Chapter 6

BUSTER HAD crawled upward and was now curled up next to Wayne's legs in a nest between him and the cushions, snoring like hell. Wayne reached for his phone. It was a little after four in the morning, and between his mind running a million miles a minute and his snoring dog, there was no way he was going to get any more sleep. On top of that, it seemed that Riley hadn't closed his door completely, because Frosty was now sleeping on the floor next to the sofa, sprawled out and making her own set of doggie noises.

Wayne slowly extricated himself from the dog and sat up. Buster lifted his head, shifted, and then went right back to sleep, while Frosty didn't even move as Wayne made his way to the chair and pulled out his phone to read for a while.

The floor creaked slightly. "You unable to sleep?" Riley asked after yawning.

"With these two?" Wayne said. "I swear they could wake the dead."

"Come on." Riley took his hand and led him into the bedroom. "I promise to be good." He slipped under the covers, and Wayne did the same. The bedding smelled like Riley, warm and rich, very comforting. The room was chilly, so he burrowed down, and after a few minutes, Riley took his hand, just holding it. There was no other contact between them, no moving in closer, just the single gentle touch, and soon Wayne drifted off to sleep.

When he woke later that morning, the bed was very full. Riley was right next to him, with Buster at the foot of the bed. Fortunately, Frosty had not joined them, but she was in her bed, sitting up, watching. Damn, Buster took up enough room. Wayne was glad Frosty was a lady and hadn't crawled into bed with all of them.

"I take it we have company," Riley muttered. "And here I thought I could have my wicked way with you."

Wayne snickered. "Who says things like that?" It was kind of cute.

"My grandmother. I used to spend weekends with her, and she had her shows. Lord, you did not come between her and her shows. She watched them for the men, and she always said that Tom Selleck could have his wicked way with her any time he wanted. I swear she watched every show with a hot leading man. She also had a thing for nerds and said that she wouldn't kick McGee out of bed for eating crackers. Granny was one of a kind."

"I bet she was."

"Yeah. She passed away at ninety. Drove my mother crazy each and every day. My mom is a bit of a prude when it comes to things like that. Grandma and the other ladies in the retirement community were hell on wheels. It always tickled me to death that she didn't stop until she had to. Passed away in her sleep, and I like to think that for her, Saint Peter looked a lot like Tom Selleck."

Wayne closed his eyes for a few minutes before remembering that it was Friday and he needed to get his butt up and get ready for work, and Riley certainly needed to do the same. As much as he liked lying here, warm, comfortable, and turned on by Riley's closeness, he had things to do. Thankfully it was the end of the week, though.

Slowly, Wayne slipped out of bed.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to get dressed and take Buster home before I go to work, and I'm sure you need to get logged in."

Riley sat up and checked the clock. "Damn. I have to go to the office today." He yawned and covered his mouth with his hand. "Are you going to be okay? Let me get dressed quick and I'll take you and Buster home before I go on to work." Riley jumped to it, pulling on clothes. Buster jumped down off the bed and joined Frosty in hers, the dogs watching them. Wayne returned to the living room, dressed in the clothes he'd brought with him, and packed his dirty things in his bag. Then he used the bathroom after Riley had finished. The last thing Riley did was take Frosty outside and then got her settled in her crate the for the day.

"Do you think your ex will be back?" Riley asked once they had Buster in the back seat and the car doors were closed. He started the engine and pulled away from the curb.

"I don't know. He did this for a reason, and somehow I don't think we've heard the last of him." He was scared that Mike would pull something else like this. Letting Buster out was a nasty thing to do, especially on a cold night. Wayne kept wondering what would have happened to him if his neighbor hadn't found him. He could have been…. He swallowed and tried not to think about it.

After only a few minutes, Riley pulled up in front of Wayne's house. "Who is that?" Riley asked as the garden gate closed from the inside.

"It looked like Mike," Wayne said, getting out as soon as the car stopped.

"Wait. You go in the front and be as quiet as you can. I'll go up the back and we'll trap him between us. We can leave Buster in the car and lock the door so he can't get to him. It won't be for very long." Riley was already out of the car and heading for the back gate. He opened it and slipped into the yard while Wayne went to the front and unlocked the door. Once he was inside, his heart raced as he climbed the stairs as quietly as he could, entering through the door into the living room and making his way toward the back.

The house was quiet, and he didn't get the feeling there was anyone here. As he was about to enter the kitchen, he heard the key in the back door. "What do you think you're doing?" Wayne heard Riley ask from outside.

"I live here," Mike said calmly. "What do you think you're doing?"

Wayne strode through the kitchen and yanked open the door, glaring at Mike. "You do not live here." Mike turned back to where Riley was blocking the stairs. "And you are not welcome here. Riley, call the police." He was getting really tired of Mike's attitude.

"I want my dog!" Mike bellowed as Riley made his call. "You aren't taking care of him properly, and he liked me more than he did you."

Wayne drew closer, locking his gaze on Mike's, putting all his anger and the fear of losing Buster into every bit of attitude he had. "Did you break in here and let Buster out yesterday?" Riley spoke on the phone as he circled behind Mike to stand in the doorway.

