Page 54 of The Finding Series: Vol. 2

Hunter was about to head back up the stairs when the door opened and he saw Roman backing out of it. He wondered at the strange position but only for a moment because as soon as Roman turned around, Hunter gasped at the sight of the squirming puppy in his arms.

“What did you do?” Hunter asked as Roman handed him the puppy.

“Us runts gotta stick together,” Roman said as he gave the puppy a pat and then leaned down to kiss Hunter. “We need to bring him back for his shots in a week and Dane’s going to get his medications together for me to pick up tomorrow.”

Hunter knew he was grinning like an idiot as he carried the puppy to the car and got into the passenger seat. “Thank you, Roman,” he said as Roman got the car started.

“You’re welcome,” Roman returned as he brushed another kiss over Hunter’s mouth. “I love you,” he whispered just before the puppy’s wet tongue covered both their mouths in a trail of slime. “He needs a name,” Roman said as he backed the car up.

“Already got one,” Hunter said.

“What?”

“Champion. Champ for short.”

Roman smiled. “Champ it is.”

* * *

“Roman, it’s fine. Just put him down. She won’t hurt him,” Gray urged.

Roman wasn’t as confident as Gray as he watched the way Ripley was eyeing the puppy in his arms. He’d learned from Dane that Champ was some kind of Great Dane mix and that even as the runt of the litter, he’d likely be close to 150 pounds easily when full grown. Not that that would do the puppy any good right now with the huge German Shepherd who looked like she could kill him with one good bite.

“Roman, trust me,” Gray said.

Roman finally put the puppy down but remained squatted next to him as Ripley came up to sniff him. There were some tense moments as the two dogs worked out some dominance ritual that Roman didn’t have a clue about but then they were off and running through the huge backyard.

“Where’s Hunter?” Gray asked as they began walking toward the spot by the water where the dogs could play.

“He’s driving down a little later. Some of his classmates were meeting at the library to prep for an exam on Monday. He’s going to go meet his grandmother to pick up the trusteeship papers and then he’ll meet us here for dinner.”

“I’m glad they worked things out,” Gray said. “Sounds like things went well with Finn too.”

“They did. I don’t think Hunter was expecting it so he’s still struggling to accept that he can put this whole thing behind him.”

“Sometimes the things we think we left in the past are just waiting to catch up to us when we least expect it.”

Roman chuckled. “Don’t worry, Dr. Phil, I’ve decided to talk to someone about the stuff that happened with my mom…and Walt.”

Gray slapped him on the back. “Man, I rock this big brother shit.”

Roman laughed but sobered when he said, “How are you doing with things?”

“It’s hard to miss someone who wasn’t really there, even when he was.”

“And Victoria?”

Gray shook his head. “Don’t really want or need that in my life. I’ve got all the family I need right here.” Once they reached the log by the stream, Gray said, “A little birdie told me that you were thinking about setting up roots around these parts.”

“Did that little birdie happen to be wearing bedazzled Nikes?”

“It may have,” Gray acknowledged.

“I found a couple of rental properties between here and Missoula that have a lot of land for Champ to run around on and the commute isn’t too bad. When Hunter’s done with school, we’ll see what happens next. But to answer your question, I think we’ve both found exactly where we want to be.”

Gray wrapped an arm around him and dragged him in for a long hug. “Welcome home, baby brother.”

Roman smiled as Ripley and Champ both began jumping against them with wet, muddy paws. “Better late than never,” he murmured as he reached down to pull Champ up on his lap.

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