Freeze Frame (Lights, Camera, Love! #3)

Chapter 1

ONE

DAVID

Waldorf was a stupid name for a dog. In no time at all, I’d shortened it to Wally, which he seemed to like a lot better. It suited him more than Waldorf. Waldorf was uptight and stuffy, and Wally was a bright, happy, wiggly little dog.

Wally didn’t much care for other dogs and, according to Blue, it was because Wally had been rescued from a person who’d allegedly been running a rescue of their own. Though Wally was around a lot of other dogs, he spent a lot of time in a crate and hadn’t been properly socialized.

So, to help with Wally’s rehabilitation into the real world, we now went for a leisurely stroll past Bennett’s diner, where he’d wait nicely while I dipped inside and bought us breakfast. He was still on the skinny side, and the bit of egg and sausage I fed him seemed to make him happy.

After that, we’d continue on to the dog park where I’d let Wally off leash, and he’d just…

sit. Or walk a small circle around me and sniff the grass.

I tried toys, but he had little interest in them. Even though he wasn’t the best at knowing how to be a dog, I still came to the dog park with him every weekend. He didn’t really have an interest in anything that wasn’t me, or food, but I’d keep trying.

“I’ll give you ten more minutes of freedom, and then it’s back on the leash so we can go home.” I reached down and scratched Wally’s side. He’d spent the past ten minutes flopped over next to me, enjoying a nap. Wally didn’t respond to my ten-minute warning, and he just kept on sleeping.

“Typical.”

Wally answered that with a sneeze that roused him from his dead sleep. He shook out his fur and looked around. Then all at once he was on his feet and going at a dead run toward another dog.

“Jesus, Wally.” I stood and walked toward him, where he was sniffing the other dog. It was of a similar size, but it had short hair and was clearly some sort of dachshund-terrier mix.

“Sorry,” I said to the owner as I got closer. “He’s normally the most antisocial dog here. I didn’t expect him to shoot over toward your dog like that.”

The owner was a little taller than me and built like a willow tree, all long lines and elegant movements. “It’s no problem. Nitro had a bad start and doesn’t usually get along with other dogs.”

“I could say the same about Wally.” Now that I’d recovered a little from the shock of seeing Wally want to interact with another animal, I remembered my manners.

“I’m David, by the way.” I extended my hand and the stranger took it.

His grip was firm and his hand was warm and softer than anything I’d ever felt.

“Josh. And the four-legged one is Nitro.”

“Wally. My dog. Sorry, I’m still a bit floored. I’ve been trying to get him to even look at another dog with interest ever since I got him.”

“It’s the same with Nitro. He’s a great little dog, and I don’t regret being talked into adopting him, but he’s pretty shit at being a dog.”

“Wally too. He was a rescue from some place that was supposed to be a rescue. They said he probably spent most of his time there in a kennel.”

Josh lifted his gaze from where our two dogs were play-wrestling on the grass, growling softly the way dogs did when they were happy with their game and unserious about it. Wally was on his back, and Nitro had him pinned.

“Rescue?”

“Yeah, he was a gift. I’m supposed to take him to see the vet in a week or so for a checkup to see how he’s doing. I guess there was some kind of bust and they seized a bunch of animals from the same person. Mostly cats and dogs.”

“You know, I think our dogs must have known each other. Nitro is from the same place. A friend works for the vet who did all the intake stuff the night they got seized and he convinced me that I should go look at the dogs.”

Josh looked at the pair of idiots who were now tangled up in a pile, sleeping. Oh, to be a dog that could fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

“Wally normally ignores other dogs. Until now, he’s had no interest. They say he’s probably five years old, and they also say that his lack of socialization is probably the product of being treated the way he was for a long period of time.

He doesn’t really know how to be a dog,” I confessed, feeling like a bad dog-dad because I couldn’t fix years of trauma with a few belly rubs and a spot in my bed.

“Nitro is learning. But I take him to doggy day care when I’m on the job, and they’ve done a lot of work with him there. It’s a bit pricey, so I can’t do it much, but he seemed to come out of his shell a bit.”

Did I have the money for doggy day care? Not really. But it sounded like a good option. As I mulled over the pros and cons of it, another idea struck me.

“We could bring our dogs here to hang out again.”

Wally let out a sneeze that startled Nitro, and they started to wrestle all over again. “I mean, they seem to really like each other.”

“Yeah.” Josh rubbed at the back of his neck.

A bit of a tattoo poked out from under his shirt sleeve, but I couldn’t see enough of it to tell what it was.

“Even at the doggy day care, Nitro didn’t bond with the other dogs like this.

He was friendly but aloof, and he spent a lot of time doing his own thing.

The staff tried their best, but they can only do so much. ”

Josh was clearly younger than me, definitely around Jax’s age.

