Pet: A Governor Trilogy Novel

by Lesli Richardson

  I hug him, unable to stop my tears. Good tears, for once. “Okay. If you guys think we can make it work.”

  “Oh, we can make it work, all right.” He kisses me again, a sneaky smile creasing his handsome face. “You might get sick of the two of us.”

  I grin. “Never. I love both of you.”

  * * * *

  Once I’m out of the shower, I quickly dry off and pull on one of Nolan’s T-shirts from his drawer. It hangs almost to my knees on my five-five frame. Briefly, the thought of putting on a pair of panties crosses my mind, before I nix that.

  They won’t stay on long, anyway, if Nolan gets his way.

  Nolan nearly always gets his way.

  With both of us.

  Arlo’s news has gone a long way to helping me feel better despite my headache and the call from Bill.

  I grab my bathrobe to fight the slight chill I feel from the AC and head to the kitchen to check on dinner. After giving it a stir and flipping the chicken breasts over, I turn the electric skillet to low and start a pot of water boiling for the pasta. Nolan will arrive soon.

  That’s when a commotion in the front yard catches my ear. At first, I think it’s from one of the neighboring houses. Then Arlo walks out, wearing a pair of shorts and nothing else, and opens the front door.

  “What the actual fuck?”

  It’s his stunned tone more than his words that gets me moving. Belting my robe closed, I join Arlo at the front door. After I get a good look at what’s going on, I push past him and race outside and down our front walk.

  “Bill? What the hell are you doing?”

  My ex-husband has backed his pick-up truck into our driveway.

  Well, correction, half in our driveway, missing the back bumper of my car by maybe five inches, and half in our fricking yard.

  He’s busy throwing garbage bags full of stuff out of the bed while Lucas tries to catch them and pleads with him to stop.

  Bill finally spots me. His face is red and contorted with a rage I know all too damn well. I hate that, even this many years later, I still feel a momentary urge to cower.

  He jabs a finger at me. “You wanted him? You’ve got him. I’m done. Never should have had him living with me, anyway. If I’d known what kind of a sick freak he is, I would’ve disowned him as a damned baby.”

  Bill tosses the last bag at Lucas before jumping out of the truck bed. “Mary will be home tomorrow morning,” he says to me. “I’ll be at work. If the rest of his shit isn’t out of my house by the time I get home at two, I’m burning it!”

  He gets into his truck and guns the engine. When he floors it pulling out, his tires chew our grass and kick up a rooster-tail of dirt, leaving a black skid mark on the pavement.

  Lucas stands there, trembling and surrounded by at least a dozen over-stuffed bags. Arlo’s standing next to me now, and he stares at me like he’s trying to get confirmation that just happened.

  Good, so it’s not just me, then.

  Finally, breaking shock’s hold on my body, I walk over to Lucas and put my arms around him.

  For the first time in a long time, he doesn’t pull away after a second.

  He even hugs me back as he starts crying.

  My emotional pain from the last two years evaporates. “Oh, sweetie. What happened?”

  He shakes his head and sobs, holding me tighter. I glance over his shoulder at Arlo, who stands there now looking enraged and ready to kill. He loves Lucas. But after the last time my son threw us under the bus, Arlo swore he was done trying to protect him from Bill. Unless, of course, Bill started getting physically violent with Lucas.

  I can’t blame Arlo, either. I wasn’t the only one hurt when that happened, although Arlo is a master at being my rock and anchor and hiding his pain from me.

  He’s had a lot of experience hiding pain over the years, but I usually can see through him.

  “I’ll move his stuff inside,” Arlo says. “You get him into the house. Find out what happened.”

  Despite already being four inches taller than me, Lucas leans on me as I guide him inside. He’s near hysterics and too upset to talk as I settle him on the sofa, where he curls up on his side, his head in my lap, like he used to when he was little.

  My heart breaks for him. “What happened, sweetie?”

  He shakes his head.

