Maggie paced around her living room trying to wrap her head around everything. Pocket was right on her tail, swerving between her legs causing her to trip every few seconds.

“Pocket, can you knock it off! Can’t you see your mommy is having an existential crisis?”

Pocket looked at her, a slow blink going across his eyes before opening his mouth and screeching louder than she’d ever heard.

“Pocket! For the love of all things sweet and delicious can you just not?”

Pocket strolled over to her then proceeded to attack her leg.

“Jesus!”

While Maggie was trying to dislodge her devil cat from her body, a knock on her door sounded.

“Ugh,” she huffed. “This is the last thing I need.” She walked to the door throwing it open. “What do you-“

“Did you even look to see who it was?” Trevor interrupted as he walked past her into the room.

You have got to be kidding me! She looked up at the universe. I think you sit up there and purposely do things to make my life a living hell. She turned to Trevor. “What are you doing here?”

“Was your door even locked?” he asked with an annoyed expression. Who in the hell gave him the right to barge into her home and then be pissed at her?

“Do not make me teach you a lesson,” he warned.

Her eyes widened, but she quickly recovered as she crossed her arms over her chest. “You’ve got two seconds to explain why you’re here before I kick your ass.”

“Kick my ass?” Trevor asked before bursting into a laugh. “Please, please let me see you try and kick my ass. I’d pay money for it.”

She growled before charging at him. Trevor caught her midflight swinging her around, in the air, before they both ended up on the couch, with Trevor pinning her under him. “Actually, this worked out really well.” He gave her a cocky smile before leaning in to kiss her.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t stupid enough to linger. After the quick peck, he jumped from the couch and covered his junk. She narrowed her eyes. The bastard knew exactly what she was going to do to him. She sat on her couch glaring at him for a few seconds not moving, causing Trevor to shrug and assume she was no longer going to go after him. Stupid man.

Right when she was about to go in for her attack, Trevor sat on the floor and reached for a bag that was not there a few minutes ago. Her eyes widened when she saw what he pulled out.

“Pocket,” Trevor called while putting the cat toy that looked like a mouse on the floor.

Pocket hearing his name appeared out of nowhere with a strategic dive bomb right onto Trevor’s lap.

“Umph,” he groaned as he tried to maneuver the cat onto the floor. “The toy’s down there, dumbass. Not on my lap.”

True to Pocket’s form, he opened his mouth and yelled arguing with the man who was now pulling out more toys from the bag trying to entice Pocket to play with them instead of his appendages.

At first, Maggie stared at the two. She was sure her mind was playing tricks on her. Was Trevor actually sitting on the floor playing with her cat? The cat he swore was not a cat. And, he bought Pocket toys? Toys, honest to god cat toys. There is no way this was happening. No one, and she meant no one had ever done anything like that for her.

Wait, she glared at him. Was he trying to get Pocket on his side? She questioned his antics for a moment, but the second Pocket dropped the tiny mouse and went for Trevor’s forearm instead, she dismissed the idea. No one was stupid enough to try and lure the devil cat away from her. The cat had a mind of its own and it was tough even for her to try and tame him. She still couldn’t get the hang of it.

Instead, Maggie lowered herself to the floor, picking up the feather toy. Within seconds Pocket was leaping from Trevor’s arm and onto the feather’s that was now flying around. She couldn’t help but laugh when she realized Pocket’s purr was louder than she had ever heard.

“Oh, thank god,” Trevor announced looking at his arm. “I didn’t know how much longer my skin would have held out.”

Maggie turned to stare at him as Pocket pranced around with the feathers. Somehow, she’d forgotten he was there while she observed how happy her cat was.

“I’m glad Pocket liked it. I was worried he wouldn’t have liked the feathers. You know they’re not very manly.” He cleared his throat when she continued to stare at him. “Are you just gonna keep staring at me?”

“Did you really bring my cat toys?” she asked not looking away from him.

“Yeah,” he said, with a shrug.

This was going much better than Trevor thought. This must be the first time in history that Maggie was actually not running her mouth. Instead, she was just sitting there staring at him, her mouth slightly agape. He fought the urge to lean over and kiss her. He did his best to hold back his groan. Even the small peck from before set him on fire. What in the world were her lips made of?

Clearing his throat, he picked up the mouse and started waving it around to get Pocket’s attention.

“I don’t even know what to say,” she finally spoke.

He shrugged. He wanted her to jump all over him with gratitude. Maybe rip off her shirt to show she was really thankful, but he knew that was a long shot. If the roles were reversed, which they never would be, that’s what he would’ve done.

