Ryder:I told Brooke about the shelter, so when they’re ready to adopt, they’ll probably head over there. They asked about you and the calendars. I told her about how brilliant you are at the photos and planning and all.
Lucas:Brilliant, huh? Idk about that.
Ryder’s thumbs hovered over the screen. He wasn’t used to this type of flirting. This already felt like more than any casual relationship he’d ever had before. He could tease, brush it off, or say what he really felt. The thought both thrilled him and felt more dangerous than heading to a call with no idea what lay in front of him.
Ryder:Yeah, brilliant. And more patient than I deserve, maybe. It might take time to figure things out, Luc, but I want to. I want you. You don’t have to respond. Just know I’m thinking about you.
He stared at the message a second longer before hitting send.
Ritz padded into the room and came to sit down next to him, his chin resting on Ryder’s knee for scratches. Ryder buried his fingers in the golden scruff around his neck. “You like him, right, Ritzy? Lucas, I mean,” he qualified, as if the dog could really understand him.
His tail thumped once, and his mouth opened in his adorable doggy smile.
Still lazily petting his dog, Ryder leaned back against the couch cushions and closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure where this was going or even if it was possible to fit a real relationship into his busy, unscheduled life. For the first time, however, he wanted to try it and see. Lucas was worth the effort, and he could only hope he was enough in the end.
Chapter 11
Lucas
Lucas took another sip from his mug of cocoa before setting it back down next to his laptop. With a few clicks, he adjusted the position of the photo on the social media marketing graphic. Ryder’s ambulance partner, Eva, smiled down at a chocolate lab. Their hair looked almost the same color, and the lighting didn’t even need much tweaking.
He’d almost finished the calendar itself, so he had to push for more pre-sales online. There were a few more pictures to edit, some captions to write, and the shelter’s website to finish updating. Greta had been super busy blasting social media and working with the police, firefighters, and EMTs' chiefs to match their efforts.
The final layout opened slowly, and Lucas grumbled about his need for a better computer for the hundredth time. Another sip of cocoa soothed his mood, even though it wasn’t really hot anymore. He closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and checked the clock at the corner of the screen.
Ryder was already fifteen minutes late, but Lucas had come to understand and accept that set timelines weren’t a thing in the EMT’s world. If someone needed help, he just had to wait. After a week of near misses, reschedules, and late-night texting marathons, they finally had a free evening together.
Thankfully, neither of them was interested in fancy dates out. That wouldn’t work with Ry’s schedule or Lucas’s budget. They were going to eat cheap takeout, watch something dumb on TV, and cuddle. Maybe more.
Hopefully more. Lucas saved his work and slumped back on the loveseat cushions. After those first delicious kisses, they’d done plenty more of that, but their one attempt at going further was interrupted by Ryder’s pager going off. Lucas tried to stay patient, but he wanted the man enough to drive him to distraction.
He glanced at his phone. No new messages.
Lucas turned back to the design. The next photo needed a bit of cropping. Will laughed with that orange cat, who stared at him with a mean kitty glare. But there was one shot he hadn’t committed to using yet. It was a candid of Ryder. Taken between posed shots, he’d been looking down at a small, brown mutt with this sweet, private smile on his face.
Lucas clicked it open and stared at it for a long time. Then, with a small shake of his head and a self-deprecating smile, he dropped it onto the back cover layout.
He was reaching for his mug again when the knock on the door startled him. Lucas sprang up, nearly sloshing cocoa onto the keyboard, and rushed to open it.
Ryder stood there, big and flushed from the cold, his beard dusted with snowflakes.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, stepping in and crouching to unlace his boots. “Got called out last minute. Nothing major, but it took longer than expected.”
Lucas stepped aside to let him in. “You made it. That’s what matters.”
Ryder shrugged off his coat and hung it on the peg near the door. He pulled the station hoodie off, too, but Lucas reached out to grab it before he could set it aside, hugging it to his chest.
Chuckling, Ry pulled it out of his hands. “You can hug the real thing, you know.” He spread his arms as Lucas stepped forward, wrapped them around the smaller man, and squeezed. “Mm, that’s better.” Only loosening his grip slightly, he leaned back enough to press his chilly lips onto Lucas’s.
A tingle of want spread from that sweet point of contact, and Lucas deepened the kiss for a moment. Ryder tasted like coffee and felt like everything he ever wanted. His whiskers tickled across Lucas’s cheek.
Finally, they pulled apart and headed toward the couch. “I got subs,” Ryder said as he retrieved the bag from the floor near the coat hook. “I’m starving, and I didn’t want to have to wait for delivery.”
They settled on the couch with their sandwiches, the heat from their close bodies warming the little apartment more than the old radiators ever could. Lucas queued up some vintage haunted house movie and let himself sink into the comfort of having his man by his side. The thought –his man –danced through his head and made him smile.
Ryder had a way of filling space just by being there. It wasn’t just his size, either, although Lucas would never complain about the broad shoulders, barrel chest, and thick thighs. His presencecalmed something inside Lucas, like exhaling after holding his breath too long.
As soon as they finished the food, Lucas leaned against him, and Ryder’s arm wrapped around his shoulders like it had always belonged there.
