Page 123 of While You Were Trending

Flow growls at him.

“And then he’ll write a new song on the fly and inform you that you get zero credit for the inspiration because you’re a cunt,” Declan finishes in his normal voice.

Flow’s still glaring at him.

“I’m done,” he says to her. “No more Zander impersonations.”

She snorts and huffs at him, and I crack up.

Can’t help it.

Zander’s hilarious, but Declan—he’s funny too.

He glances back at something inside the apartment.

Sounds like scratching and a meow.

But not a cat’s meow.

A little girl’s meow.

“That’s Lavender,” I say. “But I haven’t heard her meow in months. She’s been more into being a dragon slayer than a cat for a while now. And I thought she was out in the barn.”

He leaves the sliding door open while Flow looks at me like she’s sayingyou see what I have to put up with?, and he crosses to the door that opens to the staircase leading upstairs.

Those shorts are doing good things for his?—

Nope. Never mind.

Not going there.

There’s no point to it.

I can’t see Lav, but Declan drops to a squat. “Oh, no,” he says. “A stray kitty.”

“Meow meow meow?” Lav says.

“A hungry stray kitty? Where’s her papa kitty?”

“Meow.”

Declan mock gasps. “She doesn’t have a papa kitty?Oh, that’s terrible. I’ll have to find her a new home.”

“You’re supposed to offer to adopt me,” Lav stage-whispers.

Declan scratches his head. “I don’t know if my dog would like it if I adopted a stray kitty.”

“Your dog loves me, even if she’s still not as awesome as a cat,” Lav says, again in the stage-whisper. Louder, she adds, “Meow meowmeow.”

Flow looks up at me and heaves a heavy sigh that makes all of the fluffy black and white and orange fur around her mouth wave in the breeze.

Declan shoots a grin at Flow, then looks back at Lav again. “Does your dad know you’re here?”

“I live here.”

“But he’s in the barn with Cricket and all of the other ladies.”

“How do you know?”