7. EION
Chapter seven
EION
Standing in front of Orlando again, I wasn’t proud.
Being around Angus short-circuited my brain, and the only way that I could handle it was to walk out on him.
It was a perfectly normal conversation until he asked if it was a date.
He wasn’t wrong; the picnic, the deer, the cubs, all made it feel like a date.
I had been comfortable with it being a date. Until he asked.
When I left the nursery room, I was afraid he would see exactly what he did to me.
The way Angus looked today made him easily the hottest man I had ever seen.
The vest under his sports coat held his body tightly, the color perfect.
I couldn’t form words because all the blood had gone to my dick.
I had to stand there and pray he didn’t see how hard I was—it felt obvious.
I couldn’t recall a time that someone had affected me like that.
Not even my ex-fiancé had that kind of effect on me.
There would be a time I’d have to share that I wasn’t someone he’d want in his life.
But for now, I had to admit this felt good, and having someone want to spend time with me was something I didn’t realize I had missed.
It had been a long time since I was interested in someone.
There was something about Angus that got a rise out of me in all the best ways.
“I did it again. Walked out. There is going to be a point where he won’t tolerate it.
” I looked at Orlando and hoped he would tell me it was okay.
I pulled up the camera feed, and he sat in the nursery, his raccoons in his lap.
Watching him with those babies made my already excited heart beat even harder.
He was a good man. “Orlando, I like him.” The giraffe pushed against my head, which I decided was his way of telling me to keep going, or maybe he was telling me to quit running away any time I got nervous around him.
Barnaby was leaning his head against my leg, trying to calm me.
I took another look at my phone, and he was gone.
Sitting on the table were bags of dried fruit and a plastic container, which I assumed were the treats for the animals.
He kept bringing stuff for my menagerie, which was amazing, but he also thought of me.
Barnaby circled around my legs, clearly sensing my rising anxiety.
“You seem to like our visitor. Now I have to get my shit together before I run him off. Why do I find this so hard?” Both animals looked at me like I had lost my mind.
It didn’t stop me from continuing the conversation, though.
“Did you see him today? Holy shit. Hot, sexy. I’m not too proud to admit to you both that he made me incredibly thirsty. ”
Remembering how he looked brought my cock back to life. Nobody has captured my body’s attention like this man. Ever? Usually, big muscles didn’t do it for me, but something about how he carried himself made me feel like he wasn’t a gym bro. Those muscles were his armor.
In the nursery, I picked up the fruit, and a Post-it note was attached.
I’m looking forward to our date!? On Tuesday. Here is my number: 989-313-1726. Let me bring something, or text me any time you want, for any reason.
He gave me his number. I took the treats and, mindlessly, gave Barnaby a bit.
Then I headed back to Orlando; he deserved a snack after listening to me rant.
The giraffe gobbled up the granola bar and nudged at me for another one.
“No more. Should I call him?” He nudged me again.
Did that mean yes? I’ll text him and thank him for the fruit.
Then I had a better idea. I returned to the nursery.
I took a picture of North and South. They were cuddled tight, both of them snoozing happily.
I didn’t bother telling him who the message came from. The picture made it clear.
EION
They are happy kits.
Then I attached the picture. About three minutes later, I heard my phone notify me of a message. Very few people texted me, so I knew it was Angus responding to the picture I had sent him.
ANGUS
Tell them Daddy says Hi.
Attached was a selfie at just the right angle, a smile on his face, cocked head, and raised eyebrow. The picture didn’t do him justice, but my memory filled in the blanks, which made him just as sexy.
“I’d call him Daddy,” I mumbled to myself.
Even though we seemed to be around the same age, he had a daddy vibe.
My thoughts were getting out of control, but there was no way he didn’t clock how I responded to him earlier, plus the picture of him looking sexy as fuck was not for the raccoons.
I shook my head. What was wrong with me?
These thoughts were totally out of character, but Angus was making me think things, and he knew exactly what he was doing—at least I hoped he did.
I saved the picture because I would look at it many more times.
EION
I’ll let them know
With my chores finished, I took a breath and realized I was feeling happy. It wasn’t something I had felt in a long time, and a big reason for that was because of the hot guy—I needed to stop thinking of him like that—who was sweet and kind. Somehow, he had pushed himself into my life.
At the end of the day I sat at my little table, and took another look at the picture Angus had sent me.
When I saw it, I smiled way too much. I turned the screen toward Barnaby, and he sniffed at it, then at me.
“What do you think?” He woofed softly and returned to his dinner.
I allowed myself to admit how much I looked forward to our ‘date’.
Fortunately, I had the animals to serve as my wingmen, and I knew he liked them.
The following morning, I made sure to get all my chores done, then went home to make the food for our picnic.
I wasn’t sure what he liked to eat, but decided on a chicken pasta salad, some fruit, cheese and crackers, some sandwiches, potato salad and for dessert, lemon bars.
I also added a bunch of other things, like cheese squares and a store-bought dip.
It was hard to cook in my tiny kitchen, but Angus deserved something special.
It had been a long time since someone mattered enough to make a meal for them.
Definitely before the accident. I didn’t want those memories to ruin my day, so I pushed the thoughts away.
Angus would find out the truth soon enough, but tomorrow I could pretend that a guy liked me and I was whole.
I went to bed plenty early so I was ready for Angus when he got to the facility.
I’d never taken time off since I bought the land and started the Sanctuary, which made all of this new but I was excited.
Angus usually arrived around 11:00 a.m. It felt a little stalkerish, but I watched the camera as my heart beat double time.
I wiped my hands on my jeans and hoped I wouldn’t embarrass myself when he arrived.
When he pulled up, I was glad he couldn’t see me because the way I smiled was over the top.
