Strays and Lovers

by John Inman

  Eddie draped his arms over Gray’s shoulders and buried his lips in his hair.

  “Please tell me you love me back, Gray. I’ve waited so long to hear you say the words.”

  Gray lifted his head and found Eddie’s mouth with his own. From the midst of a kiss, he muttered, “You know I love you back.”

  Eddie eased free from the kiss, aching to be swallowed up by those eyes he loved so much.

  “Will you stay, then?” he whispered, while his pulse hammered behind his eyes and his entire body shook from a sudden infusion of hormones or nerves or something.

  Again Gray nodded. This time he scooted forward in his chair and ducked in close to press his lips to Eddie’s throat. He tucked his fingers under Eddie’s belt and held him firmly in place. Eddie loved the sensation of being captured. Trapped.

  “Are we really lovers now?” Gray breathed. “Or am I just another one of your strays?”

  Eddie grinned. “You were never one of my strays. Until you came along, I was the only stray on the place. I was the one who was lost. I only ever found myself because of you. And yes, we are lovers. From this day forward. At least until I get on your last nerve and you kick me out.”

  “Dumbass,” Gray muttered. “I can’t kick you out. It’s your house.”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  Gray lifted his handsome young face and peered at Eddie through eyes that had misted up again. Eddie let himself sink happily into their depths. A moment later, as if pulled together by invisible strings, they leaned in for one more kiss.

  “Old man,” Gray whispered over Eddie’s lips.

  “Little shit,” Eddie whispered back.

  Chapter Nine

  TO EDDIE’S joy, he and Gray settled easily into a relationship neither had thought they would ever find. Time slipped by, and in his happiness, Eddie hardly noticed.

  Gray came to love the old upright piano. More days than not, he sat peacefully at the keys, filling the house with music for the first time in years. Every time he played, one or two cats would lie across the top of the old upright, enjoying the vibration of the piano wires inside and purring softly to the music. More than once, Eddie smiled to see them there.

  April drifted into May and the cast came off.

  Gray returned to work at the hardware store while Eddie resumed management of the refuge.

  In the first two weeks of May, six cats and seven dogs were adopted out to loving homes. The extra money from the adoptions eased Eddie’s financial worries a bit, and thanks to Gray going back to work, having a second income in the household didn’t hurt much either. Gray no longer had to walk into Spangle to go to work. He borrowed Eddie’s Jeep.

  During the final two weeks of May, four more pets were adopted out, including the last two guinea pigs. Of course, by this time a whole new battalion of homeless creatures had also arrived at the refuge to take up residence and make themselves available for adoption. Added to the roster were several stray dogs, two separate litters of unwanted kittens, and a pot-bellied pig who answered to the name of Rosemary. Gray and Eddie fussed and cooed over each and every new arrival.

  Louie stopped growing because he had pretty much achieved his adult weight, which was fourteen pounds, give or take a Milk-Bone or two. At some point during the course of his adolescence, Louie had decided he was head honcho of the Desert Sky Pet Refuge and had taken to strutting around like he owned the place. Gray and Eddie let him. It was no skin off their noses.

  The rest of Eddie’s personal pets plugged along quite contentedly, the only difference in their lives being they now had two doting masters to shower affection on them instead of one. Old Chester began a love affair with Madame Ovary, but it petered out quickly enough, thank God. The humans in the household were tired of hearing Madame Ovary screaming in the throes of passion every night. Eddie was amazed. Who knew the old tomcat could still be such a Romeo? After the affair, poor Chester went downhill fast. Suddenly he could barely drag himself up and down the stairs. Still, he seemed to snicker to himself now and then as he lay catnapping on the windowsill, as if reliving his brief but spectacular affair. For that Eddie was pleased. Everybody needed a few amorous exploits to look back on in glee.

  Having worn poor Chester to a frazzle, Madam Ovary cast her roving eyes on Leo, the gray-and-white tabby. She really was a most incorrigible slut. But at the Desert Sky Pet Refuge, during those last few days of May, even Madam Ovary didn’t hold the patent on matters of the heart.

