Page 35 of Something Unavoidable

Izzy stared at it. He’d rather Keegan have handed him a live snake—and he wasn’t a big fan of anything that didn’t have eyelids.

“What’s wrong?” Keegan asked again, more firmly this time.

Izzy swallowed, then shook his head. “It’s nothing.” He reached for the phone, but Keegan lifted it away, thumbing the screen to drag down the notifications as it buzzed yet again. “Keegan,” Izzy snapped, anxiety tightening in his gut.

“Just a text in your group chat,” Keegan said as he gave it back. “I didn’t read it.” Then he bent farther to give Riley a pat. “I won’t push,” he said, not meeting Izzy’s eyes. “But whatever it is, I hope you’ll let me help.”

Izzy stared at the side of his head. He didn’t know what to do with that. This wasn’t what they did. They snarked and snapped at each other. And okay, apparently they fucked sometimes too, but they didn’t offer support.

Keegan straightened while Izzy was still reeling. He set his hands on his hips and arched his back until it popped, then stretched his arms over his head with a grunt. “Fuckin’ forty,” he muttered.

Izzy’s eyes caught on the strip of skin revealed by his lifted T-shirt hem, the delicious vee of his abs, and the reddish-blond happy trail that disappeared into his low-slung gray sweats. His gaze dipped. Keegan wasn’t wearing anything under those. Izzy’s mouth watered. How easy would it be to tug them down and get his mouth on Keegan’s perfect cock?

“Over easy or scrambled?”

Izzy froze, his dirty mind glitching as he tried to make sense of the question. Riley licking his hand brought him out of his daze. “What?” he croaked, then cleared his throat self-consciously.

Keegan looked like he was trying not to smile. He walked to the fridge and started pulling things out. “Your eggs. How do you like them? I suppose I could do poached as well. Sorry, I don’t have the ingredients for omelets. I didn’t manage a grocery run yesterday.”

Izzy stayed on the floor, stroking Riley, as Keegan pulled out a cast-iron skillet and turned on the flame. “Scrambled?” he said, hating that it came out as a question.

Keegan nodded. “And your coffee?”

Izzy wasn’t going to have another panic attack over Keegan making him breakfast. He wasn’t. He breathed deeply and focused on Riley’s grounding weight.

“I might have tea somewhere if you’d prefer,” Keegan continued, apparently mistaking Izzy’s silence.

“Black’s fine,” Izzy finally managed. “As long as it’s decent. If not, all the cream and sugar.”

Keegan chuckled. “I might not be as much of a snob as Nick, but I don’t think mine’s half bad.”

Izzy could name a few other things about him that weren’t half bad.

Once he had food cooking and coffee brewing, Keegan pulled a large Tupperware container from the fridge. Riley lifted her head, her ears perking, but she didn’t get up, even when Keegan started dishing food into three large dog bowls.

“I let the boys out the front,” Keegan explained. “They’ll be back in a minute. I wanted to warn you about Chance first.”

Izzy choked on a laugh that had Keegan shooting him a concerned frown. “The wolf? I met him.”

Keegan had the decency to look contrite. “Half wolf, actually,” he admitted. “He was a rescue from a backyard breeder who got a little more than he bargained for from his backyard.” Something scratched at the door, followed by a single bark.Keegan sighed. “You might want to move to the table. They get excited about breakfast, and you’ll end up trampled down there.”

Izzy stroked Riley’s head a final time, tempted to argue that the sweetest girl would protect him, but instead, he gave her a nudge. She scrambled to her feet and licked Izzy’s cheek before trotting over to meet Keegan at the door.

Izzy pushed himself up and waited until he was sure his legs were going to hold him, then moved to the table. He paused when he noticed his boots tucked neatly beneath it. He was hit again with the urge to run.

Fuck. He was giving himself whiplash.

Before he could act on the desire, Keegan set a steaming mug of coffee in front of him, along with some toast. Izzy stared at it.

Was he just supposed to sit here, eat the breakfast Keegan made him, and pretend this was normal? Pretend he hadn’t blurted out all kinds of things last night that never should have been said. Especially not to Keegan. Izzy couldn’t do it. He couldn’t—

“Isaac.”

Izzy jumped, then scowled at Keegan for startling him.

Keegan locked eyes with him, asking “Well?” with a raised eyebrow.

The faucet dripped into a water-filled bowl, the sound deafening in the silent kitchen. Why was it so quiet? Izzy looked for the dogs, only to find them sitting in front of their full bowls, also staring at Keegan.

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