“Okay, here we go.” I looked at the little bear cubs whom we would come back to shortly.
“Y’all are my buffer. It’s up to you to keep me from making a fool of myself.
Because I don’t know how to do this.” They blinked at me.
With a deep breath, I headed toward the nursery, and when I saw him, little bolts of lightning rushed through me.
Why did he make me feel this way? It was a little ridiculous since I was a grown man of a certain age.
I hardly knew Angus, but there was something about him.
He was already taking North and South out of their cage.
Holding the two raccoons against his chest, he turned around, hitting me with a huge smile.
The dress shirt he wore had the top button undone and fit perfectly.
He wasn’t wearing his usual beat-up jeans, and the ones he had on showed off his assets.
Immediately, my body reacted to how he looked.
I prayed my own dark jeans hid it from him.
“Angus.” Okay, not the strongest opening, but at least it was a word, and it proved I knew his name.
He chuckled a little. “Eion.”
“I liked the picture you sent.” Oh, for fucks sake, why did I say that?
“I couldn’t help but notice that you appreciated my work uniform when I stopped by the other day.
” He was direct, which made me feel seen, and I liked it a lot.
Somehow, I knew that I would never have to wonder when it came to Angus.
To me, he was brave because many people weren’t willing to be honest. I knew I was blushing.
“A little bit.”
“I’ve noticed how you look a few times, too. If that helps at all.”
Without looking, I knew my neck and cheeks got red.
“It’s nice to hear.” I walked over to the love seat and hoped he would follow.
Per usual, words were not available. How was it that Angus so easily rendered me speechless?
It wasn’t only the fact that all the blood in my body was rushing to my cock either.
Being near him made me feel like a puddle of goo.
“They are getting big? How long will they be in the nursery?”
“Six.”
“Six weeks? Six months?”
“Months.” I was now sounding like I was unable to talk in full sentences, but the concept of stringing words together had escaped me. He held back a smirk and cocked his head at me. And for the moment, it was better than leaving the room.
“Oh, okay. I’d like to see the enclosure they will live in. How many other raccoons do you have?”
I pointed to one of the other cages. Three more kits were there now. “More.”
He looked where I was pointing, then squealed.
Plopping his raccoons on my lap, he bounced over to the other cage and started to babble through the bars.
The way he looked at me caught me off guard, and I got a little lost. When he gave me a soft smile before a big grin, I knew my heart skipped a few beats. “Can I take them out too?”
“Yes.” The irony that when he got nervous, he talked too much, and when I got nervous, I could hardly speak, was not lost on me at that moment.
He gathered the three new babies in his hands and knee-walked back to the couch, where he managed to sit back down without using his hands.
Once he rearranged, he was tight against me, our thighs and hips touched.
All I could think about was the heat of his leg against mine and how there were only a few millimeters of fabric between our skin.
My brain locked onto the feel of his thigh muscles flexing.
“Have you given them names yet?” The fact that he asked me made me laugh. I hadn’t named them because I knew he would want to, and it was kind of his thing now.
“You.” Okay, I needed to get my shit together.
I turned around and walked out of the room.
This time, only going into the breezeway, where I paced back and forth, I couldn’t figure out how I ended up tongue-tied again.
I wasn’t normally a big talker, but this was ridiculous.
The way my body responded to him wasn’t helping.
He was hot, and I wanted to do very dirty things to him, like lick his abs and nuzzle along that V-line I knew he had hidden under those clothes.
I bet those muscles would look amazing covered in my come.
I needed to stop those thoughts and get my mouth working.
“Eion?” I spun around.
“Hi.” I watched as he walked over to me slowly, his hands up like you would approach a scared animal.
The urge to drop to my knees and beg him not to laugh at me was strong—the things I could do when I was down there.
He continued to advance toward me, then held out his arms toward me like he wanted a hug.
“Come on. We can’t have a date because we are unable to talk. ”
I moved toward him, and he closed the few extra feet between us.
He wrapped his arms tightly around my torso, and his head rested on my chest; immediately, I felt comforted and started to relax.
The only way I could describe the feeling was that it felt like coming home.
Angus was a little shorter than I, but he was where he was meant to be. Without thought, I pulled him tighter.
“This is nice.” He said, his voice muffled against my shirt. I agreed wholeheartedly. It was very nice. He leaned back and looked up at me. “Want to come pet raccoons with me before we have lunch?”
I let out a slow breath. “I’d like that.
” I was so proud of myself for forming a sentence.
He ran his hand down my arm to my wrist, then turned back toward the nursery.
He didn’t let go of me, leading me back to the nursery.
The raccoons were tucked in the corner of the couch.
Angus had made a wall out of blankets so they wouldn’t fall off.
He sat next to the makeshift nest and pulled me down with him. We were now even closer than before.
“Okay, here are North and South.” He set them on my lap. “What are the genders of these three?”
“These are three ladies.”
He gave me a giant smile. “I know what we will call them.” The fact that he said we made me feel a certain way, which wasn’t unpleasant. I couldn’t help but grin back at him.
“What will we name them?”
“Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche.”
I laughed. “Perfect.” Angus cuddled against my shoulder while we played with the five raccoons. I could stay there all day with this sweet man. I relaxed and enjoyed the moment. Barnaby came wandering into the room.
“How long have you had Barnaby?” My buddy put his head on my leg, and Angus put his hand on my thigh.
I choked, and Angus looked at me, concerned.
“I got him on my birthday, so I’ve had him for four years.
I can’t imagine life without him.” Barnaby licked one of the kits, which made us laugh.
All the tension I had carried for years started to drain out of me, and a sense of peace that I hadn’t felt since I was a kid flowed through me like a river.
There was something about Angus, and I wanted more of it.