"I didn't break in! I…," Mike began and then clammed up, but he had already said too much.

"I knew it was you. Buster could have been hurt or he could have died with how cold it was last night. That was brutal."

Mike curled his upper lip. "I could have just taken him. He was home alone." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Is that why you're here now? You figured you'd come back and steal him once I was gone for work?" Wayne's schedule had changed, and he now went in an hour later than he had when he and Mike were together. All Wayne could do was shake his head.

"Buster should have been my dog," Mike said with much less strength than before.

"No. He was never your dog. If you cared about him rather than just yourself, you would have left him alone." Wayne smiled as a notion occurred to him. "You did come here to take him yesterday. But Buster ran away from you, and you'd left the gate open, and he got loose." Wayne met Riley's gaze over Mike's shoulder as he spoke to the police. "You never intended for Buster to get out, and when you tried to catch him, Buster ran from you." Now the picture was clear.

"That's not true…." Mike's protests were beginning to sound feeble and ridiculous.

"Yes, it is. That's exactly what happened. Buster ran away from you because he doesn't like you. Never really has. Buster loves me, but he wants nothing to do with you." All Wayne could do was laugh, which was only making Mike angrier, but he couldn't help it.

"Davis is on his way over," Riley told them. "He said he and his partner are only a few minutes away."

Mike turned toward the stairs. "You can't keep me here." He tried to push past Riley, but it didn't work. Mike liked to talk big, but he didn't have enough weight or leverage to get around Riley.

"You were trying to get inside Wayne's home with a key you weren't supposed to have." Riley stood firm as his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket. "Davis, we're around back." He shoved the phone in his pocket as the police came through the gate. Only then did Riley step aside and come around to where Wayne stood, putting an arm around him. "It's going to be okay now."

"I need to go get Buster," Wayne said softly, and Riley held him tighter.

"I know. But he's going to be okay, and once the police get done with Mike, I doubt he's going to be paying you another visit." The police escorted Mike down the stairs and then spoke to him in the backyard.

"Go on through the house and get Buster. I need to get to work or else I'm going to be late. But I'll stop by on my way home." He opened the door, and Wayne went inside. As soon as the door closed, Riley hugged him again, kissing him firmly. "I'll see you tonight."

Wayne followed him, and once he had Buster and his things out of the car, Riley hurried away, and Wayne took Buster inside.

WAYNE HAD hated leaving Buster at home, so he decided to take him in to the office with him. He had never done it before, but others in his office had brought in their pets from time to time, and this was a special circumstance. Buster was the hit of the office, with plenty of people stopping by to give him pets and say hello. Buster was well behaved, for the most part, and spent much of the day sleeping under Wayne's desk.

When it was time to leave, Wayne packed up his things and headed home, half expecting to find another mess of some sort, but he was alone and no one had been there. Wayne made sure the gate was closed and then let Buster run in the yard. After a while, he and Buster went inside, and Buster attacked his food dish, gobbling up what was left from earlier. Then he went to the front door and sat there as though waiting for something.

"I know. You want your friend to come over," Wayne said. Buster simply turned to look at him and then went back to watching the door. "Do you hear something?" Wayne opened the door to see Riley climbing the front stairs with Frosty leading the way. As soon as they came inside, he let her loose, and the two dogs hurried toward the kitchen.

"Hey," Wayne said softly.

"Hey," Riley returned. "How was your day? Well, after the mess with Mike."

Wayne shrugged, his gaze falling on Riley's lips. He drew closer and then kissed him, the heat between them building almost instantly. He'd had enough of work and ex-boyfriends trying to steal his dog. "Better now."

"Me too. And it's Friday." He smiled. "Oh, and I wanted to ask you something. Davis always does Christmas big, especially with Lilly, and I wanted to ask you to join us for the holiday."

"Won't I be… I don't know… a third wheel of some sort? It's your family holiday, and I don't want to intrude." Besides, if this was some sort of pity thing because he usually spent the holiday alone, then….

"You won't be. There will be my family and some old friends. It's a great gathering, and Stephanie is one heck of a cook. She's always asking me to bring someone for the holiday, and I never have because there was never anyone I wanted to bring… until you. So will you and Buster come?"

Wayne paused. "You want me to bring him too? Isn't that going to be too much? I mean, I can come, but…."

"Davis has a huge backyard that's fenced. I have strict instructions from my niece to bring Frosty, so yeah, bring Buster. And I have to warn you, don't be surprised if there are presents under the tree for him. My sister-in-law has already informed me that apparently dogs get Christmas gifts too." Riley smiled, and Wayne let go of some of his apprehension. If they wanted him to bring the dog, then they were his kind of people.

"Okay. Buster and I will spend Christmas with you. I haven't had a family holiday in a number of years." Wayne sat down, and Riley settled next to him. The dogs came running, with Frosty resting her head on Riley's lap and Buster climbing into Wayne's. Riley leaned against him with a soft sigh, and Wayne really relaxed.

"I like the thought of that, a real family Christmas, with you, me, and the dogs. It doesn't get much better than that."