Page 45 of Something Unavoidable

Izzy’s laugh was wet and shaky. “I’m fine. It’s not like this shit is anything new.”

Keegan moved the hand on Izzy’s chest in slow circles. “Can you do us both a favor and take some deep breaths anyway?” While Izzy did, Keegan gave Riley the sign for “good girl” several times. He wished he had treats in reach, but he didn’t want to leave Izzy to retrieve them.

Riley’s tail wagged with excitement, and she swiped her tongue across Izzy’s face, making him sputter, then laugh again, the sound stronger this time. “Ew,” he said, hugging Riley as close as he could.

Keegan could hear the other dogs out on the front porch before one of them, probably Chance, scratched at the door. Keegan gave Izzy another squeeze. “I need to let them in, but I’ll come right back, okay?”

Izzy waved him off, and as soon as Keegan managed to untangle himself and climb off the couch, Riley scrambled up in his place, flattening herself on top of Izzy.

Keegan chuckled. “Or maybe I’ll make dinner.”

Izzy wrapped his arms around Riley and pressed his face to her fur.

Keegan paused, ignoring the dogs at the door for the moment, and ran careful fingers through Izzy’s hair. “It wasn’t your fault, Isaac. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Izzy’s arms tightened on Riley, but otherwise, he didn’t acknowledge Keegan’s statement. That was okay. Keegan would tell him as many times as he needed to until Izzy believed it.

Keegan knew he wasstill missing parts of the story, because nothing Izzy had told him explained the sudden increase in panic attacks—and he was sure it was an increase and not just the fact that he was spending more time with Izzy. Micah and Ryan would never have let this go on if this level of anxiety was Izzy’s normal. It also didn’t explain the cell messages that sent Izzy spiraling. Keegan wished he’d attempted to read the text from Izzy’s father that had set Izzy off, but Izzy’s reaction had made the choice for him. Keegan wasn’t going to betray his trust, even if it was for his own good. He had time, and he could wait until Izzy was able to tell him.

The rest of the night was dinner in front of the woodstove, the boys curled up in their dog beds, and Riley still plastered to Izzy’s side. Keegan was a little amazed that she didn’t so much as glance at his plate, only inches from her muzzle. He also didn’t say anything when he caught Izzy feeding her scraps of chicken. She deserved all the treats tonight. It was pretty safe to say that his dog was now Izzy’s dog, at least for the time being.

After dinner, they climbed up to the loft. The steep stairs with their open risers were closer to a ladder than anything, and he kept the dogs downstairs with a gate at the base. After Izzy went up, Keegan got the dogs settled and banked the woodstove, adjusting the air vents to keep it burning all night. Riley got a few extra treats and pats before Keegan showed her a new sign, one for off duty. He’d keep an eye on their boy for the rest of the night.

He turned off the downstairs light and visited the bathroom one last time before climbing up the stairs. Izzy was sitting cross-legged at the end of the bed, dressed only in sleep pants, his phone in his hand. Keegan was about to ask if he wanted to plug it in when he noticed the items lined up on his dresser. He froze. “What the fuck, Isaac?”

Izzy cackled, and when Keegan turned his incredulous look on him, he realized the brat was taking pictures or maybe filming him.

Keegan turned back to the items on the dresser, examining them more closely. When Izzy said he brought toys, plural, he wasn’t exaggerating. “Was there anything in your duffel bag other than dildos and lube?” Keegan asked, voice tight, his body undecided on whether to send his blood to his cheeks or his cock. He wasn’t entirely sure what a few of the items were. The dick-shaped ones were obvious, of course, but— He picked up a hard, plastic object the size of his palm with several small balls on it. It kind of looked like a—

“Remote-controlled prostate massager,” Izzy said, tone gleeful.

Huh. Well, that sounded fun. He had some ideas for that already. Keegan turned to the next item, which Izzy supplied was a “monster stroker.” The opening of the green-and-purple tube was surrounded by terrifying rubbery teeth. Evidently, you were supposed to imagine you were fucking an alien sandworm. Then Keegan noticed something that made his breath catch and Izzy crack up again. He wrapped his hand around the narrowest part and lifted the hefty silicone replica of a freaking arm with a cone-shaped hand at the end of it.

When he turned back to the bed, Izzy was laughing so hard that he’d fallen over and dropped his phone. He had tears streaming down his cheeks, and he was clutching his belly. Keegan couldn’t fight his answering smile, and he didn’t want to try. It felt freaking good to hear Izzy laugh.

Keegan returned the arm-dildo to the dresser and crossed the small space. He crawled up and rolled Izzy onto his back on the low mattress, straddling his hips. Izzy grinned at him.

“Your face,” he told Keegan. “That was priceless.”

Keegan shook his head and dropped down to his elbows, their noses inches apart. Izzy went quiet, his chest rising and falling faster than usual from laughing. Keegan nuzzled their noses together in a bunny kiss, then dipped farther and caught Izzy’s lips with his.

Izzy moaned into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Keegan, trying to draw him closer.

Keegan had intended to keep things slow and gentle, but Izzy had other plans. He squirmed under Keegan, fighting his way out of his sleep pants, then starting on Keegan’s clothes, getting him naked with an efficiency that shouldn’t be surprising. This was Izzy after all, and in the grand scheme of things, despite Keegan being over a decade older, Izzy was probably the one of them with the most experience. Not that Keegan was without a few tricks of his own.

Once they were both naked, Keegan caught Izzy’s wrists and lifted them toward the top of the bed, pressing them into the sheets. “Keep them there,” he told Izzy, getting a pout and a needy whine in reply. “If you do, I’ll make it worth your while.”

Izzy’s pout melted into intrigue. He bit his lip while he thought, then asked, “How?”

Got him. Keegan smirked. “I’m not going to tell you.”

Izzy’s nostrils flared. He glanced at the dresser where Keegan had seen a set of leather cuffs.

Keegan chuckled. “No outside assistance. That’s cheating.”

Izzy narrowed his eyes in determination. “Fine. But this better be good,” he grumbled, clearly out of his depth.

“Oh, it will.” Keegan leaned down and pressed a kiss to the center of Izzy’s smooth chest, right on the defined line between his pecs. “Do you wax here too?”

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