28. ANGUS
Chapter twenty-eight
ANGUS
“He loved it. It was a great idea, guys, and it’s so gorgeous.
” I scratched North and South under their chins, and they leaned against me.
I knew they would have to be released to be with the other raccoons at some point, but I kind of hoped Eion would let me keep them as pets.
Maybe we could make them a little enclosure or something.
After all, it was these two that brought us together.
When I got my fill of the kits, I headed back to the trailer and started dinner.
ANGUS
A fancy meal is waiting for you at home.
EION
Finishing up with the sheep, and I’ll be there. What did you make?
I laughed. As I dumped the Hamburger Helper packet into the pan. It was within my power to give him anything he could ever want for dinner, and we were going to have a box dinner.
ANGUS
Cheeseburger macaroni.
EION
Can’t wait.
Before long, Eion came into the trailer. Without stopping, he pulled me against his chest and kissed behind my ear. “Missed you. Did you give North and South some love?”
I crumbled some hamburger over the dog’s food. They started to eat, but Barnaby kept an eye on Eion. “I did. Do you think we could make them pets?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like an enclosure where I can still love on them and pet them as adults. I don’t think I would ever want to give up spending time with them.”
He stood behind me the whole time, his hands on my hips, while I stirred the pot of food. “I don’t see why not. We need to do some research, but I know that people have them as pets or semi-pets all the time. We could make them a place to still be wild animals and keep their bond with you.”
I took our dinner off the heat and then spun around in his arms. “Yaaaaaaay!” That made me happy, but everything with Eion made me happy.
It had been a long couple of days, and it was nice to sit down with our simple meal and relax a little.
I was happy with how the event went and assumed Eion was too.
“I know yesterday was hard for you. It wasn’t long ago that you would only grunt or communicate in single words.”
He took a forkful of food and smiled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“My bad, I must have imagined it.” It didn’t matter anyhow because I had a much better version of him now.
After cleaning up the kitchen, we sat on the sofa and looked at the articles about the event that my mother had sent to both of us.
Eion and I had become a very domestic family.
Ramsey got up and stretched, then walked over to the door, breaking me out of my thoughts.
Usually, I let him go out on his own, but I had an idea. “Want to go see the sign in the dark?”
“Hell yeah.” Eion wore pajama pants with flamingos on them, no prosthetic, bare chest, and his hair was still a little damp from a shower.
God, he looked delicious. I wanted to rub all over him like a happy cat.
When I looked at him, I could feel my heart beat erratically.
I wasn’t sure if I could have some sort of heart attack from desire, but if it was possible, it would happen to me because of Eion.
Hand in hand, we went to the front of the Sanctuary.
The sign was gorgeous in the dark. Orlando stood proudly on one side.
Spotlights were on the words perfectly, with a rainbow of colored lights around the base.
I was glad I could find a company to build something based on the picture we supplied and then expand on it, because they did an amazing job.
“It really is gorgeous, isn’t it?” I said as we stood there, arms around each other’s waists.
“It’s one of the nicest gifts I’ve ever been given. Thank you for arranging it, and I will reach out to West for sure. He’s a good friend to you, and has really taken me in as part of the group.”
“I’m glad you all get along. It would suck if you didn’t. Do you still want to have dinner with my mother tomorrow? She wants to discuss numbers.”
“Sure. And dinner with The Dapper Duck gang on Sunday?” He looked at me and smiled.
“Yeah. Is it weird to you that we are— Normal? Settled? Domestic?”
“Even though you didn’t say it well.” He bumped my hip.
“Short answer is no. I didn’t think I wanted a relationship.
I certainly didn’t believe in having a person, and I never saw myself wrapped up in someone that made my life better, but you have changed all those things.
” I wrapped him up in my arms and hugged him as tightly as I could. “I love you.”
We both froze when we heard, “Come on, that was fucking hooking, get your head out of your ass, ref.”
“You heard that right?” I looked over at him.