  Love was on Eddie’s mind as well. All kinds of love. And as Gray opened up to him a little more with every passing day, offering Eddie even more of himself to fall in love with, Eddie slowly began to realize there was something missing. Not in the way he and Gray interacted with each other, but in Gray himself. In the way he thought about things. In the way he lived his life. So Eddie began to make plans.

  Out of the blue one day, he announced, “We need more business.”

  Before Gray had a chance to wonder what had happened to suddenly make Eddie so motivated, Eddie had chosen the first day of July to hold a belated grand opening celebration for the refuge. A flurry of activity ensued. He shot fliers out in the mail to everybody in a twenty-mile radius. Since Spangle, California, wasn’t exactly the social hub of the known universe, the invitations were met with considerable excitement by the local residents. After all, other than Tuesday Night Bingo at the Spangle Methodist Church, there wasn’t much else to do. And since Eddie promised a complimentary barbecue, everyone eagerly awaited the chance to cop a free meal.

  Once the invitations had wormed their way through the Spangle postal system and RSVPs began rolling in by the truckload, Eddie excused himself one Saturday morning and took off in the Jeep. He was gone all day and well into the night.

  It was almost midnight when he snuck back into the house through the back door, only to be confronted from the top of the stairs by a naked Gray with sheet wrinkles and bedhead. He didn’t look pleased.

  “Where the hell have you been?” Gray demanded.

  Eddie jumped. “Nowhere.”

  “What were you doing?”

  “Nothing.” Eddie’s eyes lit up. “You do know you’re naked, right?”

  “Who did you see?”

  “No one. Did I ever mention I really like you naked?” Silence lasted for the space of about six heartbeats while Gray continued to glare down the stairs. Gradually, he stopped looking quite so angry.

  “Well, if you like me naked so much, why don’t you come up here and show me?”

  Eddie stopped shuffling his feet. He had already given up looking guilty. He grinned and started pulling off his shirt.

  “Say. Where did you say you’ve been?”

  “Out,” Eddie answered, licking his lips in anticipation of things to come even while he reached for the banister. Gray’s hand slid across his chest, and down below, his sleepy cock began to nudge itself awake.

  “Oh, well, that’s okay, then,” Gray droned with little or no inflection. Clearly his mind was already on something else.

  Halfway up the stairs, Eddie kicked his way out of his jeans, and since he wasn’t wearing any underwear, that ended the conversation right there.

  LUCRETIA HAD joined them on their evening stroll, so Eddie and Gray walked slowly. Dusk was settling in, and the first cool breeze of the day began to roll across the desert hills. With a yip, Louie and Fred stormed off the game trail and dove into a clump of chaparral. A covey of quail exploded into the evening sky, flapping away in twenty different directions, raucously complaining as they soared off into the sunset. Louie and Fred ran around, leaping and snapping, trying to catch them in midflight. Gray chuckled at their antics.

  Eddie smiled too. He held Gray’s hand as they walked along. On his other side, Lucretia stayed close, rolling along with her awkward three-legged gait, regally ignoring the other two dogs. She had her favorite chew toy in her mouth and her masters at her side. In her eyes, all was right with the world.

  Eddie couldn
’t have agreed with her more.

  “That breeze is heaven,” Gray sighed. He edged a little closer so his shoulder brushed against Eddie’s as they walked along.

  “What’s that smell?” Eddie asked.

  “Skunk,” Gray answered. “Let’s hope the dogs don’t make it mad.”

  “No kidding.”

  They topped a rise and on a dual gasp, stumbled to a stop. Laid out before them were a million acres of high desert, sloping away to a hazy horizon painted in the watercolor blue of approaching night. Between where they stood and the horizon, splashes of wildflowers dotted the hillsides in whites, yellows, greens. A long streak of orange denoted a seam of California poppies gracing the desert floor. Overhead, the stars were popping into view one by one. Sprinkled through that smear of cobalt blur in the distance, the lights of the San Diego skyline sparkled like a string of diamonds on a shadowed breast.

