LOVING THE DEVIL [02]

Chapter 25.

CHAPTER 25: for you

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"Ripley—Ripley, it's okay, I promise," I assured my dog—who never once looked at me—his hate pointing all the way to Liam. He's smelt Liam in the house before on the furniture, but never made such a big fuss of it, but he truly didn't like him touching me when he's never seen him before, "come here. I'm so sorry I worried you, baby."

Reaching out, I hugged him, rubbing his back and kissing him on the head between his ears. His fur was soft like golden silk, breathing laboured as he turned slightly to press sloppy kisses onto my cheek. I could feel his tongue grazing against my skin lovingly as I babied him as I've always done since he was a puppy.

"Awe, see, nothing to worry about," I started when I pulled back to admire his handsome face. When I looked over at Liam, I beckoned him to come over because Ripley was friendly to everyone; he just caught Liam at an...awkward time. A flash of fear reflected on his face as he stepped forward and held his hand out for me to take, "here, boy. See? This is Liam. You like him? He's nice, right?"

My dog smelt his hand, nudging it slightly until he shifted and trotted away, leaving Liam stood there uncomfortably from the rejection of Ripley. Well...you win some and you lose some. A giggle erupted from me as his gaze slid down to me plainly, hiding his sadness as much as he could even if it was so obvious to me.

"It's fine," I spoke lightly as I lifted myself up from my crouching position. There was an oncoming cramping in my left leg, which I so swiftly sorted out whilst I mindlessly talked to Liam, "if you don't win the approval of Ripley, you can still win over Cara...even if she's never around during the day."

"Isn't that your cat?" he asked as I hummed, heading into the storage room next door to grab some of Ripley's dried food. A bag of his usual sat on the other side, leaning against the wall with a few multipacks of Cara's tinned food. The washing machine and dryer sat across from that bag where I passed to scoop some of food into the bowl, "uh, Cassidy?"

He called out my name with a sense of uncertainty, which only caused me to arch a brow. I finished scooping his food and collected a pack of cat food to put in the cupboard above my sink. When I returned, the man was no longer stood at the window, but was instead kneeling down near the door that lead into the outside area of my house.

Cara was sat there, lifting her paw up to touch agains the glass. I could sense the annoyed look on her face, glaring up at Liam as he had no clue as to what she was saying or trying to tell him. Quickly, I grabbed the key on the side that I presumed was the key to the door and opened it to let her in. I watched contently as she rubbed herself against my legs whilst purring.

"So I'm guessing this is Cara," said Liam when his eyes travelled down to the grey cat that was now walking around silently. I nodded as I reached into the nearby drawer in front of me on the island got a tin opener out for Cara's food.

"She's a Russian Blue, adopted about maybe a year or two ago. I don't remember a time when she wasn't here so I'm not entirely sure on the exact date," I spoke with a smile as I scooped the cat food into my Cara's bowl, "she's never usually at home because she likes to roam around the neighbourhood and get food from some of the other neighbours. I don't feed her as much for dinner now because I know she's received food from other people, but God knows what they've fed her."

"Don't you worry someone might take her?" the man asked me as he walked over to my side and leaned on one arm to stare down at my level. He certainly likes to be really close to me, I thought, "because she's a beautiful cat and you know how some people are."