2. Adam
CHAPTER 2
ADAM
“Good girl! You’re doing so well,” I coo at Drusilla.
She glances over her shoulder to give me a goofy grin—her left ear flopping with her strides as she matches my pace—then turns her attention back to the road as she runs beside me, careful not to get ahead and pull the leash. I’m impressed.
Mom’s newest rescue is a Shepherd and Rottweiler mix who was removed from a hoarder with dozens of neglected and malnourished dogs in his yard. Drusilla was just a puppy, barely weaned, when she came to Mom’s shelter, and already she’d suffered far too much. She had worms, fleas, and part of her tail was missing, probably bitten off by an older dog in the horde.
In the month and a half since Mom took her in, she’s grown by leaps and bounds. Her coat has come in thick and lustrous, and she has tons of energy, always wiggling and wagging that nubby little tail. She’s adorable and a very sweet girl with a chill disposition that makes her my favorite jogging companion.
At Main Street, we wait for the light to turn green. I run in place, while Drusilla follows my command to sit, looking dainty and desperate for a treat. Tossing her the liver morsel she’s earned, I laugh when she swallows it whole. “Try savoring those treats every once in a while, Pretty Girl.”
Drusilla yawns at me in response. When the light changes, and I stride forward, her excitement gets the better of her, and she darts ahead, tugging a little. I give a little tug back, reminding her who’s controlling the pace. She takes the hint and slows to be at my side.
We jog past the courthouse and library, the two oldest and prettiest buildings in town. I take a deep breath of the mild morning air. Fall comes late to Texas, so any decrease in the temperature is greatly welcome.
The refreshing weather gives me a smile, and everything seems right with the world. But, when I turn at the corner to loop around the courthouse and head back home, it all goes horribly wrong.
Drusilla spots another dog coming our way, and in that instant she forgets all her training and darts forward to greet the other animal. I’m caught off guard as she tangles us in the other dog’s leash and runs me right into the other dog’s dad.
We collide hard, two objects in motion that have suddenly stopped. Jolted and irritated, I cuss up a storm. Of course, I don’t cuss at the dog—she’s young and learning. I’m the one to blame for not paying better attention, for not holding the leash more firmly. Then I look up and cuss for an entirely different reason.
“Fuck,” I mutter as I catch sight of the person I’ve run into. Those eyes. That smirking grin. That tousled dark hair. It’s him, the guy from the award ceremony, the one who watched me strip half naked.
Damn. He’s handsome. Up close now, I can really see his eyes, such a luscious blue. And his hair—dark curls that wave in the breeze. My heart stutters in my chest, and I say it again, “Fuck… I mean… Sorry.”
He chuckles as we manage to disentangle, and God that feels like a loss. His body felt so warm and solid against mine, and now there’s just air, crisp fall air devoid of the heat I was enjoying only moments ago.
“Looks like they’ve made friends,” the stranger says and directs my attention to the dogs. They’re sniffing each other all over and whining with excitement. An instant connection for them. Puppy love at first sight.
I look back at the man standing so close. Good God, he’s beautiful, and he just keeps smiling at me. Instant connection.
“I’m Markus.” He offers his hand to shake.
I take it. Of course I take it; I will take anything this man gives me.
“Rooster,” I say back.
“Rooster?” His brow furrows, and damn, even that looks good on him.
I smirk and use my free hand to gesture at my hair, stroking my fingers over the mohawk of auburn curls. “Like the red comb on a rooster’s head.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
Do you though? Do you got me? I’m definitely game.
For some reason, I just start talking, telling him more about myself than he needs to know. “My real name is Adam, but everyone calls me Rooster—they have since I was born. I think it’s a combination of the red hair and the fact I woke my parents up screeching to the sun in the wee hours of the morning.”
Markus laughs, a lot. God, that laugh. It rumbles through me like thunder and pours over me like rain.
I try to think of more funny things to say, but I’m lost for words. And all at once I realize we’re still shaking hands and standing awkwardly close together. Markus notices, too, retracting his hand and taking a step back.
With a commanding voice, he says, “Rufus, heel.”
