by Pandora Pine
He might not be a relationship expert, but he knew Noble was upset over what happened to Charlie. Landon was sure Noble was blaming himself for what happened, and Landon by extension since they'd been upstairs fooling around when the dog got into the leftover food on the table.
Landon had been terrified when he'd run downstairs and saw the puppy getting sick. He knew Noble loved that dog more than anything. It really could have been the finish of him if anything had happened to Charlie.
He wasn't a meteorologist by any stretch of the imagination, but he knew that the small storm they'd been due to get wasn't going to be small at all. It looked like there was over a foot piled up outside already and it was still snowing.
Cape Cod was a virtual ghost town in January and there weren't that many veterinarians to begin with. Throw in the worsening storm and it would have been almost impossible to get Charlie any real medical help.
Shivering in the cooling room, Landon pushed back his pitiful blanket and went to his suitcase. He grabbed a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants and slipped into them. Charlie whimpered again when Landon went back to his own bed, instead of Noble's.
There was nothing he could do to soothe the puppy or himself for that matter. He could only hope Noble could figure things out, otherwise, Landon could be headed back home a lot sooner than he expected.
XX
Noble was vacillating back and forth between reciting the Serenity Prayer and just thanking God, Jesus, and anyone else who would listen for sparing Charlie.
Over the course of his life, his over-active dick had gotten him into some tight spots, literally and figuratively, but he’d never once put someone he loved at risk to satisfy the lunatic ravings of his cock.
Landon had suggested they clean up after dinner before going upstairs to get it on, but Noble had been so certain Charlie wouldn’t try to eat their leftovers. Just because Charlie hadn’t ever eaten people food before didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try it if it was available.
She was just a baby. His baby. He’d failed Charlie tonight. Noble buried his face against her silky fur. “Daddy’s so sorry, Charlie. I promise I’ll do better.”
Noble got a wet lick across his face for his trouble.
Every time Charlie whimpered, Noble's heart broke a little more. It was obvious that his little miss wanted Landon. Why wouldn't she? After all, Landon was the one who'd rescued her and cleaned up the mess she’d made. All Noble had been good for was crying and calling his Daddy like a little girl.
He wasn't ashamed to admit how much the little dog meant to him. Charlie was the reason he'd made it through rehab. She was the reason he'd stayed sober for the last four months, tonight especially.
Once it seemed like the puppy was out of danger, all Noble had wanted to do was grab that bottle of Jack Daniels out of the fridge and drink until he passed out. He might have done that very thing if it weren't for the twenty pounds of sleeping German shepherd lying in his arms.
It was his pride and his cock that had gotten him into this mess. He'd been so fucking sure Charlie wouldn't try to eat the food they'd left on the table and Landon had been stupid enough to believe him.
Noble sighed. That wasn't fair. Even though he was acting like it was, none of this was Landon's fault. He was Charlie's person. Her health and well being were Noble's responsibility.
He shifted away from the sleeping shepherd. Thankfully, Charlie didn't stir. He craned his head so he could see Landon. His lover was bundled up in sweats and a hoodie and seemed to be wrapped in a blanket that was much too small for him. Not to mention that he was sleeping on the bare mattress.
Damn it! If he wasn't such a fucking shit-stain, he would have thrown Landon's soiled linens in the wash so that they would have been clean and dry before they'd gone to bed.
At the very least, he should have let Landon share his bed like they’d been doing since the first night they'd made love. It wasn't that he didn't want Landon cuddled up around him, it was that he didn't feel like he deserved to be comforted after he had so dismally failed Charlie.
The dog cried out in her sleep before snapping awake. Noble watched while she gingerly padded to the water bowl Landon had set near the doors. He could hear her drinking. Unbelievably, instead of coming back to him, Charlie walked over to Landon's sleeping form. Noble could see her sniffing over his face before licking him.
