by N. R. Walker
“No, we weren’t laughing about the brownie. He just made a joke,” I explained lamely.
She handed me the bill. I read the bottom amount. Jesus. “It’s not funny at all.”
She finally cracked a smile. “No. Next time, keep your edibles out of reach of the kids, okay?”
“They weren’t our drugs,” Griffin mumbled. But they kind of were, in the end; K had given it to us. But Griffin looked genuinely hurt by her words. “We love him” he said softly. “Dane’s a real good dad and I’m… well, I’m like a dad to him too, kind of. Well, I want to be. And we wouldn’t hurt him. In fact, he’s so spoiled, it’s not even funny.”
I put my arm around his waist. “It’s okay,” I told him. “She said he’s gonna be fine.”
I think she realised then that we were together, not just two young guys who were irresponsible with drugs.
“I put it on the coffee table and I shouldn’t have. It was stupid.”
I kissed his temple. “He’s fine,” I reassured him.
The first vet appeared again, this time holding Wicket. A smiling, eyes half-closed, stoned Wicket.
I snorted and Griffin almost laughed. “Is he…?”
“Baked?” the vet asked. “Yes. It was only a small dose, but so is he. He’ll be fine. It will run its course and he should be back to normal by morning. Don’t leave him unattended tonight though. He might feel safer in a box, not somewhere he can hurt himself if he falls, okay?”
We both nodded and she handed him over. I took him and Wicket thumped his tail lazily, still grinning. Still stoned.
Griffin gave him a cuddle but he laughed. “This isn’t funny. But, oh my God, his face.” Then he rubbed my arm. “Let’s get him home.”
Griffin decided in the car that Wicket might feel better, safer, in his own home, and I had to agree, so we went back to my place. I laid Wicket in his bed and he zonked straight out, but I stood there and watched him for a little while. Griffin stood behind me and put his arms around my waist and kissed the back of my neck. “Is he snoring?”
I chuckled. “Yep.”
“I’m really sorry I put it on the coffee table. I should have told K no or just thrown it in the bin.”
I turned in his arms and wound my arms around his back. “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t feed it to him. He stole it.”
“But still…”
I leaned up and kissed him softly. “I love you, Griffin.”
His eyes shot to mine. He blinked, then he slow-smiled. “Really?”
I nodded. “Yes, really. It’s what I wanted to tell you earlier. Before Wicket ate the brownie. It’s what I’ve wanted to tell you for ages, which is crazy because we haven’t really known each other for that long, but I reckon I knew from the second you sent me that selfie of you and Wicket. I looked at that photo and I knew this man would change my life. And my mum said she knew she’d marry my dad the day she met him, and K said today that he loved Bernice the second he saw her, so it might be crazy, but it doesn’t mean it’s not real—”
He took my face in his hands and kissed me. Soft and sweet, but deep and tender, until we were both breathless. He rested his forehead on mine and met my gaze. “I love you too. It’s not crazy. God, it’s perfect.”
I laughed and kissed him again. “And I think Wicket would love to have you as his other daddy.”
He laughed and traced his fingers down the side of my face, taking in every detail. “Finding him that day was the best thing that ever happened to me. Because then I found you.”
“Finders keepers?”
“For always.”
Chapter Seventeen
TWO YEARS LATER
Dane
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So I had this great plan. Well, it was great in my head, and everyone else thought it was pretty amazing, but what Griffin would think of it, I had no idea.
Okay, so maybe I had a pretty good idea that he’d say yes. Otherwise I wouldn’t be asking. But taking on a new puppy was a huge responsibility, and if we were partners in life, it was probably something which I should consult with him about first. But then it wouldn’t be a surprise, and I wanted it to be a huge surprise. I wanted to watch his face when he first saw the gorgeous brown eyes and her soft, floppy ears. She was a tiny little mixed breed, white and brown, with the softest fur I’d ever felt, and her long lashes owned me from the second I saw her…
God, this could all go horribly wrong.
He’d moved into my place not long after Bernice had put her house on the market. She got out of hospital and agreed to finally give in to K’s affections and she moved in with him. Griffin moved in with me. We still kept in touch with Bernice and K—this whole grand plan of mine had actually been Bernice’s idea first. It was her suggestion in a ‘wouldn’t it be funny?’ way that planted a seed of the idea in my head.
And I hadn’t planned on doing it so soon, but a quick search of the local animal shelters later, and I found the perfect little girl to join our family. I arranged a pre-forever-home meet with Wicket to make sure they were compatible, and of course they were. And then I had to wait a week while she had her final vet checks and immunisations, which gave me a few days to plan.
