by Rick R. Reed
“What’s so funny?” Becca asked. She toyed with a loose thread at the hem of her skirt. “I don’t think this is funny. I thought you’d have a little more respect when I’m kind enough to let you stay here.”
“Oh, come on. I’m sorry. We just got carried away. It won’t happen again.” Aaron was all contrition.
Christian, however, snorted. “At least not here.” He reached over and squeezed Aaron’s hand. Gently and in deference to Becca, who was visibly fuming, Aaron removed his hand from Christian’s and placed it back in his lap.
“Yeah,” Aaron said, voice barely above a whisper. “Not here. It’s too small, and it’s not right of me. I was inconsiderate, and I apologize.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sakes,” Becca said, standing up to peer out the rain-slicked window. “It’s okay. Forget it.”
“How did your date go? Was he wonderful?”
Becca snorted. “Obviously not as well as yours!” She plopped back down in her chair. “He was at least a decade older than the picture he had posted online. I could have used a weed whacker to trim the hair in his ears. And if I could have filled his nostrils with nickels, I’d have enough to replace those Jimmy Choos! And… he invited me to his granddaughter’s birthday party. His granddaughter!”
Christian barked out a laugh, cut short by Aaron’s elbow in his ribs.
“Sorry to hear that,” Aaron said.
They all fell silent for several long, agonizing minutes. In spite of the apology and the forgiveness, there was still an aura of tension surrounding them, one that would take time and distance to dispel, Aaron was sure. Finally, it was Becca who broke the silence.
And when Aaron heard what she had to say, he was sorry she did. The awkward silence was much preferable to her pointed question: “So, is he here to help get that dog to learn how to behave?”
For just an instant, Aaron hated his sister. When had Mavis become “that dog”? He shook his head, trying to at least give Becca a little credit by imagining she was making things easier on herself by depersonalizing Mavis, making her into a thing, a mistake.
But he could not depersonalize his girl. She was his Mavis, his dog.
His heart.
And there was no way she was going back. No matter what.
Aaron took a deep breath, one that came out a little quivery at the end. Courage, he told himself. Courage. “Christian came by to see if he could help out a bit with Mavis’s shyness.”
Becca glanced around the room and finally slid out of her chair to squat and peer beneath the bed, where, Aaron was certain, Mavis cowered. Becca returned to her seat, folding her arms across her chest. “Well, it looks like that plan worked out surprisingly well. She’s still under the bed.” Becca snorted. “I think he got confused and worked on overcoming your shyness instead.”
Aaron had to bite his tongue not to say “She was fine until you came home,” because that would have just been, well, not nice. “We did make a lot of progress. Christian has a great touch with her.” Aaron wished Mavis would venture out from under the bed, just to prove his point, but it appeared that for now she was staying put.
Christian jumped in. “Yeah. We got her calmed down. She was out from under the bed and really pretty laid-back and friendly.”
“We even got her to take a walk around the lake,” Aaron added.
“In the rain?”
Both men said, “Yup.”
Aaron said, “She was quite the trouper.” He gnawed at a fingernail for a moment, then forced himself to stop. Courage. Just blurt it out. “I’m not taking her back. No matter what she does.”
“What?” Becca asked.
“I said I’m not taking her back. She’s home now. With me. I can’t give her up. Not now.”
“They’ve bonded,” Christian said. He added, “I taught Aaron here a little bit about how to talk to his girl. So much of training is in your tone and intention. Dogs want to please their alphas.” He squeezed Aaron’s knee and gazed meaningfully at him for a moment.
Aaron said, “I don’t know where this puts us, sis, but I can’t give up my dog.” He took a deep breath and said forcefully, “I won’t.”
Becca sighed. “You are fucking kidding me, aren’t you?” She threw up her hands in a gesture of resignation. “This is my house, Aaron. I thought I was helping you out by letting you stay here until you got back on your feet, until your broken heart had mended.” She looked pointedly at Christian when she said the last part. “That’s right. He just got out of a relationship, Mr. Christian Rebound.”
“Whoa!” Aaron said. “Don’t talk to him that way. He’s not a rebound—and you and I are getting off topic here.”
Becca continued to glare at Christian. “Don’t you need to be on your way? My brother and I need to talk.”
Christian looked to Aaron, ostensibly for some guidance in what he should do, how he should respond.
Aaron met his gaze and shook his head. “Don’t be rude to my guest, Becca. He dropped everything to come over here and help me.”
Becca snorted. “Help you do what? And does ‘everything’ include his pants?”
Aaron stood. “Look, we’re avoiding the subject here.” He struggled to keep his voice level, not so much for the humans in the room, but for the dog under the bed. “I want to keep Mavis. I saw real progress today. We’ll put her in her crate when we leave the house, if you want, so she’ll be out of harm’s way when we’re not home.”
“And out of the way of my shoes,” Becca said softly.
“And out of the way of your shoes.”
Becca sighed. “This is my place. I don’t want to have to worry about my stuff. And neither does Max.” She indicated the fat cat lounging on the kitchen counter, unaware he was being observed. He lifted a paw and examined it with intense interest.