Landon startled in his sleep, rolling onto his back from his right side. Charlie hopped up onto the mattress beside him and rubbed her face against his. "Hi, princess," Landon whispered. "Are you okay, sweetheart?" Landon reached out to rub her silky ears. "You should go back and sleep with your daddy. He needs you."
Charlie snorted and settled down at Landon's side.
Noble's heart broke a little more, listening to Landon talk to Charlie. Noble might need her but it was painfully obvious Charlie needed Landon.
Noble Killington: master builder, shitty dog person, shittier lover, loser.
17
A cold, wet nose roused Noble from sleep. When he opened his eyes, he was face to snout with Charlie. “Oh you’re back, huh, traitor dog?” Noble felt like a shit for thinking that, let alone saying it out loud.
Looking across at Landon’s mattress, he could see it was empty, but for the pitiful blanket Landon left in the center of the bare mattress. God, he really was a motherfucker.
Charlie, for her part, didn’t seem to care. She snuggled closer to Noble, her fur wet, licking the side of his face.
Movement near the fireplace alerted Noble to Landon’s presence. He was standing in the gloomy shadows, he thought he could see Landon taking off his boots. He must have taken Charlie out for her walk.
He followed Landon around the room with his eyes while the other man went to his desk. Landon powered his laptop up before heading into the kitchen, presumably for something to drink.
Landon reappeared moments later carrying three bottles of water and Charlie’s water bowl. He set it down near the French door and poured part of one bottle into it. Noble’s lips almost curled into a smile.
“Thanks for cleaning up,” Noble half-mumbled when Landon sat down on his bed.
“Sure.” Landon sounded hesitant, maybe even a bit fearful.
Noble’s stomach fluttered like he was going down the hill of a roller coaster. “Here.” Noble patted the empty side of his queen-sized mattress, folding back the covers.
Landon looked hesitant before he obeyed. He sat down on the edge of Noble’s bed, pushing off his socks and laying them flat on his mattress. Lastly, Landon hauled his grey hoodie over his head and set it on his mattress near his socks.
Slipping his legs under Noble’s blankets, Landon rested his head back, pillowing it on his crossed arms.
Charlie picked her head up, whining at Landon.
“I’m here, princess.” Landon rolled to his side, reaching over Noble to rub his fingers over Charlie’s ears. “You’re safe. Daddy’s got you.” Landon went to pull back his hand when Noble set one of his own hands over his.
“You were so calm,” Noble whispered. He had been seriously losing his shit last night, but Landon had been collected and in control of himself. Noble supposed it hadn’t helped that he’d flashed back to the accident when he’d seen Charlie in distress, scared to death that he was going to lose her just like he’d lost Vincent.
Landon spread his fingers to lace them with Noble, scooting a bit closer to rest his head on his lover’s bare shoulder. “It was strange. Everything slowed down, like I was moving in super slow-motion. I figured Charlie was going to be okay when I saw that she was throwing up leftovers from dinner. You did well calling your dad like that.”
“I didn’t have time to fat finger the touchpad on my Kindle and I was fucked if I knew what the hell I would have looked up in the first place.” Noble sighed.
“If I started choking on a Snickers bar right now, would you know how to save me?”
“You have a Snickers bar?” Now Landon was talking
. Nothing made him feel better than chocolate after something this stressful.
“Yes, but chocolate wasn’t the point of my question.” Landon picked his head up off Noble’s shoulder to raise an eyebrow at him.
“Of course I would know how to save you. I’d do the Heimlich Maneuver and chew you out later for not sharing with me.”
“How do you know how to do the Heimlich?” Landon prodded.
“We learned back in school. Came in handy too. I saved Gregor with it one night. He choked on a sausage.”
Landon snorted and then burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“Choked…on…sausage.” Landon slapped the wooden plank floor with his bare hand as if he were tapping out of a wrestling match.
Noble cracked his first smile in what felt like hours. “Oh, you mean a gay man choking on a sausage?”