And oh God, this could all go horribly wrong.
“You know it won’t,” my mother said. And Bernice and K said. And Griffin’s parents said. And his sister. And my brother. And Li. And God, had I asked everyone?
Yes, Dane. Yes, you did.
I told myself to breathe. This would all work out. Stop being so damn nervous.
I put the box under the park bench, then ran across the car park, opened the door, and slid onto the back seat of Bernice and K’s car. We’d parked away from the bench, waiting, watching, keeping a very close eye on the box.
“You told him two o’clock?” Bernice asked.
It was five to two. “Yes,” I replied, my stomach in knots. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
“No, you won’t,” K said. “It’ll be fine.”
I tried to breathe.
“You told him to meet you where he first found Wicket?” Bernice asked.
“Yes!”
K took Bernice’s hand across the centre console. “He’ll be here. God, you two are as bad as each other.”
Bernice let out a shaky breath. “I just want to know if he got the right message.”
The right message. Yes, I’d sent him a text telling him to go to the car park at the national park and that I’d meet him there. He had the day off and so had I, but I’d told him I only had the afternoon off and that I’d meet him here. We could go for an anniversary hike. He could bring Wicket with him and it’d be like an anniversary tradition because we’d gone hiking on our last anniversary too.
God, even my thoughts were rambling.
Then his car pulled into the car park, close to the bench. A second later, his door opened and Wicket jumped out and Griffin followed.
Oh God.
Wicket ran off and sniffed around the grass and Griffin stretched, then fixed his shoelace. He looked around, he checked his phone, he gave Wicket a pat.
Jesus, Griffin, will you look at the box already!
Then thankfully Wicket sniffed his way over toward it. Griffin followed him but sat on the seat and didn’t even notice the box.
“Bloody hell,” Bernice whispered. “If it were a snake, it’d have bitten him.”
My stomach twisted even tighter. At this rate I wasn’t even going to be able to speak.
But then Wicket focused on the box. He pawed at it, then barked, and finally—finally—Griffin noticed it.
He slid it out from under the seat, then obviously thought twice about what could be in it. Okay, so maybe watching the movie Seven last week hadn’t been such a good idea. He stood back from it like it could possibly have a severed head in it, but Wicket tried to nose his way into the top. Griffin pulled him back and held him in his arms well away from the box.
Then he heard it. The faintest little
puppy-cry.
Griffin snapped his head around, then stared intently at the box.
“Get ready,” K murmured.
Oh hell…
Holding Wicket with one arm, Griffin reached out timidly and lifted the flap of the box, then stood up straight and put his hand to his mouth. He put Wicket down and reached inside the box.
“Go, Dane,” Bernice hissed. “Go now.”
I got out of the car and started to run across the car park. I needed Griffin to be distracted, to not see where I ran from, and when I got close enough, I slowed to a walk.
Griffin was holding the tiny puppy like it was the most precious thing in the world. The look on his face took my breath away.
Or maybe that was from running. Or the nerves.
“What you got there?” I asked.
Griffin jerked his head up, and he smiled when he saw it was me. He was too preoccupied to realise my car wasn’t here. “Look at what I found!” He gently stroked her little head. “Who would just dump a puppy? What kind of monster would do that to something so small?”
Okay, God, the nerves were about to give me a stroke.
I stepped right in close and kissed him on the cheek, and for a moment, so I could catch my breath and gather my nerves, I patted the little puppy on the head too. She really was the cutest thing, and the pink collar was just too adorable.
“Oh,” Griffin said. “She’s got a name tag…”
My heart stopped beating. “What does it say?” I knew damn well what it said. I’d had it specially made. The name tag had ‘Will you marry me?’ engraved on it.
He read the tag. He blinked, and he read it again. Then he stared at me. I nodded, and when I went to one knee, he started to cry.
Well, shit. That’s not the reaction I was expecting.
“If you don’t want to, it’s okay,” I blurted out.
He held the little puppy to his chest and put his free hand to his mouth. He blubbered something I couldn’t quite understand, but then, making my heart stop squeezing, he nodded.
“Yes?” I asked, fighting back my own tears. Stupid nerves and stupid everything.
“Yes, of course, yes,” he cried.
I stood up and threw my arms around him, careful not to crush the little dog. “Thank you. You just made me the happiest man on the planet.”
He kissed me, then smiling, he pulled back and whacked my arm. “You asked me on a puppy?”
I laughed. “I asked you on the name tag.” But it reminded me about the dog. “Oh, and this is our new addition. She doesn’t have a name yet, though. I thought I’d leave that up to you.”