Aaron gnawed at the inside of his mouth, at a crossroads. He felt as though he were standing at the edge of a cliff, poised to jump.
“If you ever get it in your head to force Mavis to go, I go too,” Aaron said softly.
“Right.” Becca stood again, crossing the room to pick up Max and cradle him in her arms. “Where will you go? Back home with Mom and Dad? Good luck bringing Mavis there… with Mom’s issues about cleanliness and Dad’s allergies. Aaron, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you have no job, no money, and no place to live except here.”
Aaron looked helplessly at Christian. He wanted him to say “Come and stay with me. I know, I know, it’s impulsive, but you and me—we’re off to a good start. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll take you in.”
But he didn’t say anything. In fact, he simply stared at the floor, embarrassed, Aaron supposed, to be caught thick in the middle of this family dysfunction.
Mavis chose that moment to poke her head out from under the bed, to observe the feuding humans with her sad and serious expression, never more suited to the moment than right now. Aaron couldn’t bear to look at her, afraid if he did, he would burst into tears. Or maybe he’d do something even more melodramatic, like scooping her up in his arms and running out into the rain with her.
What was he going to do? And how had things gone from riotously optimistic and heatedly erotic to this hell in a matter of, really, just a few minutes?
“Aaron?” Becca set the cat down on the floor, where it arched its back and hissed at Mavis, who responded by retreating back under the bed. “You do understand her stay here is very conditional.”
Aaron realized he had no choice. He didn’t have the means to make any decision other than the one his own sister was foisting upon him. If she chewed another pair of shoes, could he really send Mavis back? It would break his heart, but what alternative did he have, really? Even though he wished Christian would ask him back to his place, even if it was just for a short while, he realized they didn’t really know each other. He couldn’t blame the man for not suggesting it. But he could blame his romantic, prone-to-love-at-first-sight self for wishing it were so.
Sometimes life presented hard choices, and this was one of those times. Already, he was separating himself from Mavis in his mind, thinking reassuring thoughts like She’ll be okay. She’s a great dog—like the cutest dog you could ever imagine. A little, cuddly, stuffed animal kind of dog. Someone else will snatch her up like that, I’m sure. He imagined pulling her from beneath the bed and handing her over to Christian, asking, maybe begging, that he take her back to the shelter and see that she get placed with a nice family or, even better, a sweet gay couple who would treat her like the daughter they never had. His breath caught and his eyes stung. He didn’t want to cry in front of either his sister or Christian. One would be sympathetic, pitying even, and he didn’t think he could bear that. The other—guess which one—would be smug and satisfied, the victor in a battle of wills.
Either way, his heart was breaking. He could lick his wounds later, alone, when the lights were off and Becca was asleep.
He was just about to get down on his knees to try to coax Mavis from under the bed when Christian at last spoke.
“I have an idea.”
Oh please. Ask me and Mavis to come live with you. Who cares that we only just met? We can make it work!
Christian gazed over at Aaron, and it was almost as though a spark passed between their eyes, indicating he had read Aaron’s mind. But if that was the case, the words he said next indicated he was not ready for such an extreme measure.
“I’m sure you do,” Becca said.
“Now just hold on, Becca,” Christian said.
Aaron noticed his voice had the same calm and confident tone he had used on Mavis earlier. This guy was some kind of wonderful.
“What I was going to propose is that I take Mavis home with me.”
Aaron’s heart leaped in both joy and despair. Joy because he couldn’t imagine a nicer home for the dog than with Christian, and despair because no matter where she was going, he would be losing her.
“Home with you?” Aaron repeated, the words thick in his mouth.
Christian ruffled Aaron’s hair. “Not forever! Don’t look so sad. Hear me out, both of you.”
Becca actually sat down, crossing her legs and leaning forward to listen.
“I’ll take her for a little while, work on her training, get her out of her shell a bit. Then, maybe when she’s ready and behaving like a perfect little angel… would you consider letting Aaron have her back, Becca?”
“I don’t know. You can’t really guarantee she’ll be an angel, now can you?”
“I have three dogs and two cats at home. They’re all angels. They’re all rescues. And I brought each of them back from their own personal hells with a lot of love, a lot of consistency, and a little discipline. So I like to think I had a little bit to do with the current state of their temperament and their manners.” He smiled, and Aaron thought if he hadn’t had a solid reason to fall in love with the man, he had one now. “So what do you say, Becca? Can we just try this out?”
Becca blew out a big sigh. Aaron knew his sister hated to concede, but he also knew she listened to reason. What Christian was proposing was a very reasonable solution. “I guess we could try it out, see how it goes.”
“But what’s in it for you, Christian?” Aaron asked. “Obviously, I can’t pay you. And it sounds like you already have a pretty full house.”
Christian scooted over a little closer to Aaron and took one of his hands, interlacing their fingers and squeezing. He made sure to grab and hold Aaron’s gaze as he spoke, making it clear that his next words were not for Becca, but for Aaron. “Oh, honey, I have all kinds of ulterior motives for doing this.” His lopsided grin broadened. “Don’t cast me in the role of some selfless good Samaritan. I have a very selfish rationale for making this offer.”