  Gray’s hand wormed its way more securely into his. Eddie rested his head on Gray’s shoulder as they stared out at the end of another day.

  Gray cleared his throat and quietly asked, “Are you still falling in love with me a little bit more every day, like you once told me you would?”

  Eddie was touched, wildly pleased that Gray still remembered Eddie saying that so long ago.

  “I’m afraid it was all wishful thinking,” he said now. “My love for you filled me up from the very beginning. Stuffed me right to the gills. Ever since then I haven’t had room for any more.”

  Gray twisted his head around and planted a kiss in Eddie’s hair. “Well, that’s a bummer.”

  “Indeed it is.” Eddie snaked an arm around Gray’s waist. “How about you? Are you still happy living with an old man? Before you answer, let me remind you that I’ve had to make a few concessions myself in putting up with you and your insufferable youth.”

  “Oh really. And what concessions might those be?”

  Eddie thought about it. “Well, for one thing, you’re horny all the time. Sex, sex, sex. That’s all you young blades ever think about.”

  “Hmm. Who says ‘blades’ anymore? And besides, I always thought my preoccupation with sex was a plus. After all, how many guys your age have the good fortune to get laid ten or fifteen times a week?”

  Eddie gave a grunt of agreement. “You’re right. It is a plus. Sorry. Bad example.”

  Gray snuggled closer. “While we’re on the subject, did I ever tell you how much I love the way you make love?”

  “You love the way I make love?”

  “Yeah. I love your body too. As old as it is.”

  “You’re teetering on the brink of an insult. Be careful.”

  Gray laughed. “I do love your body. And I love the way you hold me in those warm, sexy arms of yours after we make love. Do you know what word always crosses my mind when you hold me like that?”

  “No, what?”

  “Burly.”

  Eddie snorted a laugh. “So you like burly guys, then.”

  “I love burly guys.”

  Gray stepped back, easing himself from Eddie’s embrace. Every smidgen of laughter had fallen from his face. In the growing darkness, his remarkably pale eyes had gone the color of smoke. Their beauty all but took Eddie’s breath away.

  “I never thought I could be this happy, Eddie.”

  “Neither did I,” Eddie gently agreed.

  Gray’s gaze slipped away from Eddie’s face, but just for a second. After a brief scan of the horizon, it quickly returned. “I’m sorry I don’t have more money so I can help you with the refuge.”

  Eddie cupped Gray’s chin between his thumb and forefinger. Gray dipped his head to kiss the palm of his hand, but still he looked worried.

  “You do more than your share,” Eddie said. “You do. You work your job at the store, and then you come home and work for me at the refuge. You chip in on the groceries, you help with the animals, you make me happy. On top of all that, you find time to fuck like a bunny. What more could you possibly do?”

  “Thank you,” Gray murmured softly. “I even like the bunny remark.” Once again, he turned to face the horizon and stare out at the string of city lights sparkling in the distance. They were brighter now that the darkness had deepened. After a brief span of silence between them, Gray edged closer again. He slipped a hand under Eddie’s shirt front to splay his fingers over Eddie’s warm stomach and moved them idly through the hair there while Eddie tried not to purr like a cat.

  “Eddie?” Gray whispered.

  “Hmm?”

  “Do you ever wonder how our story will end?”

  Eddie tucked in his chin to look down and study Gray’s face. He could see the shimmer of starlight reflected in Gray’s eyes.

  “Why would you think about that?” Eddie asked.

  Somewhere out in the bushes, Louie gave a yip. He must have flushed a mouse.

  “Because,” Gray answered, “everything good always comes to an end.”

  Eddie stroked Gray’s cheek. He pushed the hair off Gray’s forehead and planted a kiss on the bridge of his nose.

  “No it won’t,” he said. “Not this time. I won’t let what we have ever end.”

  Gray blinked, watching him. “You promise?”

  “Yes,” Eddie said. “I promise. Do you believe me?”

  The silence once again flowed in around them. Eddie could almost imagine Gray’s thoughts spinning in the stillness, trying to decide if Eddie could really do what he swore he would. Finally, a tiny smile played at the corners of Gray’s mouth. He stepped closer and dropped his head to Eddie’s chest.

