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After saying their good-byes, Kelsey headed to the lab the next floor up while Haven left the building She strolled down the street, in no rush to get anywhere, and made the walk toward the library Hercrowd, and before she realized it, she had already passed her destination She looked around in confusion, catching sight of the closest street sign: Sixth Avenue

A substantial construction site stood near the corner across the street, spanning about an acre and surrounded by tall buildings The fraether like an elaborate ined a construction site would look

Curious, Haven’s feet carried her across the street for a closer look Most of the workers were busy, operating equipuys in yellow hard hats stood around, chatting One or two looked her way, sonored it as she walked through the lot A trailer sat along the side, the low hu told her if Gavin was at the site, that here he would be

Haven felt out of place, her eyes locking on the ground as she headed straight for the trailer She had coured it would be silly to leave without at least saying hello

A thick ainst the corner of the trailer, tossing rocks at so in a nearby patch of dirt Haven chanced a peek at hi when she heard a small squeal Her eyes darted to the source of the sound, seeing a small white kitten It could hardly walk, its fur ain as theit in the side

"Stop that!" Haven said, the words flying fro that?"

The man looked at her with dark bloodshot eyes, no flicker of acknowledgrabbed another rock, striking the kitten again It stumbled from the blow

Haven’s eyes burned with tears "Don’t do that anymore!"

"Mind your own business, sweetheart," the ru here"

He grabbed another rock, but Haven wasn’t having it She lunged for the cat, grabbing it as he threw the rock, s as it struck her ankle, but she barely winced as she shielded the cat in her ar?" theaway fro stride closing the distance between them Haven instinctively took a step away fro--or rather, run--the door of the trailer opened and laughter cut through the air Two guys stepped out, one an old baldcane He tipped his head in greeting to the other before heading to a waiting town car The secondfreshly pressed khakis and a blue button-down shirt: Gavin

He turned to theone, the s when he spotted Haven His brow creased, his eyes darting between her and the worker "What’s going on here?"

"I’!" theout, and this broad walks up and starts telling me what to do! Can you believe it?"

Gavin’s expression darkened, his blue eyes clouding to a furious gray Haven’s heartbeat quickened, the cat hter

The Gavin she kneas friendly, playful She had never seen hiry before

"Get back to work," he barked at theGo Now"

Theaway Gavin took a few brusque steps toward Haven, eliciting a small retreat from her, but he wasn’t deterred in his approach "What happened?"

"I, uhthe kitten was hurt, and he was throwing rocks at it, and I told him not to but he wouldn’t stop, and the kitten yelped, so I couldn’t just stand there I had to help! He got mad, then you came out, and he told you what happened, and uh"

"And here we are?" he guessed

Haven nodded, avoiding his eyes He reached toward her and she flinched, but he see it from her

"It looks prettyit out "There’s a shelter a few blocks over I can drop it off there"

"And they’ll fix her?" she asked

"Maybe," he replied "And it’s a him"

"Oh" Her brow furrowed "What do you mean maybe?"

"I mean they’ll either fix it up or put it to sleep"

Haven recoiled as if he had struck her "Why would they do that?"

"The city’s overrun with stray aniht not be worth saving"

Horrified, Haven ripped the kitten fro it back "They can’t just kill it! That’s not fair! It did nothing wrong!"

Gavin let out a sudden laugh of surprise as he held up his hands defensively "Geez, all right, relax There are other options"

"Like?"

"Like you can let it go and hope it can fend for itself"

Out of the question "Or?"

"Or you can take it to the vet"

She glanced at the cat before looking back at hiht know of a place," he replied, eyeing her curiously "Why are you here, anyway? I --it’s a pleasant surprise, but still a surprise I was actually about to head your way"

"My class got cancelled," she replied "I was going to the library and kind of just ended up here instead"

Gavin stared at her with disbelief "You just ended up here?"

"Yes And since I was here I thought I would say hey, sohey"

A s smile formed on his lips "You must’ve missed me"

"Why would you think that?"