Page 35 of High

Thio pulled back and grinned. “I have a stop I need to make. After, we can do whatever you want, hermoso bromea.”

“Okay.” I shrugged, but my face burned from the compliment, nothing he’d ever called me before. He held out a hand and I took it, squeezing his fingers. The way he studied me, like I’d just done something amazing, had my cheeks on fire all the way up to the tips of my ears.

Since I didn’t know where we were going, I stuck close to Thio’s side and focused on not doing anything stupid like tripping because I was so fixated on him beside me. We went on for what I thought was nearly a mile, and I hated how my muscles tired out like I was actually working out by only walking. I should have tried harder to stay in shape while I was stuck in Papá’s house, but after a while there hadn’t seemed like much point to anything. My heart raced and my shirt stuck to my chest and back, even though the weather was cool. Thio brought us to a stop and opened the door to a store for me. I barely had time to register that the place was a—

“Pet shop?” I asked, firmly smacked out of drifting in my own thoughts.

He winked. “I have to see a man about a snake.”

“If I didn’t know you have weird pets, I’d think that was code for sex,” I grumbled.

His eyes bugged and then he laughed, nudging me ahead of him into the brightly lit store. The familiar smell of animal plugged my nose, but that was what you got by stacking a room with wall-to-wall aquariums. I must’ve actually managed to surprise Thio for once because he stayed quiet. As the door closed behind us, I thought I caught sight of someone on the sidewalk nearby—someone familiar. My mind froze like a cheap computer and I struggled to think. When I tried to stop to check if what I had thought I’d seen was what I actually saw, Thio just put a hand on the nape of my neck and urged me forward between the aisles, toward the back of the store.

“You’ll like this,” he said and rubbed at my sore muscles where his hand rested.

A big, bearded man in a black tank top with boulders for shoulders that were covered in tattoos came out from behind a beaded curtain over a doorway in the center of the wall between some shelving crammed full of hermit crabs. For a second my stomach dropped because he looked so scary. On his right nostril, a diamond stud glinted, and when he smiled at us, he went from terrifying to cute.

“Thiago, is that you? Sonofabitch!” The man had a thick Texas drawl and came at us with his arms open. He almost knocked me over as he crowded in to give Thio a big back-slapping hug, and then I was surprised when he turned and did the same thing to me.

“Who’s this one?” He didn’t talk to me but directed all of his attention to Thio. I didn’t know if that was because of who he was—Jefe—or just because he didn’t know me, and I didn’t like that I had to wonder at all. I didn’t know any of Thio’s friends.

“My Manny. I told you about him,” Thio said, and I got the impression maybe this was a very good friend. I tried not to scowl at this new man and maybe didn’t manage, because he guffawed.

“Well goddamn, good to meet you, kid. I’m Maddock. Come on back.”

He sauntered through the beads and they clacked together behind him. Carefully I parted them to follow into a boring office area with the expected desk and laptop lit up on it. I gasped as we walked by a playpen and stopped still. Inside was a tiny white-and-black striped cat sitting on a pile of soft blankets—and by tiny, I mean it was a little bigger than a full-grown Chihuahua. “Oh my God, is that a tiger?” I clapped a hand to my mouth and Maddock boomed out a cheerful laugh.

“Yeah. Juniper. I got him about three weeks ago. He’s adorable, ain’t he? Women love tiger cubs. I got him to do photo shoots at kids’ parties and stuff. After that, he’ll go to a local zoo because I cannot fucking afford to feed and house an adult tiger.” He reached in, and I was surprised by how gently his meaty paw picked up the baby. I suddenly had an armful of soft fluff and blinking pale eyes. My heart gave a bizarre squeeze.

“A zoo, huh?” I asked, and I swore I felt my soul swoop out of my body and connect on some funky cosmic level with the absolute adorableness I held in my arms. I glanced at Thio and he only looked amused, the bastard. Clearly he did not understand I’d just found my second soulmate, right after him.

“Yeah, I always make sure to line an after-home up first. I usually only get one a year. You can’t use them once they can, you know, take off a finger.” He laughed again and patted the cub’s head sweetly.

I nearly died of joy holding the fuzzy, blinking little angel, and Thio planted a kiss on my temple. “See, I told you that you’d like the visit.”

I nodded and grinned. “Is this legal?” I asked.

Maddock blustered for a second, and then he laughed until he was red-faced before nudging Thio so hard on the arm that Thio rocked back on his heels. But it didn’t seem like the big guy had tried to show off, more like he just didn’t know his own strength.

“He’s cute, Thiago. He’s your boyfriend? You take your time, honey. Cuddle Juniper. Come on, come on. Let’s talk, Thiago.”

“Stay put?” Thio gave me a look that reminded me of being a kid, and tried to pet Juniper, but I snuggled him close.

“Work?” I asked, feeling sour.

He frowned. Okay, maybe I hadn’t kept the irritation out of my voice. He wobbled a hand. “Favors given, favors owed. Eh. Sort of work, sort of not.”

“Fine, I’m good.” Juniper butted my cheek with his head, and I may have let out a squeal. “Thio, can we—”

“No, yo sé lo que estás pesando.”

“Oh.” Maddock poked his head out of a doorway across from us back into the office. “I could hook you up with the guy who sold—”

“No,” Thio growled, and Maddock laughed. Once I would have laughed too, but it was the same tone Thio’d had this morning when he’d shot someone. I could see into the next room behind Maddock and there was a long conference table. On either side of Maddock sat one of a pair of sleek black Dobermans at attention, and they seemed far more dangerous than the tiger cub. I petted Juniper and the cub let out a little cry that sounded so much like a baby my heart twanged. I cuddled him and petted him and talked stupid baby talk to him. Far too soon, Thio was back.

“I could really use an emotional support tiger,” I said with a pleading grin.

“No.”