“Yeah. The thing is, you and I are the only humans here. Maybe it was the wind?”
“Bullshit. Walter, did you see that shit?” That wasn’t the wind. We walked past the trailer and up the path to where Walter was. Across the pasture, someone was on the ground in a sleeping bag, their face illuminated. Walter lay next to them.
“That’s Zachary,” I whispered. “Why is he sleeping in one of our pastures?”
Eion shrugged next to me. “Do you know anything about where he lives?”
“Not really. From my interactions with him at the bar, I know he gets as many hours as he can. Everyone says he is nice, respectful, and customers always have compliments for him. And he immediately took all the hours we offered him, willing to sacrifice hours there to be here.”
I didn’t know if we should pry into his personal life and question why he was here. It was clear he planned to spend the night with the alpaca. “Could we offer him the other trailer? I’m not sure why he is here, but there has to be a reason.”
Eion kissed me on the side of the head. “This place is becoming a part of you as much as it’s part of me.
You don’t have to ask about something like that.
” Butterflies took off in my belly. I was glad he saw how much I loved the Sanctuary, and I wanted to make it something special to help as many animals as we could.
I looked at our human friend with some of our woolly ones.
“I’ll go inside while you talk to him. I don’t want him to feel overwhelmed. ”
Eion was right. The two of us together would be pretty imposing.
I knew I was scary at work, but after the last few days, I hoped he realized I wasn’t the guy who was the bar's main security.
Even though I had reminded him that I found Eion and the animals more important than bar patrons.
I opened the gate and walked toward the back corner of the pasture where he was camped out.
“Hey,” I said as casually as I could manage.
Zachary looked up. “Whaaaaaatsss upppp?”
“I can’t help but notice you are camped out with my alpaca.” Now that I was closer to him, I could see he had a cooler and a little lamp. It was obvious he intended to spend the night right there.
“Yeah. Right. About that. Walter wanted to watch the game.” He smiled at me, as if that were something I would, of course, find logical.
“Well, after the game, if you want to sleep in the travel trailer, you can.”
“Oh? You sure?”
“I’m absolutely sure.” I smiled. Eion had lived in the trailer for years. I was sure it would be more comfortable than the pasture.
“Why are you being nice to me? You gave me this job, you share your lunch at work, and I know you put in a good word with West to get a schedule that works with my hours here. Plus, you are paying me way too much for what I do with the animals. Which I love, by the way.” He blushed.
“I mean, the animals. I love the animals, not being paid too much. That’s a perk, but Walter here is a great friend. ”
I was surprised by his question. I’ve always been a nice person, but a lot of people didn’t see it because I was so non-social.
As an adult, I was more sensitive to humans and their feelings, maybe because of my childhood.
I’d worked hard to be a different person on the outside, but on the inside, I was still a sensitive kid with an eating disorder, which I struggled with every day.
I tried to answer as honestly as I could.
“It’s because you are a good guy. I was impressed with how you treated my friends and the customers at the bar.
I knew you had a big heart, or I would have never trusted you with our animals. ”
He gave a small smile. “Thanks. I might go to the trailer. And you can call me Zach. It’s what my friends call me.”
“Okay, Zach. Have a good night.” I walked away more confused about why he was out here than when I approached him, but he knew he could go inside if he wanted.
When I entered our trailer, the only light on was in our bedroom. I’d really like to have a house, though. This is nice, but it’s tight. I planned to call my buddy in the morning. “Baby?”
“Back here, Sexy.” I locked the door and headed back.
When I entered the room, my gorgeous man was completely naked and spread-eagled on the bed.
He had his head on the pillows, and his cock was so hard that it didn’t lie flat on his stomach.
He was breathtaking. Without a word, I pulled off my pants and underwear.
“Well, hello there,” I said as I climbed up his body, my lips on his chest and shoulders.
We wrapped around each other, and the heat of his skin made me happy.
