“Okay,” was all I managed to say, my voice catching in my throat.
“Let’s start at the beginning,” he murmured. “Not that it’s much of a beginning. I don’t know if it’s the familiar spell, or this is just what I’ve always been, but I don’t remember much of anything before this house, to be perfectly honest with you. It’s all I know. And if I’m being perfectly truthful, I honestly don’t remember ever being a guy before you showed up. So, maybe I was a cat first? But that doesn’t seem right. It feels so natural to be human.” He then paused and looked off into the far corner of the room, his own eyes turning haunted. “You know what? I guess I never really thought of it before. Sort of like you said, you just accept it as your own weird version of reality.”
My chest ached. “So you don’t actually know who you are? Or what you are?”
“No, I don’t.” Tom’s hands were still on my shoulders, his body so close that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin. “All I know is that since you woke us from that spell, my whole world seems to be wrapped around this house.” His eyes met mine. “Around you. And I don’t know how I’m supposed to fix this mess for you, Price. I don’t have a damn clue what I should do to make you feel better.” I didn’t move, didn’t dare to breathe in case he could see the thoughts sliding through my mind. His voice was rough as he leaned into me, his mouth inches from my lips. “Tell me what I can do to make the pain go away.”
My breath was ragged. “I don’t know,” I lied. “I don’t know how you could make it better.”
“I do,” a voice purred. I jumped out of Tom’s grasp, flustered, and stared as Muffin rubbed against my leg and popped back into human form, having the grace to turn the other way and conceal his manly bits from me as he shifted.
“You know how to fix the shit-show that is Pricetag’s life?” Pussy drawled, sauntering into the room. “And what exactly would that be, genius?” The tabby cat rubbed himself against my leg, continuing to stroke my skin for a moment too long after he had returned to human form. I jerked my leg away and shot him a warning look, but he simply stood up slowly and stretched his hands over his head, naked as the day he was born and far, far happier. Tom grabbed a robe from a rail and threw it at Pussy, who slid his arms into the sleeves and tied the robe so loosely that I doubted it would conceal any of his essentials for very long. Pussy turned toward Finn again and cocked an eyebrow. “Well, enlighten us. How are we going to solve the problems of the world?”
Finn spun on his heels and pulled two rather large bottles of liquor from the cabinet on the wall behind me. “Easy. We get drunk.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“You know what, you guys?” I drawled, my words slurring through my lips as I spoke. “This is the best idea anyone’s ever had.” I tumbled slightly and Finn had to catch me as I nearly fell over onto my face. We both doubled over laughing, inebriated beyond words. Two empty whiskey bottles rolled around the ground, not a drop left.
The three guys had put on the most ridiculous of outfits, collected from an assortment of strange attire found throughout the thrift shop. Tom had put music on, and the four of us ran around like idiots, prancing among the displays, not even caring if any of the passersby on the sidewalk could see in. It felt incredibly freeing; exactly what I needed after a very stressful few days.
“Oh, oh, oh,” I practically yelled, my voice an octave higher than usual. “Board games! Let’s play a board game.”
Finn gasped and clapped his hands together like a child. “Yes! I love board games. Let’s see what we can find. There’s got to be some around here somewhere.”
The four of us rummaged through the thrift shop for a few minutes before Tom shouted his success from the far corner. “Found one! Vintage Star Trek Monopoly, how does that sound?”
I fell to my knees laughing when he brought out the massive box with a faded graphic on top. I raised my eyebrows up with both fingers and mocked a stern expression. “Okay, but I get to play as Spock.”
“Fine, but dibbs on Luke Skywalker,” Finn yelled, grabbing the box from Tom’s hand and lifting the lid off of it to peer inside.
Rolling his eyes, Pussy pushed him aside, pulling the box into his own hands. “That’s Star Wars, you idiot. Wrong franchise.” He shuffled his fingers through the box and smiled up at me, shrugging in defeat. “Looks like everything is here. Shall we make this a drinking game?”
Still on the floor, I reached for both bottles and lifted them in the air, an exaggerated pout on my lips. “No more liquor.”
“Surely there has got to be more somewhere,” Finn said, running across the shop to the back where the cabinet was. A few loud crashes and bangs sounded from the back room, but he came out looking defeated. “Nothing. What the hell? Agatha drank like a fish, you would think she’d have far more than just two bottles of booze around here.”
Brow furrowed, Tom grunted. “I bet she’s hiding them. Seems like something she would do.”
I rolled my eyes and awkwardly pushed myself to a standing position, using a display case for support. “Oh, I know,” I gasped, my hands in the air and my fingers pointing around rapidly like little dancing guns. “Let’s go dancing. I love to dance. Can we go dancing? Pretty please?”
I gave the three guys my best doe-eyed expression. I even batted my eyelashes like a proper princess.
“I don’t see why not,” Tom shrugged. He pointed his finger at me. “But I’m there for the drinking, not the dancing, got it? Under no circumstances will you find me on that dance floor.”
I grinned, swaying slightly. “Sure thing, my fluffy-wuffy friend.”
Finn lifted one shoulder and glanced at Pussy. “It would be nice to get out of the house for once, right?”
Pussy met his eye for a moment before a slow smile spread across his handsome face. “Why the hell not? I haven’t been in a bar in years. I think?” Pussy scratched his head and looked at the two other guys. “Years? Does that sound right? That sounds… odd. Honestly I have no idea. I’m too damn drunk.”
“Yeah!” I squealed. “Dancing. All right, awesome. Where should we go? Anywhere good around here?”
“We’ve been cats, Price,” Tom said. “What would we know? Check online, there’s sure to be a place close by.”
A quick search on my phone through drunk, squinted eyes told me that there was an Irish pub just down the road. “Perfect, I love the Irish. Let’s go.”
Not bothering to change out of their ridiculous clothes, we all grabbed colorful jackets from the front display rack and sprang out of the thrift shop like four people on a mission.
The air was cool and felt good against my flushed skin. I was far drunker than I cared to admit. If Gerard had ever caught me this inebriated, he would have given me the cold shoulder for a week. I blew a raspberry in the air at the memory of my douchebag ex and announced, “I’m having a double vodka the minute we get there.” I waved my hands, teetering on the edge of the curb. “No, no. I’m having a Sex on the Beach cocktail. With a whiskey chaser.”
Pussy sidled up to me and caught me by the arm. He winked at Tom and Pussy. “Sex on the Thrift Shop floor with a chaser of three cats in your bed sounds like a better option.”
I snickered, too far gone to chastise him. “Hey, I’ve had worse offers,” I slurred.
Tom chuckled and linked my other arm. “Easy, cowgirl. Let’s nobody say anything they’ll regret in the morning.” He kept his eyes trained on the street in front of us, but his fingertips gently caressed the inside of my wrist.