He moved to pick up the cat which resulted in Pocket attacking his hand. At least he always knew how Pocket was always going to react. “I also brought us some movies we can watch. I remember seeing you had a DVD player.”

She looked around the room nervously. “Uh, yeah.”

Trevor kind of liked catching her off guard and if you were to ask him, his plan was working out perfectly. “Great. What do you want to watch, I’ve got some comedies and also some classic horror films?”

Her face lit at the mention of horror films. Thank you, Danny. Trevor stood, giving Pocket a moving target now. “Where’s your remote?”

Mindlessly, Maggie reached for the remote and handed it to him. He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. Everything was perfect.

He messed with the remote until the movie was playing. Once he was satisfied, he moved to sit right next to Maggie.

About ten minutes into the movie he heard Maggie sigh. “This was a movie my Grammie and I used to watch all the time.”

He nodded, not really sure what else to say.

“I honestly can’t wrap my head around you being here right now, or the fact that we’re watching this movie.”

“Well, I am here,” he said.

“I must be in the Twilight Zone,” she whispered. “You know this exact movie was the one my grandma put on for me the first time my mother forgot to pick me up from school. Instead of walking home, I decided to walk to her house instead.”

His heart sank. Another foreign emotion to him. “How old were you?” he asked. When he looked her in the eyes there was a small trace of tears.

“I was seven,” she answered.

Seven?

How could a mother forget their seven-year-old child? At seven he was constantly surrounded by his mother. She was always there for him, and never missed an opportunity to volunteer at his school.

“My Grammie was good at making me feel wanted and special. I was always welcome at her house, no matter what time it was, day or night. She would open the door with her arms wide, ready to help me through anything.”

“She sounds like a wonderful woman.”

“She was. She was my rock.” She laughed sarcastically. “You know, she was the only one that didn’t laugh in my face when I told her I wanted to be an actor.” She looked away from him. “I remember when I told my mom that’s what I wanted to be. Instead of supporting me, she told me no one in Hollywood would ever take me seriously unless I lost fifty pounds and even then, my face could only get me so far. But, when I told Grammie, she jumped for joy. She swore that was the career I was made for and she was happy that I was finally letting go of my fears to pursue my dreams.”

Trevor’s whole body went stiff. What type of mother would say that to their own daughter? He fisted his hands trying to control his rage.

“Even though Grammie believed in me, every day I would have to fight against the odds to even be considered in any form of acting. I fought every single day. I was kicked out of auditions, laughed at to my face, and even told to go open a restaurant. Every time my mother would find out I didn’t get the part, she would gladly throw it in my face.” She finally looked at him. “You reminded me of my mother.”

Holy shit. No, no, no, the night was going so well. Ever since the initial attempted brawl, there’d been no arguing, no trying to kill each other. But now, now-

“That was until you brought Pocket these cat toys.”

Wait, what?

“I hated you, Trevor. I hated everything you stood for, and the things you said to me… I still want to punch you in the throat for-“

“I’m sorry,” he interrupted her. “I’m so sorry. You have no reason to ever forgive me, but please know I am truly sorry for the things I said to you and the way I treated you.”

She stared at him and for the first time, he saw her completely resigned. Almost as if she’d given up. No. That couldn’t happen. Her fire, her passion. It was why he fell for her to begin with.

“I moved here after Grammie died, hoping I could make her proud that I was actually following my dreams.”

“She would be proud of you,” he said desperately trying to figure out a way to fix this conversation and right his wrongs. He wasn’t built for talks like this. And, he sure as hell wasn’t accustomed to them.

“No,” she answered. “She wouldn’t. The first part I’m cast in, I almost get kicked off the set because I walked in on you and that bimbo. You then do everything in your power to get me banned from set. You say some of the most vile things about me to my face, and then in the end, I foolishly sleep with you. No, my Grammie would not be proud of me.”

“Bullshit!” Trevor said standing. He started to pace as he spoke, “Your grandma would be extremely proud of you. Hell, Maggie, not only have you been in a film here in LA, which can I add most people spend their whole life trying to accomplish. You were also invited to one of the biggest Hollywood parties of the year. You’ve made some amazing friends and you are out there every day kicking ass. Your grandma would be so proud of you. And,” he spoke softly. “You’ve caught my eye.”

Her eyes narrowed. Shit!

“Hear me out. I’m not saying you should be lucky that I am giving you attention. Shit, no that’s not what I am saying. Damnit. What I am trying to say is, I want you, Maggie.” He started moving closer to her. “I want you for more than just one night.”