  “Yes,” he said breathlessly. “I believe you.”

  “Good,” Eddie smiled. “That’s good.”

  Together, they stood in the growing darkness. Gradually, their attention was once again drawn to the gemlike string of lights glimmering in the distance. Somewhere between here and there, a lone coyote howled its plaintive song into the desert night. At their feet, Lucretia whimpered in response.

  “Let’s go home,” Gray murmured.

  “Home,” Eddie echoed. “My favorite place in all the world.”

  “Mine too.”

  With his fingers tucked in Gray’s back pocket to keep him close, Eddie followed Gray back down the trail with Lucretia, once again clutching her chew toy, lumbering along at their heels.

  Neither spoke a word all the way home. But there was joy in their silence.

  THE DAY of the belated grand opening for the Desert Sky Pet Refuge began with one of those tangerine dawns that Eddie loved so much. The sky colors promised a day that would be hotter than usual, but Eddie didn’t care. He was accustomed to desert heat. Eddie was excited about the upcoming party, and even more excited about the special surprise he had planned.

  Since he’d promised the locals a barbecue, he hired Josh and Blaize to work the grill. It was probably not the smartest move he’d ever made, but he still felt guilty about firing them back in the spring, so he thought this would give them a little extra money for the summer. And since the menu only consisted of hamburgers and hot dogs, how much of a mess could they make of things?

  With party time drawing near, Eddie found Gray brushing his teeth at the bathroom sink. Eddie presented him with a new western shirt he’d bought as a gift. Gray tried it on and checked himself out in the mirror.

  “Now I need a Stetson and boots and a horse and a pair of six-guns and spurs and a lasso.”

  “Oh, hush. And wear your good jeans. I want you to look nice today. I ironed them, by the way.”

  “You ironed my jeans? Holy shit! Is the pope coming?”

  “Stop it.”

  “You’re acting awfully strange lately.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Fine. You’re not.” Gray studied his reflection in the mirror. He fluffed up the collar on his brand-new shirt. “When did you buy this?”

  “Remember that time I disappeared for a whole day and half the night? I bought it then.”

  “You know, you never
did tell me where you went that day.”

  Eddie gave a mysterious smirk. “No, I guess I didn’t.” Then he turned and headed through the bathroom door.

  “Asshole!” Gray yelled at his back.

  “Just wear the shirt today and don’t forget your good jeans. You’ll look nice.”

  “Fine!”

  “You can thank me later.”

  “Thank you for what?”

  Eddie merely smiled and kept on walking.

  EVEN EDDIE didn’t expect so many Spangleites to show up for his little wingding. Cars were parked up and down the county road out front because the driveway had filled up hours ago. The crowds milled around the refuge, checking out the kennels and dog runs and cat condos out back. Then they meandered around to the front of the house to line up for free food. Plates full, they stood in clusters jabbering up a storm and scarfing down hamburgers and hot dogs doled out by Josh and Blaize, both looking extra chummy, which pleased Eddie a lot. Blaize had even eased up on the goth look since the days when she worked at the refuge. Now she simply looked like a prettier-than-average teenage girl. Josh was still achingly handsome and clearly crazy about the girl flipping burgers at his side. Eddie took a silent moment to wish them well before heading off to mingle with the rest of his guests.

  Ruth and Tommy had taken up residence on Eddie and Gray’s back porch, their laps piled high with food. By commandeering the back porch, they had also managed to hog most of the shade and the only two decent lawn chairs on the place. Eddie supposed that since they were considerably older than everybody else, they deserved the comfort.

  Ruth tackled Eddie as he walked past. She waved her hands in the air, taking in the crowd. “You two boys did well for yourselves. It’s quite a turnout.”

  “Must have cost a fortune,” Tommy groused in the chair beside her. At least, that’s what Eddie thought he said. The truth was, Tommy had so much food stuffed in his mouth, he might have been reciting the Gettysburg Address for all Eddie knew.