Landon nodded, laughing too hard to speak.
Charlie gave a little bark and wiggled away from Noble before climbing over him to get to Landon. She started licking his face while Landon laughed even harder.
“Puke…breath…Charlie.” Landon gasped for breath, trying to get away from the puppy’s wet kisses.
“Aww, did you hear that, princess? Uncle Landon says you have puke breath. I think we should tickle him.”
“NO!” Landon managed to yell, his voice echoing off the high ceiling.
Noble grinned dancing his hand up Landon’s ribcage.
Landon tried to scoot away, but if he moved much further to his right, he was going to end up on the floor.
“Apologize for calling Charlie names,” Noble teased.
“Sorry…Charlie.” Landon grinned, finally managing to move the excited puppy off his face so he could sit up. The puppy climbed into his lap. Landon wrapped his arms around her, his eyes locked on Noble. “Are you feeling better?”
Was he? Laughing with Landon felt good, but it still didn’t make up for the fact that Charlie had gotten sick because of his carelessness.
“The point I was trying to make before I was so cutely interrupted was that you’re a new dog person. You may not have known what to do tonight, but I guarantee the next time Charlie gets into mischief, you’ll know better how to respond.”
“There must be a book I can read about stuff like this.” Noble felt a bit better knowing he had a plan and Landon’s unwavering support.
“I’m sure Amazon has thousands on dog care.” Landon set his left hand on Noble’s chest. “You’re a great doggie Daddy.”
“Look at her.” Noble ran a hand down Charlie’s back. “She’s so happy to cuddle with you now.”
“Well that’s because you hogged her all last night.” Landon shot back with a smile. “I’m sure Charlie was in heaven when she was chowing down on our leftovers, but I’d guess she got pretty scared when she started getting sick. She just needed a little reassurance.”
“You think I’m a puppy hog?”
Landon nodded, laying back down and setting Charlie between them. “She already seems back to her fearless self.”
“You think so?” She’d been pretty sick. It was hard for Noble to believe she’d be fit as a fiddle in a few hours.
“She chased seagulls when I took her out, just like always. We got another shit-ton of snow. Gonna have to start digging out in a few hours once the sun comes up.” Landon reached out hesitantly to Noble. “Look, she’s already asleep.”
“Landon, I…” Noble took a deep breath. He wasn’t any good at apologizing. His words and actions last night hurt Landon and he needed to make things right. “I was a giant dick last night.”
“I assume you mean after we came back downstairs?” Landon’s voice was neutral.
Noble snorted, he couldn’t help it. He really had been awful to Landon and here he was making jokes. For some reason, that made Noble feel worse. “Yeah, after we came back downstairs.”
“Tell me why. I mean, we were both upset about Charlie being sick. I was just as responsible for what happened as you were.” Landon ran a hand down Charlie’s flank. The puppy’s tail thumped once.
“What happened last night was all my fault. After being such a bad dog person I felt like I didn’t deserve any comfort from you.”
It was Landon’s turn to laugh. “If that was the case, you should have been the one sleeping on the bare mattress with half a blanket. Christ, at one point, I was afraid my nuts were gonna freeze off.”
“That must have been why Charlie went over to sleep with you. She was trying to keep you warm.” Noble snorted again. “And fertile.”
Landon laughed along with Noble. “It’s water under the bridge now. Why don’t we try to go back to sleep. There’s gonna be a lot of work to do outside later this morning.”
Noble shifted onto his side. He was almost spooning the puppy from behind. He reached across her to set a hand on Landon’s stomach. “You saved us both last night, Landon. If something happened to my girl, that would have been the end of my sobriety for sure.”
“I said it before, but it bears repeating. You saved you, Noble. It was your idea to call your dad. All I did was try to keep Charlie from snacking on her barf. You’re the hero.”
Noble thought about what Landon said. Maybe his lover had a small point.
Noble Killington: master builder, dog person, Landon’s lover, hero.
