Learning to Live

Chapter 2

His face was expressionless through the curtain of smoke. He lowered his hand to his knee again, his eyes still on me. I coughed and waved my hand in front of my face.

"Did you see a kitten around here?" I asked.

He blinked, but didn't reply. Awkward. I wrenched my eyes from him and looked around. There!

A little ball of black fur curled on the other side of Jamison, almost invisible. My wide eyes swung to him. He didn't move, and he hadn't looked away from me. I had the absurd notion that he wanted to scare me off. Tough luck. Wild horses couldn't drag me away from the kitten.

Besides, any apprehension I might've had about Jamison flew right out the window. No one who let a kitten curl next to him that way was bad.

Two bowls, one filled with water and the other empty, were next to the wall.

"Are you the one feeding it?" I asked.

He didn't reply, but his hand didn't raise the cigarette to his lips. I really needed to see that kitten.

"Excuse me," I said, almost walking over him to the other side. 

When I glanced at him, his brows were a little furrowed, and he was still looking. I could just imagine his inner monologue. How dare this girl not scurry away when faced with my frightening eyes and bleeding knuckles?

I crouched down and looked at the kitten, ignoring him. It was asleep, its body rising and falling with even breaths. I couldn't be sure until I had a proper look, but the kitten was around seven weeks old, maybe a little older?

I touched a finger to the black fur and glared at the cigarette in the guy's hand. "Do you mind? It stinks."

He didn't move. I sighed and picked up the kitten. Its little meow melted my heart. I checked, it was a female.

"Well, hello there," I said, holding her face to mine. She meowed again, lazily blinking those blue eyes. Awe. She was the cutest little fluff ball.

I looked at Jamison. "She can't stay here alone," I said. "She's too young, and it's going to be too cold at night. Are you going to take her home?"

His eyes turned to the black kitten I held against my chest. Her purr was bigger than she was. Jamison looked back at me and shook his head, almost imperceptibly.

"Then I'm taking her with me," I said, putting her back on the ground. She immediately sauntered to Jamison and jumped on his arm, her little claws trying to find purchase in his skin.

He put the cigarette down on the ground and helped her up, bleeding knuckles and all. His hand was so big but gentle on her.

I glanced at him. I didn't know what that fight was about or why everyone seemed to find him scary, but anyone handling a kitten with that gentleness was not bad in my book. The way the kitten curled in the crook of his elbow made it clear she had done it before.

So he'd been feeding the kitten and keeping her company. Nope. He wasn't scary at all.

My stomach growled out loud like a ravenous beast. Jamison looked up, his brow arched and a hint of something in his eyes.

Oh my God, that was mortifying!

I cleared my throat and pointed at his knuckles. "You should get those looked at."

Then I stood up and walked away, hoping the ground would open up and swallow me. Once I was out of the alley. I put my hand on my stomach. 

"You just couldn't wait until I walked away, couldn't you?" I grumbled under my breath, my face flaming hot. That's what I got for skipping lunch to look for a kitten.