Page 30 of The Linebacker

She considered ignoring the knocking, except it had to be one of her neighbors. No one else could get upstairs without someone buzzing them up.

“Sorry, Lazlo,” she said as she gently rolled off the couch, leaving the cat blinking in confusion now that his snuggle buddy was gone.

She peeked through the peephole and then did an immediate double take before wrenching open the door. “What are you…”

Amil wore a baseball cap with his mess of curls sticking out from underneath, black sweatpants, and a fitted shirt with the Mountain Lions logo scrawled across his massive chest. How was it fair that the man could look so damn good in such casual clothing?

Her gaze dropped to the oversized bag in one hand.

“Is that a cat carrier?” she asked, squinting.

“It is,” he said as calmly as if he were not standing on her threshold on a Saturday evening holding a?—

“Why are you holding a cat carrier? What are you doing here? How did you get up here without me buzzing you in, anyway?”

“That was a lot of questions all at once.”

“And I notice you aren’t answering any of them.”

He chuckled.

Something brushed against her ankle, and she glanced down at Lazlo, who was twining himself between her legs while staring up at the car carrier clutched in Amil’s right hand.

“I got kicked out of the hotel. They don’t allow pets,” Amil said, lifting the carrier to eye level.

Inside was a calico cat, crouched, steadily watching her through the stainless steel bars.

“Meet Patches,” Amil said.

“Patches,” Diana repeated, staring back at the cat. “Is that the calico cat from the humane society event?”

Amil had the audacity to look sheepish.

“You adopted a cat?” When had that happened? She hadn’t noticed him filling out any paperwork that evening. If he had, she surely would have pointed out that he should wait until he had a permanent roof over his head.

“I went back the next day,” he admitted. “I couldn’t stop thinking about her.”

For the briefest moment, Diana wished those words were meant for her.

But, no, they were not. He couldn’t stop thinking about a cat.

“Who adopts a cat while they are living in a hotel?”

“I know, it’s crazy. I couldn’t resist her. I mean, she basically adopted me. I don’t know how people just walk away from that place without taking one of the animals with them.”

“Amil, that’s very sweet, but you don’t have a place to live. And now neither does your cat.”

Patches let out a pitiful meow. Lazlo tried to stand on his back feet, attempting to check out the visitor. Diana scooped him up so he wouldn’t run out into the hall. Patches moved to the front of her carrier, purring like a well-oiled engine.

“Get in here so I can close the door,” she finally said, waving at Amil with her free hand.

He stepped inside, the carrier in one hand, a bag that she could now see was filled with various cat supplies in the other.

“Where is the rest of your stuff if you’re homeless?”

“In my truck. Can I—would you mind if I let her out? She doesn’t like the carrier, and she’s going to start meowing like the world is on fire.”

“Sure.” Diana gestured at the kitchen floor. She kept Lazlo firmly in her grip—no telling how he would react to having another cat in his domain—while Amil unlatched the door of the carrier and let it swing open.