  “Drugs?”

  He shakes his head even harder. No, my son isn’t stupid, that much is certain. “Bad grades?” I ask.

  He snorts. “No,” he softly says.

  Well, maybe he’s still in the AP program, then.

  “Do I have to play twenty questions with you on this?” I ask a couple of minutes later.

  He rolls over and buries his face against my stomach. “Mommy, can I please move back home?” he whispers.

  Hell. He hasn’t called me that in years. If I have a secret weak spot, it’s that.

  I stroke his hair while not daring to hope this time. Last time, my heart was shattered when he played us to get into his father’s good graces.

  Not the first time he’d manipulated us like that, either. Although that had been the worst time. Arlo’s right that, unfortunately, I can’t trust my son not to break my heart again.

  But he’s still my son. Unless he’s done something he needs to be in jail for, I’ll never turn him away.

  “Of course you can live here, sweetheart. I’d like to know what happened, though.”

  He sniffles. “Can I go use the bathroom first?”

  “Sure.”

  He gets up and disappears down the hall. Arlo walks through with another load. He realizes Lucas is gone and gives me an arched eyebrow. I shrug in return.

  “How many more bags?” I ask.

  “Three.”

  I walk outside to grab a bag, my head spinning. I know Lucas will eventually talk, when he’s ready.

  At least, I hope he will.

  Did he finally stand up to his father and call him out for his asshat behavior?

  Maybe he finally caught Bill cheating on Mary. Wouldn’t be a shocker there, considering the man never stayed faithful to me during our marriage.

  Then again, none of those would explain Bill’s cryptic comment about Lucas being a “freak.”

  Arlo walks outside as I make it to the front door. “The pot of water’s boiling,” he tells me.

  Shoot. “Oh, thanks.” I leave the bag of what feels like clothes inside by the entrance to the hallway and go dump the linguini into the pot.

  Meanwhile, I stand there in the kitchen, eyes closed, and curse Bill. He couldn’t have waited until Monday to throw this little temper tantrum, I suppose.

  Our first damn weekend together in a month, and the first overnight we can have in weeks, and Bill has to pitch a fit and cock-block us.

  Figures.

  Worse, whatever this is impacts Lucas, and that makes me want to go kick Bill’s ass myself.

  I hear the front door open and close again as I stir the noodles. Then, a pair of arms encircles my waist and a man kisses the back of my neck.

  “Helloooo, sexy.”

  I jump. “Crap!” I turn and spot Nolan’s frown.

  “Not exactly the greeting I was expecting, babe.”

  “I’m sorry!” I gently push him back and whisper, “Lucas is here.”

  “What!” I shush him and he drops his voice. “What happened?”

  I shake my head. “I don’t know. Bill just dropped him off a few minutes ago, tossed bags of his things into the front yard, and screamed that he’s burning Lucas’ stuff if we don’t get the rest of it out of his house by tomorrow morning.”

  Nolan looks ready to kill. “Bill Motherfucking Webb strikes again.” Then his expression turns sad. “No nakey Twister this weekend, huh?” A playful smile creases his handsome features. He can always make me and Arlo smile.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Arlo rounds the corner and walks into the kitchen. “She tell you?” he softly asks.

  Nolan’s
expression immediately turns angry again. “Yeah. You want to hold Bill down, or do I finally get the honors?”

  Arlo laughs and gives him a long, strong hug before they kiss hello. “I think we’ll have to flip a coin,” Arlo says.

  They break apart when we hear the bathroom door open down the hall.

  “You want me to go?” Nolan asks.

  I shake my head. “No! Absolutely not. We need you here more than ever tonight.”

  “What about—”

  “Dump your stuff in the guest room,” Arlo says. “Say they’re spraying your apartment for bugs.”

  “I’d like to spray Bill with pesticide. From the inside out.”

  Both men look ready to laugh when Lucas enters the kitchen. The men quickly school their expressions.