My body reacts to his strong tone. My mouth waters, and shivers run down my spine as my cock nearly stands at attention. I’ve never had a thing for dominant men, but right now, I’m definitely feeling the exception to that rule.
Markus’s dog responds well too. The gorgeous pit bull mix pulls away from Drusilla and sits beside Markus. Drusilla is far less behaved when I try the same command on her, but eventually she sits with a whine.
“Rufus, good name,” I say to fill the silence.
Markus smiles in response and nods to the dog at the end of my leash. “And this is?”
“Drusilla.”
He furrows his brow and asks, “As in Caligula’s sister?”
“Uh…” Caligula’s sister? Interesting. Hot and smart. Check and check! “No, my mom is just a big Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan.”
“Your mom named your dog?”
Okay, this conversation has gone sideways. I try to right it with another wordy monologue. “Drusilla is not my dog. She’s a rescue. My mom runs a dog shelter and boarding facility on the north side of town. When I jog, I like to take a dog or two with me, to give them a chance to stretch their legs and socialize.” I glance down at Drusilla, who has shifted onto her back so she can lick her genitals while she looks over at Rufus. Uh… Shaking my head in amusement, I look back at Markus and change the subject. “So what about you? Are you named after Marcus Aurelius?”
Markus lets out another deep, rumbly laugh. The sound does funny things to my nervous system, and my cock.
“No.” His laugh turns a little wispy, like there’s no air behind it. “My parents named me Mark after the Gospel of Mark, but I like Markus better.”
Interesting. Everything about this guy is interesting.
Seeming anxious to change the subject, he turns his attention to Drusilla and gives her a toothless grin as he asks, “May I pet her?”
“Absolutely. She has a wonderful temperament.”
Markus crouches to scratch Drusilla behind the ears, both the one that stands tall and the one that flops over a little. She whines with puppy exuberance, her stubby tail swishing a small patch of the pavement clean as she works hard to keep her butt on the ground despite all the excitement.
“You’re a good girl, aren’t you, Drusilla?” Marcus coos, and she’s clearly smitten.
Drusilla tries to lick his mouth, but he expertly dodges her tongue as he smiles up at me. Jesus, he’s sexy when he’s down on his knees, doling out praise, those blue eyes staring up at me,—
Markus straightens to his full height. I’m relieved and a little disappointed at the same time. He’s a hair taller than me, and our eyes lock as we both smile, silent for a moment, just staring.
This is a new experience for me—to be so attracted to someone here in Krause. I’m well known as the only gay man in this very small town, at least the only outwardly gay man. When I’m in the mood to hook up, I drive an hour out of town to San Antonio or Austin just to flirt like this.
I like it, this notion of a local crush, and I want to explore it. I’m about to ask if Markus wants to get a coffee sometime, maybe jog together; I could give him a tour of the town. But he interrupts my thoughts when he clears his throat and says, “Well, I best be off. I need to open the clinic at nine.”
“Clinic?”
Markus nods and pats his pooch on the head. “Main Street Vet Clinic. We just opened last week.”
Of course! Markus is the new veterinarian who has all the local pussies purring. That conversation at Watts’s promotion party makes much more sense now.
“Good to know,” I tell him. “When Doc Evans retired and shut down the vet clinic, my mom had to take her dogs to Dripping Springs for shots and neutering. She fosters dogs, so it will be wonderful to have a local vet again.”
“Great,” Markus says, but he doesn’t move to leave.
Neither do I. “Great,” I mimic, and we both nod.
“Well,” Markus breaks our eye contact, looking down at Rufus and giving his head a little pet as he says, “Let’s go.” Then to me, he adds, “It was nice to meet you, Adam.”
Adam. He called me Adam. I melt from the inside out at the sound of my name on his lips. No one ever calls me by my name. It feels strange and special. Like, with him, I’m a whole different person.
“It was nice meeting you too, Markus. I’m sure we’ll cross paths again.”
“Looking forward to it,” he says to me, then clucks his tongue at his dog. Rufus springs to his feet, and the two of them jog away, around the corner and out of sight.
Drusilla and I watch them go, then Drusilla makes a little whining sound that I feel in the depths of my soul. “Same, girl. Same.”