His eyes widened. “A proposal and a puppy?”
I laughed. “Yes!”
He started to cry again, though he was laughing and sobbing into the puppy all at the same time, so I put my arms around him and held them both. He cried and nodded. “A proposal and a puppy,” he mumbled. “It’s the best thing ever.”
“I asked your parents and they said yes. And I asked Wicket and he said you’re the second-best dad ever,” I joked.
He pulled back, his eyes red and his nose snotty. “You asked my parents?”
I nodded. “And Bernice and K are waiting in the car. They were my wingmen in case it didn’t go as planned.”
Griffin sobered. “I would never say no. I found you, remember?”
I nodded. “Well, you found Wicket.”
“Same thing.”
I snorted at that. “Kind of.”
“You’re a package deal.”
“Now the four of us are.”
His bottom lip trembled a little and he nodded again. He put his hand to my face and kissed me. “Finders Keepers, remember?”
“Always.”
* * *
~ The End
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Disclaimer: No puppies were harmed in the writing of this book
About the Author
N.R. Walker is an Australian author, who loves her genre of gay romance.
She loves writing and spends far too much time doing it but wouldn’t have it any other way.
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She is many things: a mother, a wife, a sister, a writer. She has pretty, pretty boys who live in her head, who don’t let her sleep at night unless she gives them life with words.
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She likes it when they do dirty, dirty things… but likes it even more when they fall in love.
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She used to think having people in her head talking to her was weird, until one day she happened across other writers who told her it was normal.
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She’s been writing ever since…
Find N.R. Walker at
nrwalker.net
[email protected]
Contact N.R. Walker
Website
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Facebook
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Facebook Author Page
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Twitter
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Amazon Page
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Email:
[email protected]
Also by N.R. Walker
Blind Faith (Blind Faith #1)
Through These Eyes (Blind Faith #2)
Blindside: Mark’s Story (Blind Faith #3)
Ten in the Bin
Point of No Return – Turning Point #1
Breaking Point – Turning Point #2
Starting Point – Turning Point #3
Element of Retrofit – Thomas Elkin Series #1
Clarity of Lines – Thomas Elkin Series #2
Sense of Place – Thomas Elkin Series #3
Taxes and TARDIS
Three’s Company
Red Dirt Heart
Red Dirt Heart 2
Red Dirt Heart 3
Red Dirt Heart 4
Red Dirt Christmas
Cronin’s Key
Cronin’s Key II
Cronin’s Key III
Exchange of Hearts
The Spencer Cohen Series, Book One
The Spencer Cohen Series, Book Two
The Spencer Cohen Series, Book Three
The Spencer Cohen Series, Yanni’s Story
Blood & Milk
The Weight Of It All
A Very Henry Christmas (The Weight of It All 1.5)
Perfect Catch
Switched
Imago
Imagines
Red Dirt Heart Imago
On Davis Row
Free Reads:
Sixty Five Hours
Learning to Feel
His Grandfather’s Watch (And The Story of Billy and Hale)
The Twelfth of Never (Blind Faith 3.5)
Twelve Days of Christmas (Sixty Five Hours Christmas)
Best of Both Worlds
Translated Titles:
Fiducia Cieca (Italian translation of Blind Faith)
Attraverso Questi Occhi (Italian translation of Through These Eyes)
Preso alla Sprovvista (Italian translation of Blindside)
Il giorno del Mai (Italian translation of Blind Faith 3.5)
Cuore di Terra Rossa (Italian translation of Red Dirt Heart)
Cuore di Terra Rossa 2 (Italian translation of Red Dirt Heart 2)
Cuore di Terra Rossa 3 (Italian translation of Red Dirt Heart 3)
Natale di terra rossa (Terra rossa 3.5)
Cuore di Terra Rossa 4 (Italian translation of Red Dirt Heart 4)
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Confiance Aveugle (French translation of Blind Faith)
A travers ces yeux: Confiance Aveugle 2 (French translation of Through These Eyes)
Aveugle: Confiance Aveugle 3 (French translation of Blindside)
À Jamais (French translation of Blind Faith 3.5)
Cronin’s Key (French translation)
Cronin’s Key II (French translation)
Au Coeur de Sutton Station (Fr
ench translation of Red Dirt Heart)
Partir ou rester (French translation of Red Dirt Heart 2)
Faire Face (French translation of Red Dirt Heart 3)
Trouver sa place (French translation of Red Dirt Heart 4)
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Rote Erde (German translation of Red Dirt Heart)
Rote Erde 2 (German translation of Red Dirt Heart 2)