Page 24 of Faking the Goal

Nothing.

Just fear.

Immediate, irrational, humiliating fucking terror every time one gets too close.

And right now, my brain couldn't care less that an alligator crawling out of that lake would be an objectively bigger problem. Hell, some creepy man jumping out of those bushes would've made more fucking sense to my nervous system than the tiny ball of fluff currently staring at me.

The cat takes one step forward.

Nope.

Absolutely fucking not.

I turn and run.

I don't care how ridiculous I look. I don't care that I'm literally fleeing for my life from an animal that probably weighs less than my camera bag. My legs are moving before I can talk any sense into them, boots pounding against the pavement while my purse slams repeatedly against my hip.

I don't look behind me.

I don't slow down.

By the time my apartment building finally comes into view a couple of minutes later, my lungs are burning and my heart is beating so violently I can feel every pulse in my throat.

There.

Home.

The dark outline of the building has never looked so fucking beautiful.

I sprint the remaining distance, already digging through my purse for my keys. Right now, I don't care about how stupid any of this is or whether that cat even followed me.

I just need to get inside.

Lock the door.

And feel safe again.

By the time I make it inside my building, my chest is heaving and there's a stitch burning beneath my ribs. I shove the door closed behind me and lean against it for a second, dragging air into my lungs while my heart continues trying to beat its way out of my body.

Jesus fucking Christ.

I really just sprinted home because of a cat.

A cat.

I'm about to laugh at my own ridiculous ass when I push away from the door and head down the hallway toward my apartment.

Then I see what's waiting outside it.

"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me."

Another bouquet of dark maroon dahlias lies directly in front of my door.

For fuck's sake.

"Is the universe just taking a giant shit on me tonight or what?"

First Kentaro and his unsolicited sermon on my sex life, then I nearly piss myself thinking someone's following me, then fucking Snowball launches out of the grass and almost sends me into cardiac arrest, and now this shit again?