Page 17 of At Odds with the Gods

The house was ominously quiet. TD had said the dogs were inside, hadn’t he? Or at least implied when he’d talked about puppy-proofing the place. If that was wrong, if they’d been outside with Finn all this time while Gany had been trying to freakingupsella catering job, and they’dhurthim…

He raced to the door and flung it open. “Finn!” he called. “Finn? Are you okay?”

Finn didn’t answer, but he heard yips and whines and… was that a growl? Gany’s heart tried to crawl out his throat. He ran across the patio, peering through the foliage. Priapus’s balls, why was this yard sobigand why were there so manyplants? He couldn’t see a damn thing.

He tried to whistle, but he’d never been good at it, and his lips were so numb right now that nothing but a feeblephhhtemerged. “Ozzie! Bear! Come here at once. Sir, you too.”

The dogs didn’t respond, but bushes thrashed in the corner near the fountain, followed by another sharp yip. Gany barreled toward the sound, and when he rounded a massive rhododendron, Finn wasthere, sitting on the ground, his hair tousled and his shirt rucked up on one side.

“Finn!” Gany dove for him, flinging his arms around his neck and knocking him flat on his back, attempting to shield Finn’s larger body with his own.

He clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the dogs to charge. But nothing happened. He cracked an eye open and met Finn’s gaze.

“Hullo,” Finn said, his voice hoarse and his smile crooked.

His arms came around Gany’s back andoh, had anything ever felt so right? Warm and solid andsafe, just as Gany had known it would be from the first time he’d met those sad hazel eyes on the bakery’s opening day.

“Are you okay?” Gany ran his hands over Finn’s face, along his throat, across his shoulders. “The dogs—”

“Hey.” Finn captured Gany’s hand, his grip loose and gentle, and pressed it against his cheek. “I’m fine.”

“I’m so sorry. I thought the dogs were inside, and I…” Gany’s voice died when he realized all three dogs were standing shoulder to shoulder just beyond Finn’s head, staring down at both of the men with bottomless black eyes. “Finn. Be very, very still. I’m going to get off of you now and lure them away.”

“Don’t move on my account. I’m perfectly happy for us to stay right here,” Finn said, his smile growing. He tilted his chin up until he was peering at the dogs upside down. “Heh. From this angle, the way they’re standing makes them look like one dog with three heads.”

Gany’s smile was probably more of a grimace. “Imagine that.”

All three dogs dipped their muzzles, and Gany flinched, sure that they were about to take a bite out of Finn, but instead, in perfect synchronization, like a canine rhythmic gymnastics squad, they each dropped a drool-soggy tennis ball and sat, tongues lolling.

Finn chuckled. “Okay, guys. We’ll play again in a bit.” He lifted one arm and made a downward patting gesture. “Down,” he said in a low, commanding voice.

And amazingly enough, the dogs laid down in that classic Sphinx pose, their front paws stretched out and their ears perked.

“How did you do that?” Gany asked, wonderingly. “They don’t even behave that well for Lonnie and TD.”

“I’ve got experience with canines.” Finn shrugged, the movement nestling Gany against his chest. “The guys and I reached an understanding.” He stroked Gany’s cheek. “I’d, um, like to reach an understanding with you, too.”

Gany arched an eyebrow. “Is that so? What kind of understanding?”

“You mentioned before that you have issues with intimacy, so I don’t want to overstep, but, well, here we are.”

“Yes.” Gany laughed weakly. “We certainly are.”

“Are you uncomfortable?”

Gany bit his lip and ran through the mental exercises Dr. Kendrick had given him as part of his therapy. Finn hadn’t forced any unwanted physical contact.Ganywas the one who’d done that. “Actually, I’m not. Uncomfortable. At all. That is, ifyou’renot.”

“Like I said, I’m happy to stay right here. Although…” His gaze dropped to Gany’s mouth. “I was wondering, since we’re here and all. Would it be okay to… to kiss you?”

“Hmmm.” Would it? Gany’s middle sparked and quaked as he tried to balance between this unexpected—although not unwelcome—desire and deep-seated dread.

But then, Zeus had neverasked. And Zeus’s kisses were more like being mauled by a cross between a hydra, a kraken, and the old iteration of Cerberus—too many heads, too many arms, andwaytoo much drool and tongue and hot, fetid breath.

After that horror, Gany had never had the least inclination to snog with any of the other gods, either. Dionysus always tried every year during the Dionysian revels. Aphrodite sideswiped him once, although he’d always thought it was pretty half-hearted, more as though it was expected, part of her usual routine. When he’d turned his face at the last minute and it had landed on his chin, she hadn’t tried again. Apollo always tried to kiss everyone, but he’d avoided Gany after Leucates took a swan dive off a cliff rather than submit to Apollo’s attentions.

Gazing into Finn’s hopeful eyes, though, desire, coupled with hope, climbed over that trauma. Dr. Kendrick always told Gany he didn’t have to comply with anybody’s emotional timetable but his own. Maybe he’d reached the point—maybe he was finallyready—to find out what it was like to kiss someone by his own choice.

“That depends,” he said.

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