I let my fingers dance up and down his chest, the hard muscles over his stomach, then flattened both my hands and rubbed over his Adonis belt, which pointed toward his solid cock.
He grabbed my wrist, stopping me from going further. “Before you short-circuit my brain. Did you talk to Zachary?”
“Yeah. I told him he could sleep in the trailer. There is something up, but he didn’t share any more details. He and Walter seemed happy, but he also had a cooler with him. He was there for the night, such a sweet guy, and Walter seems to like him too.”
“Walter has always been a little shy, but they seem to have bonded. The Sanctuary is a special place.” He wiggled a little, and I shivered.
“Yeah. We can talk more about Zach tomorrow. I’d like to know what has him coming here to sleep. Now I’d like to take you before we pass out”
“I support this plan,” he said. His mouth covered mine, our tongues hot and slick, fighting for control. The heat between us was intense, and we easily lost ourselves in each other.
The sun wasn’t up yet, but there were animals to be fed, and we were going to have dinner with my mother tonight.
I made breakfast burritos for Eion and me, then pulled up the cameras.
We hadn’t seen Zach’s jeep when we were out front looking at the sign, which made me wonder how he got here in the first place.
When I checked the camera by the medical building, I could see a light on in the trailer.
He was apparently still here, so I made a few more burritos.
Before I walked out, I left a note on the food telling Eion I would be back shortly and to eat if he wanted to.
With breakfast in hand, I went to talk to Zach.
When I knocked on the door, he opened up, still sleepy. “Oh. Hi. Morning.”
“I brought you some breakfast.” I handed him the burritos, and he smiled.
“Thank you so much.” Then he started to cry. This was unexpected, and I had no idea what to do about it. So I sat quietly while he sobbed. We weren’t that close, and I’d never dealt with a man this upset that I didn’t have some sort of personal connection to.
“Is there something I can do?”
“No. You are so nice. I. Nobody. You are so nice.”
“Thank you?” That was the best I could come up with.
“I’m sorry. Not that long ago, I broke up with a guy who was terrible to me, and then my current roommate was supposed to be a working professional, like an office worker or nurse.
The guy is nothing more than a frat bro.
He parties all the time; his buddies are always there, and they are rude, messy, and loud.
It’s every single night. I’m getting no sleep, and I keep finding random people in my bedroom having sex. I’m trapped.”
All of that sounded terrible. I remember what Eion said last night, and I hoped I wasn’t about to overstep. “You could rent this place. It’s not much, but it sounds better than where you are.”
“Really?” The hope in his eyes made me want to cry. It was such a small offer.
“Yeah. How much are you paying for rent right now?”
“I pay eleven hundred a month.”
“Well, it won’t be that much. Let me talk to Eion. And unless I am mistaken, it’s going to get busy around here, too. Maybe we can give you even more hours in exchange for housing.”
He started to cry harder. I let him get it out. Eventually he started to sniffle and gave me a wonky smile. Nothing else needed to be said. “Eat your breakfast. You can bring your stuff over whenever you want. Where is your car?”
“Um. Three of my roommates' buddies had me blocked in last night, and I couldn’t take my Jeep, so I found another way here.”
“Oof. Do you need a ride?”
“No. I have someone picking me up. Thank you.” He looked like he might cry again.
“Okay. I’ll let you know on rent.” I walked away before the tears returned.
I found Eion dressed and scrolling through his phone.
I filled him in on the situation with Zach and his roommate after his breakup.
He agreed to let him rent the trailer, and we came up with a fair amount.
I was glad we could help him out, since he seemed like a good man trying to get back on his feet after a bad relationship.
With Barnaby on Eion’s heel, we headed out to feed.
Of course, I went right to the boys because I was addicted to the furry little guys.
When I looked up the path, I could see Zach was already out with Walter.
They were so cute together. I’d let him enjoy his time with his friend and text him later.
Before I entered the nursery, I stopped and looked around. “How am I so lucky to have this life?” I said to the universe.