Kami

For all the animals I’ve had to rescue thanks to the Thrusters, my second favorite is one I check on now and again. And Sunday afternoon, I’m hanging with him at Felicity and Ares’s place.

“Have you been a good monkey lately?” I ask Loki, the capuchin monkey who adopted Ares shortly after he arrived in Copper Valley last year.

Loki screeches, leaps off the couch, and grabs a stuffed llama to rock it like a baby.

“Aww,” Maren, Alina, and I all say together.

Felicity has her feet propped up in Ares’s lap. She smiles at the monkey. “Loki, show them your new trick.”

Loki flashes a toothy grin at all of us, then gives us all the middle finger.

“My uncle Zeus teaches me the best things!” Loki says.

Okay, Felicity says it, but she uses her monkey voice and doesn’t move her lips.

“Where is Zeus?” Maren asks. “I thought he’d be hanging out with you guys.

“Joey flew up for the day.”

All three of us collectively reply with a knowing Oh.

If Zeus’s wife is in town, they’re busy.

And I do mean busy in the getting busy sense.

I stifle a sigh.

I miss sex.

It hasn’t even been two weeks since I cut Nick off, and I’ve never really missed sex after a break-up like this before, but he was good. I’d never had a double orgasm before. Or that thing he did against the wall the one night—

I shake my head and realize everyone’s watching me.

Including Loki, who’s also sneakily backing toward the cozy galley kitchen off the spacious living room. I glance down and rub at the soft leather on the couch, because I don’t want to answer the questions.

“Tough road trip,” I say into the silence.

Nobody answers.

Probably because it involves saying, yeah, Nick’s game is total shit this year.

“Did Kami tell you about the thirty dog treat bags from that gourmet pet bakery downtown?” Alina asks Felicity.

“I’m more interested in hearing about this singing telegram she got at work on Friday,” Maren interjects.

“How do you know about that?” I ask.

“Saw the pictures on your clinic’s Facebook page.” She grins. “And the note that the message was too risqué for a family vet to share publicly.”

I wince, because there was definitely some mention of pussy in that song the dozen costumed singers delivered.

“Was that one guy really dressed up like a wiener dog wrapped in a bun?” she adds.

“Yes.”

“And the kitty—”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“What else has he sent?” Felicity asks. She’s going for casual interest, but there’s something more than curiosity in her voice.

Ares hears it too, I’m certain, because he slides her one of those looks that I can’t read, but that makes her squirm.

“Pizza for the entire office,” I tell her, and I don’t add without mushrooms, because she’d know what that meant, and I refuse to get my hopes up that Nick’s finally paying attention.

I want to move on. I don’t want to be on this up-and-down tilt-a-whirl that comes with wondering if he cares about me as much as I’ve always been obsessed with him.

And that’s what it was.

An obsession.

I didn’t really know him. Well, not until we started hooking up in February.

“Did he send thirty?” Maren asks.

“Naturally.”

“I never knew he could use his powers for good,” Alina muses. “This is fascinating.”

“No, it’s not. It’s annoying. He’s only doing it because he feels guilty.”

Felicity opens her mouth, then closes it again.

“Murphy doesn’t do guilt,” Ares says.

I get chills, because that’s one of the longer sentences he’s ever said in our presence.

And he doesn’t mean Nick doesn’t feel guilty.

He means Nick’s never felt guilty before.

“Maybe Kami has a magic pussy and he wants it back,” Alina suggests.

Loki screeches and throws a dish rag at her.

“He doesn’t like the p-word,” Felicity stage-whispers. “Is anyone else starving? I could eat an entire bag of those chickpea puffs.”

Loki leaps onto the counter, flings open a cabinet, and starts throwing spice jars all over the marble countertops.

Ares gives him a look, and he hangs his head and starts shoveling it back in.

“He’s okay with your pregnancy?” I ask Felicity, because it’s a legitimate concern.

Her brows crease. “Mostly.” She lowers her voice. “I think he might need a special friend.”

