The Heartbreaker I Adore (When In Waverly 2)

Hannah

Seth was right. It did not take Colby long to discover the kittens, and he is furious. Downright livid. I left early this morning to buy a litter box, food, and flea meds for the little things, and my first mistake was going to the store here in town. It was a rookie mistake, and I should have known better.

Someone at the store texted Colby, asking about “our” new cats. Dang Waverly and its blabbermouths. When I got home, he was in my room, staring at the kittens, plotting their demise. As soon as he saw me, he exploded in a fit of rage, demanding that I get rid of them. “This is my house, not yours,” he declared. But I am paying rent to live here now, and I think I should be able to have a pet if I want one…or three.

“Get rid of them,” he said, like they were an old pair of jeans I could just drop off at the local Goodwill and forget about. They’re tiny, defenseless animals. They need me.

“No,” I replied.

“Yes,” he said. And then we did that very mature yes-no argument, back and forth, just like we did when we were kids. He went with it a lot longer than I thought he would, but he did eventually give up, shout a lot of rude things at me, and storm out of the house. He drove off in his truck, probably to go to the gym to blow off some steam. That means he should come back home feeling calmer, and then maybe he’ll be more open to me keeping them.

I’m playing with the kittens in the living room, doing my best to not harp on my fight with Colby. He said some mean things, but I know, deep down, he didn’t mean it. He was just angry.

It’s hilarious watching the cats chase a bit of string around with their paws, frantically grabbing at it. These little balls of fur have managed to completely steal my heart in under twenty-four hours. I don’t think I’ll be able to get rid of them if he doesn’t change his mind. If he insists that they leave, I might have to leave with them.

Someone starts drumming a beat on the front door, and all the cats perk up to listen to it. A smile spreads across my traitorous face because I know it’s Seth. He’s the only person I know who is obnoxious enough to knock on a door like that. I scoop up one of the kittens and answer the door.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, trying to hide the smile that wants to spread across my face.

“I came to check on these little beasts,” he answers as he plucks the kitten from my hands. “Have you named them yet?”

“I knew it! You do love them!” I exclaim. I bounce around on the balls of my feet because I can’t keep my excitement contained.

“I wouldn’t say that. Love is a very strong word.” His crooked grin gives away all his secrets, though.

“But you don’t hate them. And no, I haven’t named them. I can’t tell if they’re boys or girls.”

We end up spending the next thirty minutes Googling and inspecting the cats, trying to figure out their genders. We have two boys and one girl. Next, we spend an hour looking at baby name lists to name them.

Seth wants to name the boys vicious warrior names, like Uhtred and Baldric. He needs to lay off the Viking shows, for crying out loud. I refuse to give my babies such violent-sounding names. They need something classy to represent the little gentlemen they are. Mama ain’t raising barbarians.

“What about Archie and Theo?” I suggest. He scrunches up his face in disgust.

“No, Uhtred!!”

“But Uhtred sounds so much like putrid.”

“Hannanah, you take that back right now,” he says, pointing a threatening finger at me. One of the kittens stands on its hind legs and tries to swipe a paw at his arm. He falls over on his back, and Seth swipes him up and cuddles him close to his chest. It’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. I look away from him to try to slow my pulse.

“How about we table the name discussion for a little while. You know, Colby yelled at me earlier when he found out about them,” I tell him. I can feel my blood heating up all over again thinking about it. “He wants me to get rid of them, and he called me a mooch.”

“What a jerk,” he says. My head rears back from shock. Of course I’ve heard Colby and Seth argue before, but I’ve never heard them truly insult each other behind their backs.

“I know. Look at this precious baby,” I say and hold my tiny gray girl up to my face.

“You want to give him a real reason to be angry?”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s play a prank on him. Get back at him for what he said to you.”

“We could un-organize all of his belongings,” I suggest, mostly just joking. If I think Colby had been angry about the kittens this morning, there’s no telling what he’ll do if I undo his hours of meticulous organization.

“You are diabolical,” Seth says with a look of pure admiration on his face. “Let’s do it.” He jumps up from the floor, startling the kittens. They take off running to hide behind the chair in the corner.

“But I wasn’t serious.” I used to do stuff like that all the time when he was away at college, but it has been years. We’re both older and wiser…and grumpier now.

“Hannanah, it’s the most genius thing I’ve ever heard come from your mouth. We have to do it.” He grabs my arms, and his face is so close to mine. His eyes are wild with excitement, and I’m so close to agreeing…