There were other techs who worked at the clinic Blue did, so it wasn’t like he had to know Blue, but Josh was the kind of good-looking man who could make a killing in the adult industry.

I know Jax did well for himself, and so did Blue.

Part of me was curious, but it didn’t feel like there was a polite way to broach the subject.

“We should set up a play date for them.” Wally sneezed, as if in agreement.

“Oh, bless you, Wally. That was a big sneeze,” Josh said, smiling at the way our dogs continued to wriggle and interact with each other.

“He does that a lot. I’m going to ask the vet about it during his checkup. But I’m sure it’s not contagious. He’s done it since I got him.”

“What do you think, Nitro? Do you want to hang out with Wally again?” The fact that Josh asked his dog was endearing as fuck.

I didn’t normally look twice at younger people, but Josh held himself like someone who had seen some shit.

It sounded corny, even to me, but his eyes were older than his obvious age, and they seemed to be scrutinizing my face.

I’m not sure if he found what he was looking for, but he did smile at me again. “I think Nitro would like that.”

“Well, Wally is obviously on board.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

I didn’t give my number out on a regular basis, and I felt rusty and clunky as I handed him my phone.

“Text yourself and we can arrange a doggy play date. And hell, if you’re in a tight spot and need a dog sitter, I’d be happy to have him. ”

“That’s really generous of you.”

He grabbed my phone from me, and I had to wonder why I was disappointed when his fingers didn’t brush against mine when he took it.

Clearly I needed to get out more. I’d keep that to myself, though.

Jax would never let me live it down if I admitted that it wouldn’t kill me to go on a date some time.

It had been a couple of years since my last attempt, but as far as Jax knew, it had been even longer than that.

But there were some things a man couldn’t talk about with his kid, no matter how great and open-minded his kid was.

Being Jax’s dad had taught me a ton of shit about the world.

I’d never planned on raising a queer kid, but when Jax came out to me I’d done everything I could think of to show him that he was loved and accepted.

It started with educating myself on how times might’ve changed since I was a kid, experimenting with inquisitive friends. And some of their brothers.

After he’d come out to me, I’d come out to him.

He asked why I hadn’t dated any men, and it was then that I had to admit I had, but on the down-low.

Men I dated weren’t out because I wasn’t out.

It didn’t seem fair to date people who were out and proud, when I was just trying to raise my kid and get through the teen years in one piece.

Besides, some of the men I’d dated left much to be desired.

Unlike Jax, who had great taste in men. He certainly didn’t get his taste from me.

He must have found a couple of four-leaf clovers or something because the men I’d dated were…

Well, let’s just say the dates didn’t go well.

It was probably an indication of how long I’d been single that I ached for even the slightest of contact, but I didn’t want to make shit weird. When he handed my phone back, I took it without giving in to the urge to brush my fingers against his.

The war I fought inside about touching someone’s hand had me wanting the earth to open up and swallow me whole. But I must have managed to hold it together outwardly because Josh didn’t seem to notice how fucking awkward I was being.

I’d been out of the dating scene for so long I was no longer sure if I was awkward because of that, or awkward because I was naturally not a smooth person.

I was a quiet kind of guy who told bad jokes and who never saw a disaster movie he didn’t like.

The cheesier and the more unrealistic the better.

I wasn’t the kind of guy who went to dog parks and left with the number of a hot stranger in his phone.

Josh’s phone pinged, and he pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. “Sorry, I’m on a bit of a tight schedule today.” He bent down and scooped Nitro up into his arms and snapped a leash back on him. “But you’ll call me, right? About the dogs?”

The hope in Josh’s voice prompted me to do something I seldom did. I made him a promise.

“I will. I swear.”

Josh’s face lit up and my stomach did a flip-flop when he smiled at me. Nothing but pure sunshine came from his expression.

“I’m going to hold you to that, David,” he said, then glanced at the time again. “I really have to go.”

“Go. Don’t let me keep you.”

“I just can’t believe Nitro got to reunite with one of his friends. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.” Another phone alarm went off, and Josh took a step away. “Sorry. That’s my final warning.”

“We must obey our technological overlords.” I wanted to die. I wanted an asteroid to come barreling down through the atmosphere and strike me dead where I stood. That was, I did, and then Josh laughed, and I knew I’d make an ass of myself all over again to hear that sound.

Even after he’d gone, Wally and I stayed in the park for a while, and the sound of Josh’s laughter and the memory of him smiling at me prompted me to snap an incredibly cute picture of Wally—because my camera roll didn’t already have three thousand dog pictures by now—and send it to Josh with a note that said Nitro’s new best friend.

Wally can’t wait to see him again. And if I was eager to see Josh again, I left that part out.

There was no way someone young and hot like him would be interested in someone as old as I was. But a guy could dream.