  Lucas notices Nolan. “Hey. Didn’t know you were here.”

  “Just arrived.” He clears his throat and glances at me. “They’re spraying my apartment this weekend. Zoey and Arlo offered to let me hang here with them.”

  “Cool.” Lucas leans against the counter and looks at the floor. He always has liked Nolan. He’s known Nolan as long as he’s known Lucas. Like a bonus dad to him, in many ways.

  I turn up the heat on the skillet, on the chicken and veggies, to finish them off. At least we’ll have enough for dinner for all of us.

  “You ready to talk?” I ask my son.

  Lucas takes a long time to build up the courage. I read it in his face, the way his jaw tenses and works. It surprises me when he looks at Nolan to deliver his announcement. “Dad can’t accept who I am.”

  My eyebrows arch. “Honey, would you care to be a little more specific?”

  The things Bill Webb cannot accept about other people covers a large enough swath of land it could be turned into a national park.

  His voice drops as his gaze lowers. “He walked in on me with someone this afternoon. Mary was still at work, and he came home from work early. I didn’t think he was going to be home until eight tonight.”

  He scratches at his right eyebrow, where a stainless ring pierces it. He got it a few months ago. I’m not happy about that, but I’ll never say anything about it, either. It’s not a battle worth fighting right now.

  “Your dad threw you out because he caught you with a girl?” I ask.

  Now I’m really confused. I could understand Bill possibly reading him the riot act out of parental responsibility. Especially if the girl is younger than Lucas. Even Bill isn’t that out of touch with common sense. Although, to be honest, I’d expect Bill to be an ass, probably grin and give him an attaboy.

  But to throw our son out and disown him?

  Especially when the sonofabitch can’t keep his own goddamned pants zipped?

  Really?

  Lucas takes a deep breath. He speaks so softly I almost don’t hear his next words. “He didn’t catch me with a girl.”

  Arlo, Nolan, and I all exchange a glance with each other. Lucas looks up, first to Arlo, then Nolan, then me. “He caught me with Caine.”

  I blink, stunned into silence. I need a moment to figure out the best thing to say in response.

  Laughing isn’t an option, even though I honestly feel like it. Lucas is upset and would mistake the reason behind it and not understand it is relief.

  “Let me get this straight,” I carefully start. “Your dad threw you out…because he found out you’re gay?”

  He nods as tears well in his eyes.

  I step forward and pull him into my arms as he starts sobbing. Both men instinctively step in, enveloping us in their embrace.

  “It’s okay, baby,” I whisper. “We love you. It’s okay. You’re safe. You’re finally home, where you belong, and we love you.”

  I close my eyes and fight my own tears as he sobs in my arms. Of all the bombshells Lucas could have dropped on us, being gay isn’t even in the same ballpark of what I consider “bad” news.

  Does it make me a shitty, petty person that inside I’m silently doing a touchdown dance? Because it likely means Bill will never again take my son from me.

  I know it makes me petty to wish I’d known this years ago, so I could’ve used it then to get Bill to disown Lucas.

  I’ll own that pettiness, except you need to understand how much heartache this boy has brought to me and Arlo because of his father manipulating him.

  Yet I still love Lucas, because he’s mine. We both nearly died when he was born, and I will absolutely give thanks to any powers that be if Bill Motherfucking Webb is finally out of our lives for good.

  Lucas cries for several minutes while we maintain our group hug. Eventually, he sniffles and steps back, the men also releasing us. Nolan hands Lucas a wad of paper towels, which he gratefully accepts.

  I don’t miss the look the men exchange. This will change our plans, and not just for the weekend, either. Exactly how remains to be seen. Regardless, I thank god I insisted Nolan spend the weekend anyway.

  While I’m open-minded and not the least bit upset by my son’s admission, I have no practical experience being a gay man. At least Nolan and Arlo can help guide him, even though Lucas doesn’t know that yet.