Aaron knew what it was, but his heart was warming already. He wanted Christian to say it, so he asked, simply, “What? What is it?”
“You.” He placed his other hand briefly on Aaron’s cheek, then removed it. “I see how completely you’ve fallen head over heels in love with Mavis. And I know you won’t be able to keep away from her. So, when you come see Mavis, you come see me.” He sat back a little on the bed, resting his weight on his elbows. “And that’s a pretty great benefit, in my eyes.”
Aaron so wanted to kiss Christian at that very moment, but decorum and respect for a sister who didn’t deserve it held him back. Instead he looked at Becca with completely open and guileless eyes and asked, “So, do you think that’ll work as a compromise?”
“It seems fair to me,” she said. “And who knows, maybe by the time Mavis is trained, you’ll be ready to get your own place anyway, so whether she comes back here or not will be a moot point.”
Aaron looked pointedly at Christian when he said, “Exactly what I was thinking.”
Now that a decision had been made, the three of them fell silent.
Mavis ventured out from the under the bed after a few minutes had passed, looking cautiously around her. Aaron thought her look was akin to coming out from after a storm and making sure it was safe again. Pretty much an apt comparison….
Christian stood. “Well, I think it might not be a bad idea to get Mavis back to my place, where she can meet the other residents of my little asylum.”
Aaron’s frown disappeared when Christian nudged him. “And I know you’ll want to come along, make sure she gets settled in comfortably, right?”
“Absolutely.” He grinned at Becca, who rolled her eyes, but there was something like happiness stamped across her features now that things had been resolved.
Aaron gathered up Mavis’s crate and then her few belongings, putting them in a recyclable Whole Foods bag. He set them down to pull on a hooded sweatshirt and his running shoes. At last he swooped Mavis up in his arms, holding her tight. The dog offered no resistance, and Aaron hoped that in his arms, more than anyplace else, she felt one thing—home.
“Ready?” Christian asked.
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
They started out the door. Becca crossed the room to pick up Max once more and hold him close.
Christian called out, “Don’t wait up.”
And, as if in agreement, Mavis gave a quick cheery yap.
More from Rick R. Reed
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Amid an atmosphere of crippling fear, Thad Matthews finds his first true love working in an Italian restaurant called the Blue Moon Café. Sam Lupino is everything Thad has ever hoped for in a man: virile, sexy as hell, kind, and… he can cook!
As their romance heats up, the questions pile up. Who is the killer preying on Seattle’s gay men? What secrets is Sam’s Sicilian family hiding? And more importantly, why do Sam’s unexplained disappearances always coincide with the full moon?
The strength of Thad and Sam’s love will face the ultimate test when horrific revelations come to light beneath the full moon.
Tate D’Angelo always thought he knew who his father was: beloved doctor, devoted husband and father…. Everyone at the funeral shared the same glowing stories of a kind soul. So when his father’s old college buddy, Randy, approaches him after the service, Tate expects to hear echoes of the same.
Instead, he gets a lifetime’s worth of letters that tell a different tale and cause him to view his father—and his family—in a whole new light.
The truth, about a secret romance kept buried for decades, astonishes him. Overwhelmed by grief and confusion, Tate is unsure if he can bear learning how the lives of two men entwined over the years, but he reads on anyway, discovering more to value, more to respect, and most importantly, more to love about the man who raised him.
On a bright autumn day, Flynn Marlowe lost his best friend, a beagle named Barley, while out on a hike in Seattle’s Discovery Park.
On a cold winter day, Mac Bowersox found his best friend, a lost, scared, and emaciated beagle, on the streets of Seattle.
Two men. One dog. When Flynn and Mac meet by chance in a park the next summer, there’s a problem—who does Barley really belong to? Flynn wants him back, but he can see that Mac rescued him and loves him just as much as he does. Mac wants to keep the dog, and he can imagine how heartbreaking losing him would be—but that’s just what Flynn experienced.
A “shared custody” compromise might be just the way to work things out. But will the arrangement be successful? Mac and Flynn are willing to try it—and along the way, they just might fall in love.
Includes brand-new novella, “Status Updates.”
Finding and keeping love can be a challenge in the modern world of blogging, social media, and online dating, as one man will learn in this trilogy.
VGL Male Seeks Same
Poor Ethan Schwartz. At forty-two, he’s alone, his bed is empty, and his HDTV is overworked. He’s tried bars and other places where gay men are supposed to find each other, but it never works out. Maybe he should get a cat?
But his life is about to change…
NEG UB2
Poor Ethan. He’s received the most shocking news a gay man can get—he’s HIV positive. Until today his life was perfect, with a job he loves and Brian, who could be “the one.” The one to complete him and fill his lonely life with laughter, hot sex, and romance.
But Ethan’s in for another shock. Could Brian have infected him?
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Alone again, Ethan wonders if life is worth living, even with a cat. When an old nemesis sends a Facebook friend request, Ethan is suspicious but intrigued. It seems this old acquaintance has turned his life around, and the changes might hold the key to Ethan getting a new lease on life… and love.
