Page 5 of I've Got You

“What?” I sighed the question this time, rather than spitting it out in frustration. Then it hit me. Dr. Dickwad.Hell no.I groaned, my shoulders dipping in defeat. “That was the closeted vet who did a number on Carter.” It wasn’t a question. “Doing a number” was the polite way of saying the asshole gave Carter hell and made his life a misery. He almost managed to drive him out of the practice before he came out—to Carter, of all people.

None of us had seen it coming, especially not Scott—that was the guy’s name—from the looks of it.

“Oh shit.”

“Uh-huh,” Tanner added unhelpfully.

“Shit, do you think I was his first kiss with another man?” Out of all the things playing out in my head—remembering the brutal, sexy kiss, the smoothness of his cheekbones, the desperation in his eyes, let alone getting started on the crap he’d pulled with Carter—it surprised Tanner as much as me that I asked that question first.

“For real?”

“He was good, a natural,” I said, trying to be as casual as possible.

“No.”

“No?”

“Fuck no.”

“What, are you the cockblock police, the closet patrol, out there to protect virgin asses from going public?” I quirked my brow, though I knew he wasn’t fooled. The reality was I was affected. The short time with Scott had left its mark, and while I knew and had previously admitted to myself that was not a good thing, my interest was piqued. Knowing he was Dr. Dickwad should have changed all that for me. But it didn’t.

Shaking his head in exasperation, Tanner swiped his hand through his hair. “That guy has issues to rival… fuck… whatever has big issues.”

“Miley Cyrus?” I offered helpfully.

He tilted his head at me and rolled his eyes. “One, you’re showing your damn age. Two, the last thing you need is to get entangled with his bullshit. And there’s no way he’s good enough to be anywhere near Libby.”

I smiled at Tanner and the mention of my daughter. While I was the only blood relative in Libby’s life, Tanner was her uncle in every way that mattered, and Carter too, now. His fierceness to protect was sappy sweet, and I’d call him out for it another time. Instead, I stood and patted him on the back. “Come on. It’s all fine. You saw how quickly he hightailed it out of here. While the mini-make-out session was kinda nice”—lie, it was so goddamn hot that I would store it away for spank bank material—“it’s not going to happen again. I know this town is small, but hell, I’ve never laid eyes on the dude before tonight”—and I would have remembered—“so I doubt we’ll even cross paths again.”

Tanner looked up at me. He appeared as uncertain as I was sure I sounded, but he let me have it and kept his mouth shut. That was until we got back in the house. “Carter, holy shit, you’ll never guess who….”

Chapter Four

SCOTT

It had beenthree days since I’d left my house. I was too terrified to step outside. My fear was irrational, but it was steeped in such visceral anxiety and paranoia that I couldn’t be anything but terrified. Rationally, I knew that even if anyone had seen me kiss another guy, it would have only been someone at Carter’s house, who also was an openly gay man living with his boyfriend. And while there were women and straight couples at the party, there were also other gay men. It was unlikely anyone would take offense to seeing two men kissing, but still, fear was not always rational.

I was living just a few doors down from Carter’s place, still staying at my godfather’s while he was off exploring the world in his early retirement. I’d taken to hiding out since the major bullshit I’d caused Carter a couple or so months earlier. I’d quit the practice—well, as much as I could. My godfather, Denver, had officially rejected my resignation—it was his practice—so the position was mine if I still wanted it. I supposed I should have headed back east, back to my hometown, but after finally admitting to myself and out loud that I was gay, there was a pull to stay.

If I headed back, without a doubt I would have made up shit about why things hadn’t worked out and gone back to living the same lie I had been since I was fourteen and realized that I’d wanted to kiss Jason, my sister’s then-boyfriend. The thought of revisiting that life pushed me to not jump in my car.

But every day I had to ask myself what my plan was. The truth was, beyond getting up and feeding and watering myself, I had none. Carter, for all his interference and bizarre niceness, had both forgiven me and taken pity on me. That was still a head fuck. I still expected Tanner to kick my ass at any point. I was confident he was waiting for me to say one wrong thing, give one shitty look, and he’d be all over me and beat my sorry self.

Carter, though, was trying his hardest to take me under his wing and get me to return to the veterinary clinic. I couldn’t face it.

I’d just switched off the shower when I heard the doorbell ring. With a deep sigh, I took my time drying off, hoping Carter would leave. There was no one else it could be. Yanking on my clothes, I closed my eyes and waited for the bell to go again. It did. Carter was not a guy to give up easily. It made him painfully endearing. I wanted to hate the guy. Hell, I had for so long. He was everything I craved to be but was too terrified to become. When I looked at him, it was like a gut-wrenching taunt dangling in front of me, a version of what my life could have been. But despite his nagging and his interference, I liked the man. And who was I kidding? He was the only sorta friend I had. I would be a fool to push that away.

Once down the staircase, I pulled the door open just as Carter’s finger pressed once more on the button. He jerked his head in my direction and smiled.

“Hey, stranger,” he greeted.

“Hey.” I backed away from the door and headed to the kitchen, leaving him to let himself in. “Coffee?” Despite my asshole ways, I could be civil when I wanted to be.

“Sounds good.” He perched on a stool at the kitchen counter. “I haven’t seen much movement in the last couple of days.”

“Stalker much,” I grumbled.

“Your car hasn’t even moved,” he continued, completely ignoring me. “What’s up?”

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