Chapter One
CARTER
I crackedmy neck and the tension gave way. It had been a long day. Between an emergency surgery, back-to-back appointments, and barely time to inhale my caffeine hit let alone chew my sandwich, I was ready to head home.
I looked around my consultation room, ensuring everything was in place. While the cleaning staff would be by after the clinic closed, I still had a particular way of setting up my space. Lauren always laughed about me being anal-retentive, but I was far from it. Okay, admittedly not that far from it. I was just organized and liked everything in order.
I closed the door behind me as I entered the small hallway that led to the reception area just as the woman who liked to tease my ass stepped out of another room. “Hey, you heading home too?”
She pulled the door closed and smiled. “Yep. It’s been a long day.” She wasn’t wrong. We’d both come in for the emergency surgery at four that morning after receiving a call from a distraught dog owner. Her pet Labrador had eaten a sock, so she’d rushed him in. His intestine was unsurprisingly inflamed and close to rupturing, so I’d had to perform abdominal surgery to remove the blockage.
Having Lauren by my side giving me a helping hand made the morning go that much faster, and more importantly, as the best nurse on staff—not that I was biased or anything since she was my friend—it meant that the surgery went perfectly. It was a huge relief. It also meant that I was ready to pick up some food, as I was too bone-tired to cook, and then head home to eat before collapsing in bed.
We walked out together, waving and saying goodbye to a few more staff milling around. I yawned as I reached the car. “Geez, I feel like just crawling inside and sleeping in the car.”
Lauren snorted. “I get it, but get your cute ass to bed. If not, you’ll look like crap tomorrow.”
I grunted. It hardly mattered these days if I looked crappy or not. There was no one to look good for, no one to appreciate any effort I might make. Heck, even shaving seemed like a chore. Life outside work had been nothing but stale and admittedly nonexistent since moving to town six months earlier. I couldn’t see that changing anytime soon.
She threw me a wink when I rolled my eyes. “What?” she added.
I shook my head in answer.
She grinned, seeming to understand my silence when she wriggled her brows and she said, “You never know, there could be a sex god just waiting around the corner to sweep you off your feet.” She paused at my look of disbelief. It seemed she’d read my “as if that would ever happen” expression. “Stranger things have happened.”
I scoffed, a genuine smile chasing it. “Here, in this town?”
She pursed her lips as if considering her response. When she didn’t say anything, I answered for her. “Yeah, thought not. If you hadn’t noticed, there’s hardly a line of guys walking around the place waving the rainbow flag.”
It was Lauren’s turn to roll her eyes at me. “Well, with that attitude—”
I laughed. “Honestly, Lauren, it’s nothing about attitude. It’s the reality of the town.” I shrugged as nonchalantly as possible. “And that’s okay. Most of the people are… nice.” And they were. The rumor mill had churned about my move and appointment to the local veterinary clinic, but I was relieved that my sexuality, while often spoken about in hushed whispers, hadn’t impacted on my work or standing in the community.
It sounded ridiculous even thinking that. I’d relocated from a city, and from a strong and large gay community. Acceptance had become my norm, even though that hadn’t always been the way. But my new reality was Kirkby. It was only a small town of about eight thousand. It was a place where people tended to know everyone else’s business. They damn well knew all about me, my late grandfather whose house I’d inherited, my sexuality, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if they knew my exact height, weight, and social security number.
Lauren considered me a moment, not quite convinced I was being honest with her or myself. Admittedly, I wasn’t quite convinced either. Maybe me being at peace with my place in town, my bachelor status that I didn’t envision changing anytime soon, was a more accurate explanation of how I felt. “Hmm… well, I’ll see you tomorrow. We’ll also head out for a drink soon.” She blew me a kiss and then headed toward her car. “Bye.” She waved her hand above her head.
I watched her go and called out, “Good night.” When she was behind her steering wheel, door closed and engine running, I got in my car and made my way to the pizza place. Another night with pizza for one. I sighed. At least it would give me leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
Chapter Two
TANNER
It hadn’t beenan easy move, though it was one of necessity. Work was slowly picking up, which was a huge relief, but it didn’t quite extinguish the flicker of anxiety that would light in my chest whenever I thought of the added responsibilities on my shoulders. I had to make this move a success.
It was easy over the years to be a selfish prick. Having only myself to look out for meant I could go anywhere I wanted, be anyone I wanted, and happily do anyone I wanted. It meant the last three months had been a huge fucking shock to my system.
I was still at that difficult impasse of having guilt gnawing my stomach whenever I wished I was anywhere but here, yet never regretting for one moment my decision to head to Kirkby.
I looked around at the white picket fences and the tree-lined street I was pulling out of. I begrudgingly understood why Davis had chosen to relocate and stay in such a town. It was quaint and full of the sort of charm that evolved naturally over generations of families looking after the place and having a community that stood together.
It was one thing I’d noticed since making the decision to relocate permanently, after I’d realized just how much Davis was struggling. The whole community had rallied around him, offering what I was sure was genuine support and honest murmurs of regret. But I’d known that Davis needed family, and it just so happened that I was it. While we weren’t technically brothers, Davis had been my best friend since we were four and we were as close as brothers could be. We’d been through everything together, so with this new twist in his life, there was no way I would abandon him. We were the only family we had left, along with the recent addition of my niece.
So I’d packed up my business, put my house on the market, and headed out to offer what support I could. I wasn’t quite convinced about what help I was actually giving, as what the fuck did I know about babies, other than they screamed, slept, and shit? Literally the threes’s. But still, I tried and had since taken the additional responsibility of being Davis’s only support system.
I stopped at the crossroad and eyed the bar at the corner, but thought better of it. Davis would be crapping bricks if I didn’t get back. Libby was teething, so I knew she was having difficulty sleeping and was keeping them both up at night. Snorting, I shook my head as I pulled out safely and continued to Davis’s. At some point over the past three months we’d created this whole new domestic routine. It involved a huge amount of tag-teaming, not only for helping out whenever I could with Libby, but for making sure I gave him a break after I’d finished work. That and being his shoulder when he thought he’d lose his mind. It worked. Now.
When I’d first moved, I’d made the mistake of living with him and Libby. As much as I loved them both, it was far too fucking much like domestic bliss, without the added benefit of banging someone I loved or having a partner who was a tidy fucker. It had been years since Davis and I had shared space. We’d lived together after school and had made it work. Things had seriously changed since then. Back in the day, we’d been out virtually all the time, usually partying and fucking. We hadn’t cared if the place was tidy, or if the laundry or dishes were done. Our new situation was so different, and since we’d quickly discovered that, I’d taken on a rental just a block away so I was able to step in as a good brother and favorite uncle rather than something that had been too close to husband for my liking.