  I sigh. “Let’s sit down and eat. Then we can talk after dinner. Okay?”

  Lucas nods, looking for once like my little boy and not the almost-man he’s become. He opens a cabinet and starts pulling out plates without any prompting from us.

  The three of us exchange another shocked glance.

  Lucas setting the table without being asked?

  Wow, he really is upset.

  * * * *

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  Other Titles

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  https://tymberdalton.com/newsletter/

  Writing as Lesli Richardson:

  The Bleacke Shifter Series:

  1) Bleacke’s Geek

  2) Geek Chic

  3) A Bleacke Wind

  4) Bleacke Spirit

  5) A Bleacke Christmas

  6) Geek-Speak

  7) Bleacke Expectations

  8) Bleacke Moments

  The Great Turning Series:

  1) The Great Turning

  2) The Great Turning: Into the Turn

  3) The Great Turning: Future Ages

  Governor Trilogy:

  1) Governor

  2) Lieutenant

  3) Chief

  4) Yes, Governor

  5) Pet

  Determination Trilogy:

  (A stand-alone trilogy set in the same world as the Governor Trilogy.)

  1) Dignity

  2) Diligence

  3) Desire

  Devastation Trilogy:

  (A stand-alone trilogy set in the same world as the Governor Trilogy.)

  1) Dirge

  2) Solace

  3) Release

  Inequitable Trilogy:

  (A stand-alone trilogy set in the same world as the Governor Trilogy.)

  1) Indiscretion

  2) Innocent

  3) Incisive

  Devout Trilogy:

  (A stand-alone trilogy set in the same world as the Governor Trilogy.)

  1) Sacred

  2) Profane

  3) Penance

  Maxim Colonies:

  1) Jailmates

  2) Farborn

  3) Saudade

  Of Boardwalks and Bison

  Cross Country Chaos

  Poly

  Her Vampire Obsession (Midnight Doms Series)

  “His Vampire Morsel” (All Souls’ Night: A Midnight Doms Anthology)

  How Many Times Do I Have to Say I’m Sorry? (Maudlin Falls 1)

  Fierce Radiance (Space Confederation 1)

  Acquainted With the Night

  Coming Soon:

  Deviant Trilogy

  Her Vampire Viking

  Do I Or Don’t I? (Maudlin Falls 2)
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br />   Stubborn Fates (Space Confederation 2)

  Lesli Richardson is better known by her more prolific Tymber Dalton pen name. Please check out her website for more info on all her titles under both her pen names, including full book and series listings, trivia, character information, and more.

  http://www.tymberdalton.com

  About the Author

  Author Lesli Richardson, who is better-known by her more prolific wild-child Tymber Dalton pen name, lives in the Tampa Bay region of Florida with her husband (aka “The World’s Best Husband™”) and too many pets. She writes a wide variety of heat levels and genres, from mainstream sci-fi all the way to scorching ménage.

  The USA Today Bestselling Author (as Tymber) and two-time EPIC award winner is a part-time Viking shield-maiden in training who loves to shoot skeet and play D&D with her friends. She’s also the author of over one hundred and sixty books and counting, including The Reluctant Dom, Cross Country Chaos, Her Vampire Obsession, the Bleacke Shifters series, the Governor Trilogy, the Determination Trilogy, The Great Turning Trilogy, the Suncoast Society series, the Love Slave for Two series, the Triple Trouble series, the Coffeeshop Coven series, the Good Will Ghost Hunting series, the Drunk Monkeys series, and many others.

  She lives in her own little world, but it’s okay—they all know her there.

  She loves to hear from readers! Please feel free to drop by her website and sign up for her newsletter to keep abreast of the latest news, snarkage, and releases.

  Honest reviews are always welcomed. They help with a book’s visibility and can boost its placement on book retailer sites. Even a few lines about what you felt reading the book will help. Thank you so much, it’s greatly appreciated!

  Newsletter: https://tymberdalton.com/newsletter/