Officially Over It (SWAT Generation 2.0 10)

I’d heard Hastings discussing it with Sammy and Louis the other day.

Hastings was a sweetheart. I knew that she’d give her friend a place to stay.

Reggie’s mouth twisted into a frown. “Thank you.”

No ‘I’ll think about it’ or ‘okay’ just ‘thank you.’ She likely wouldn’t consider moving at all just on general principle alone.

The stubborn little shit.

God, I loved her.

With one last look at my girl, I gave Travis a jerk of my chin and got back to work.

But, with a glance over my shoulder, it wasn’t Reggie’s gaze that I found watching my back, but Eerie’s. And her eyes were almost in panic mode.

The question was, why?Chapter 6

You have a small dick.

No, you didn’t read that wrong.

-Text from Reggie to Nathan

Reggie

There was a knock on my door, and I opened it with a wide smile, expecting Sierra.

Who I got was Nathan.

He was wearing bright blue swim trunks, a t-shirt that’d seen better days, and flip-flops on his overly white feet.

I blinked at him owlishly.

“What?” I asked.

His brows rose at my tone.

“I’m here to pick you up, then go and pick up Sierra. Sammy was going to do it, but then Hastings had a bout of morning sickness and they were running late. So I was voluntold,” he explained.

I sighed and opened my door up.

“Don’t let my cat out,” I ordered.

“You have a cat?” he asked as he followed me inside, his eyes on the floor as he looked for a cat. “I didn’t see a cat the other day.”

“That’s because I just found it last night,” I answered as I picked up my bag of shit.

“You found a cat last night? Where?” he wondered as he still continued to hunt for said cat.

I walked over to the bookshelf that was in the corner of the room and pointed, causing Nathan’s eyes to follow my finger.

“Oh,” he said as he saw the cat perched at the very top shelf where he’d been for the last six hours. I couldn’t reach him, so he apparently thought he was safe there.

“He’s not the nicest of cats yet,” I admitted. “But he was getting picked on by some dogs that belong to the neighbors, so I thought that I’d rescue him. Only, he’s a bit of an asshole.”

“How do you know it’s not someone else’s cat?” he wondered.

I shrugged. “I don’t know if it is or isn’t. Maybe someone will ask where the cat went. Maybe they won’t. In the meantime, I’m not leaving him outside to get mauled by dogs.”

He sighed. “Animals get out. Just make sure that if someone does come looking for the cat, you don’t keep it just because you don’t trust them to take care of the cat.”

I snickered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Hey,” he grumbled. “I’m just saying that we’ve been through this before.”

We had.

There’d been a poodle that belonged to some neglectful woman down the road from where I’d grown up. The woman would let her poodle out and the dog would be everywhere. One day I’d found the damn thing near the main highway when I’d gotten off the bus.

And tired of her bullshit and not taking care of her dog, I’d taken the dog home with me and kept her for over a week.

The woman was distraught, and it was only when I told her that one of those times the dog wouldn’t be so lucky that she finally realized how irresponsible she was being.

Or, she might’ve realized this only after I told her she was being an asshole pet owner.

Regardless, I hadn’t been very nice about it. Luckily, she’d realized the error in her ways and kept the dog leashed from that point on, and they moved not long after that.

I just hoped that the woman kept the dog safe after I wasn’t around anymore to take care of it.

“I know what you are remembering, but I still don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied.

“Of course not.” He chuckled as he gestured to the door. “You ready?”

I nodded and followed him to the door, making sure to grab my keys that would get me back into my apartment later.

After locking the doors, I reluctantly headed behind Nathan to his vehicle that was parked beside my car.

Just as we were heading to the parking lot, my neighbor that I never saw came out. “Hey, have you happened to have seen a cat? Mine got out last night.”

Nathan reversed direction and came back with my cat.

“Here,” he said.

My neighbor’s eyes held relief. “Wow, thanks.”

I sighed and kept walking.

Dammit. I wanted that cat!

But, I wouldn’t want to take someone’s pet. That would make me a bit of a dick.

Nathan caught up to me when we got to the sidewalk, not saying a word.

I was also surprised that my usual dealer wasn’t there, but a new guy.