Page 78 of The C*ck Down the Block

I had his number though.

I walked out into the yard, my cup of coffee in hand, savoring the crisp morning air. I glanced towards the chicken coop, and there he was, sizing me up like it’s his personal mission to harass me like I’m an unwelcome trespasser every time I step foot in his domain.

“Morning, Luke,” I greeted, setting my coffee down on the gate post and approached the coop.

Luke ruffled his feathers and let out a half-hearted crow. Yep, still mad.

“Look, buddy, can we talk?” I crouched down to his eye level and tossed in a few chunks of strawberries, because, yeah, I’m not above a little chicken bribery. Luke fixed me with an incredulous gaze, as if to say, “You’re really doing this?”

“Yeah, I am,” I chuckled, taking his silence as consent. “So, listen. I know you’re protective of Trixie. And I get it, she’s pretty great. But you’ve got to stop acting like I’m here to ruin the party.”

Luke shifted his weight from one leg to the other, almost like he was actually contemplating my words.

“I love her, you know. I’m not going anywhere. But that doesn’t mean you’re losing her. If anything, you’re gaining me.”

Not sure that was a selling point. But weirdly, I liked him and the way he was so protective of Trix. I wanted us to be friends.

Luke clucked, pecking at the strawberries half-heartedly. Okay, time to go in for the kill. Not him, he was never being made into nuggets. Nope, I was going after his heart.

“I’ve noticed you’ve got a little thing going with Kylo Hen over there,” I nodded toward the sleek black hen who was pecking around the other side of the coop. “She’s cute. And I can tell she likes you.”

Luke’s eyes narrowed, and I swear he was paying attention.

“Life’s too short, my man. Don’t you think it’s time to take that friendship to the next level? Worked out pretty well for me and Trix.”

Luke looked towards Kylo Hen, who had moved a little closer, almost like she was eavesdropping on our man-to-rooster chat.

“See? She’s interested.” I gave a little jerk of my chin toward her. “Go for it. Love’s worth the risk, believe me.”

He walked right up to me, flapped his wings, and jumped up on the fence, pecked my coffee cup and sent it and the contents flying toward me. Only my finely honed football skills saved me from having the hot liquid poured right over my head.

Okay, maybe he was getting turned into chicken nuggets. He gave a shake of his long, shiny tail feathers, and then hopped down, strutting over to Kylo Hen.

She did the cutest little chicken dance, like she’d been waiting for this moment her whole life. Same, girl, same.

The two of them danced around each other for a minute, and then I got treated to very loud and feather ruffling chicken sex.

Smiling, I picked up my empty coffee mug and headed back to the house. As I opened the door, I heard Trixie’s laughter floating through the kitchen, mixing with the distant crowing of a rooster in love.

“Did you just tell my rooster to go have sex? And he did?”

I rinsed out the cup and refilled it, topping it off with Trixie’s favorite pumpkin spice oat creamer and set the cup down in front of her. “Yeah. I told you I was going to have a cock-to-cock talk with him.”

My phone pinged with a text. I picked it up and saw the notification from Simone Stone, the young investigative journalist over at channel 9 News.

Heads up. Evening news tonight.

I typed a quick reply.

We’ll be watching.

Trixie and I got to the stadium a little later than usual. And half the team, plus Coach, either gave me the evil eye, or a thumbs up as I dragged her back to our secret-not-so-secret sex spot.

“Got any new sex scenes in your book you want to try out, my dirty girl?”

“Funnily enough, I just wrote one where the hero bends his heroine over a bench in a locker room,” she patted the padded bench behind her. “And takes her from behind.”

“God, I love your imagination.” I spun her around and grabbed her hair, kissing her neck, and then pushing her face down to the cushion. She was wearing my favorite jersey she owned today. The one that read Kingman’s Queen on the back.

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