off. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” I didn’t hesitate. I’d trusted him since day one.
He returned his lips to mine, and as our tongues twirled around each other in a slow rhythm, Seth eased into me. I gasped into his mouth as the pressure built and he stretched me, but he didn’t let our mouths part, allowing me to focus on his mouth and not on the pain between my legs. I never thought pain would feel wonderful, but this man was the source and the cure.
My body adjusted to him and then our hips were in rhythm with each other too. Thrust after thrust, sweat coated my body, and I felt myself getting closer and closer to the feeling I’d only ever given myself. A part of me couldn’t believe that I’d just lost my virginity. Another part of me always knew that Seth would be the one.
His pace quickened, and then it happened. I came, my body bowing in. Seth swallowed my cries of ecstasy, and then he jolted, coming not far behind me as he kissed me for a few seconds more.
He didn’t move. I didn’t move. And Harry was doing some shit on the TV.
Seth smiled. “I think that Potter fucker put a spell on me.”
I laughed. “I’m thinking that was more fun than Quidditch.”