XX
Landon shouldn’t have been surprised, but the weatherman had been wrong again. Instead of the eight inches or so of snow predicted, they’d gotten closer to eighteen.
In the good news department, he’d been dead on about Charlie. The puppy was back to her normal self, as if what happened last night had been a dream.
After a quick breakfast of frozen waffles and sliced apples, Noble had headed out to snow-blow the parking lot and the hotel driveway leading to the main road, while Landon headed out back to shovel the stairs and the path along the beach.
Now that Charlie and Noble were both back to normal, it gave Landon some time to focus on what was going on with him. There were six days left until his agent’s deadline and Landon was ashamed to admit that he’d hit Frank’s imposed goal of one hundred pages two days ago.
He’d had every intention of telling Noble, but things had just gone sideways with Noble admitting he wanted to see where this growing thing between them was going, Nick showing up and staying for a few days, and, of course, the sex last night that had been interrupted by a sick Charlie.
There just hadn’t been a convenient moment to tell Noble what was going on. If he were being honest with himself, he’d admit that he hadn’t been looking particularly hard for that moment. Landon was afraid that Noble would send him on his way as soon as he found out that he’d hit his goal.
Granted, there was still the second half of the book that needed to be written. He wouldn’t be surprised at all if Frank gave him until January, 31st to finish the rough draft.
Landon was positive that the reason he’d been able to get Marcus Pike to talk to him in such a productive way was because of Sand Dollar Shoal. It wasn’t just the building or the incredible view of the ocean. It was Noble, Nick and Charlie too.
He hadn’t wanted to say anything to Noble, but the time Nick spent with him over the few days he was at the hotel was the closest thing to having a father Landon had experienced in nearly twenty years. Landon didn’t want to lose the connections he’d built with the Killington men and he knew leaving Charlie would splinter his heart into a million pieces.
“Hey! Are you out here working or just daydreaming?” Noble sent a snowball flying toward Landon, hitting him square in the chest.
Charlie barked, running toward Noble, who bent down to greet the puppy.
Landon wasn’t proud to admit it, but he used the time it took Charlie to run to Noble to make a snowball of his own, which he sent sailing toward Noble. His aim wasn’t as good as his lover’s. He’d been aiming for Noble’s chest, but the flying ball of wet snow smacked his knit Patriots hat right
off his head.
“Nice shot, Wordsmith.” Noble grinned, gathering another snowball in his hands.
“I was aiming for your-” Noble’s second missile slapped against the side of Landon’s throat, sending the snow cascading down the neck of his jacket.
It was on now. Landon bent to gather more snow and was pelted from the side by Noble, who seemed to have amassed his ammunition quickly. He was about to chuck the next snowball at Noble, when his lover tackled him.
“Gotcha!” Noble laughed, pressing his cold lips to Landon’s.
“I’m glad you’re in such a good mood this morning.” Landon could feel the cold and wet of the snow seeping into his jeans, but with Noble lying on top of him like this, he couldn’t bring himself to care much.
Noble kissed him again. “You were right. Charlie doesn’t seem any worse for wear this morning.”
Charlie was bouncing around through the newly fallen snow. She ran up to them giving each man a lick before bounding off to roll in the snow again.
“She’s good as new.”Landon wrapped his legs around Noble’s and managed to flip them over. He had a feeling it was what Noble wanted, otherwise Landon wouldn’t have been able to move him so easily. Backing up on his knees, Landon pushed back up to his feet and offered Noble a hand up.
“What’s on your mind? I was watching you for a few minutes before I hit you with the snowball. You looked like the weight of the world was on your shoulders. Is it the book?”
Landon sighed. This is what he’d wanted all along, the opportune moment to talk to Noble about the book. “Yeah, it’s about the book, but…”
“Hey, if you’re worried about how good it is, let me be your alpha reader.”
Landon snorted. Noble was adorable. “You mean my beta reader?”