“He’s getting to that age,” I murmur back.

Loki turns big, suspicious monkey eyes on us.

“Can I borrow your monkey for one of my videos?” Alina asks. “He’s fucking adorable.”

My phone rings while Felicity laughs. “Sure. But you’re only getting one take and you have to use whatever he does.”

“Deal. Whoa, that’s a face.”

I rise and tilt my head toward the hallway. “Mind if I use your spare bedroom for a minute?”

“Yes,” Felicity answers.

“Is that Nick?” Maren demands.

“Is that Muffy?” Alina asks.

“Sit,” Ares orders me.

I sit while I swipe to answer, because if I don’t, they’ll all follow me back to the bedroom. And if I don’t answer, they’ll ambush me for my phone to figure out who was calling. “Hey, Muffy.”

“I know it’s last minute, but you can’t say no, because I’ve really got it this time. He’s perfect, Kami. He loves animals and he speaks French and he’s very well-endowed.”

“Wait. How do you know that?”

“Hang up,” Maren hisses.

“You are not going on another Muff Matchers date,” Alina agrees.

I have to dodge the monkey, who’s been sent to sic my phone.

“And how did he come to hire you?” I add.

“He’s my neighbor!”

While I process that information, I pause long enough that Loki manages to get on my shoulder and shriek right into the phone.

And my ear.

“Whoa, are you on a date you didn’t tell me about?” Muffy demands.

I twist, trying to grab Loki while holding the phone, which means I’m basically dancing solo over the living room rug, or possibly playing charades single-handedly with no idea what I’m acting out. “No, I’m hanging with Felicity. Are you talking about the cute neighbor? The one with the black truck that he washes without his shirt on every Saturday through the summer?”

“Yes! And he needs a last-minute date to a wedding.”

“A wedding?”

“Yeah. Like right now. You have to get changed right fucking now. Where are you? Are you downtown? I’ll bring a dress.”

“You’re not going to a wedding on a first date,” Felicity orders.

“Absolutely not,” Alina agrees.

Loki screeches again, steals my phone, and dashes for the hallway.

I chase after him, shrieking, “Yes! I’ll do it!” to Muffy, and “No! Not in the toilet!” to the monkey.

I’m suddenly three feet in the air, gripped by my arms, while Ares picks me up and sets me aside. He races into the bathroom—he’s quick for a big guy—and rescues my phone at the last minute.

So there I am, standing in a bright, cheery bathroom with Ares, Loki, and Muffy still squeaking on my phone. “Stay right where you are! I’ll be there in forty-five with everything you need!”

Ares pins me with a look. His reflection does too.

“What do you want?” he asks.

I gulp, because even though I know he’s a big ol’ teddy bear, he’s almost a foot and a half taller than me and that’s not his friendly face.

It’s not his I eat weak hockey players for breakfast face either—I’ve seen that plenty on TV and the videoboard at Thrusters games—but it’s not harmless.

“More,” I tell him. “I want more.”

He studies me another minute with bright blue eyes that are way more intelligent than most people would give him credit for.

“He misses you,” he finally says.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes, and Ares gives me a small grin.

“But you should go,” he finishes.

He hands me back my phone, picks Loki up and hands him a cookie—no, I don’t know where he got a cookie, and since it’s Ares, I’m not going to ask—and I back up so he can get out of the bathroom.

“On the date?” I ask.

“No what-ifs,” he replies as he heads down the hallway back to join Felicity, Maren, and Alina. “Go.”

Well, that’s not confusing at all.

Nick misses me, but I should still go on this date.

I’d ask him what Felicity would think of his advice, except I think I know.

She’d say I should go too. I’ve met Muffy’s neighbor. He’s always been kind, he’s attractive, and he’s age-appropriate.

I dial her back quickly despite the warning signal my phone battery is flashing at me. “You mean your neighbor Josh, right?”

“The one and only.”

“Great. I’m totally in.”