Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Jaxon

“ A re you sure you don’t need help unpacking all of this?” Spencer asked. He was standing with his hands on his hips, staring at the mess of my new house, which was cluttered with boxes.

I glanced around, biting back a tired sigh. I never thought I’d be moving again. Spencer and I had discussed him moving back to Tennessee after college when we’d moved there. But then, in his senior year of high school, he fell in love with Ezra and Logan, and when Spencer and Ezra went to the University of Florida for college, Logan eventually followed. Their relationship was unconventional, and so many people considered it wrong, but it worked for them. And they were happy. That was all I gave a fuck about.

There was nothing for me in Tennessee, so when Spencer told me they had decided to live in Gainesville permanently, I’d packed up and moved there, too. Spencer was the only family I had left. Moving to be near him had been one of the easiest decisions I’d made as a father.

“Nah,” I assured him. I narrowed my eyes at Logan as he stepped out of the kitchen with a bag of dill pickle flavored chips in his hand. Ezra snorted at the annoyed look on my face. Logan loved pushing my buttons. I loved the kid like he was my own, but he could be a real asshole sometimes. “Seriously, kid?” I demanded.

He shrugged a bare shoulder at me revealed by his black tank top. “I was hungry. Moving all your shit was a lot.”

I sighed. “Whatever,” I muttered, choosing to ignore that it was literally my last fucking bag of chips.

Triumph lit up his eyes. Logan loved arguing with me. He was… a troublemaker, and while he’d calmed down a lot, no longer got into fights, and was emotionally settled for the most part, he still liked to push everyone’s buttons he could. He’d gone through hell and back, and trauma had left its mark on him.

“It’s a lot of work, Jaxon,” Ezra told me, a frown pulling at his lips. “We can help.”

I shook my head. “It’ll keep me busy. I took two weeks off work to handle the move,” I reminded him.

Spencer sighed. “Alright. If you say so.” He looked at Ezra and Logan. “Are y’all ready to head out?” He snatched the bag of chips out of Logan’s hands and handed them to me. Logan huffed, playfully glaring at Spencer. I smirked and reached into the bag, pulling a chip out. When I plopped it into my mouth, grinning, Logan rolled his eyes.

“We need to get food on the way home, then,” Logan told Spencer. “Since you stole my food and all that.”

Ezra scoffed and wrapped an arm around Logan’s neck, pulling him in for a short kiss that Logan thankfully let stay PG. That boy had a habit of turning even the smallest things into something dirty. It was one of his… gifts, I guessed. I knew a lot more about my son and his sex life than I ever wanted to because of Logan and his big mouth.

“You’ll be fine. Spencer took food out to cook, remember? You’ll be patient until then, won’t you?”

He sighed, but the soft smile he shot Spencer turned my son all… fuzzy. Christ. It was almost uncomfortable to witness.

“You three head on out,” I told them. “I’m going to crash on the couch for the night and then tackle all this tomorrow.”

Spencer hugged me, and immediately, I wrapped my arms around him, squeezing him to me. “Call one of us if you want help. Or even just company,” he told me.

“I will,” I promised as I released him from my hug.

The house fell into eerie silence once Logan’s new jeep disappeared down the quiet street. I frowned, rubbing at my chest. I thought I’d gotten used to the silence after Spencer left for college and Logan eventually moved out, leaving me home alone all day to just work and exist. But being in a new house again, this time without my son in town, just felt… wrong.

I knew I’d get used to it with time. But it still felt eerily strange.

Sighing, I toed off my shoes and padded in my socks to the sofa, which was just sitting in the middle of the living room floor. I laid back on it, grunting at the pain in my back.

I was getting too fucking old. And sleeping on this couch wasn’t going to help my back pain one damn bit.

Tomorrow, I’d find the box with my painkillers in it, and then, I’d tackle the disaster of boxes and furniture that awaited me.

I hoped whoever figured out that coffee beans made this amazing drink lived a long, fulfilling life before they passed away. They deserved to.

I lifted the mug to my lips as I skimmed my eyes over my backyard, swallowing back the painkillers I’d finally found after finding the box labeled BATHROOM , which had taken a good thirty minutes. The couch hadn’t helped my back at all, and I’d slept like shit on it, too. Maybe it was time to buy a new couch and throw that one out?

It was a problem for another day.

A tiny little meow met my ears, and I frowned, pausing with my coffee mug poised halfway to my lips. When I heard it again and saw something moving in the overgrown flowerbed beside the patio, I set my coffee down on the concrete and walked over.

“Here, kitty-kitty-kitty,” I gently called, crouching down.

A tiny little meow greeted me again. I dropped to my knees and moved an overgrown rose bush aside, avoiding the thorns as much as possible. A tiny little grey kitten, probably not even old enough to be away from its mother, peered up at me through pretty, blue eyes. A soft smile tilted my lips.

“Hi, little one,” I said softly, reaching out to pick it up with my other hand. She was so small, she fit in my palm. I brought her to my chest and stood up, leaving my coffee where it was as I carried her into the house. “You’re a cute little thing, huh?” I asked, rubbing the top of its head with my finger. She purred. “Let’s get you to a vet.”

I grabbed my phone off the kitchen bar, and while still holding her cute, fuzzy body to my chest, I pulled up a list of vets local to me, choosing the one closest.

Dr. Eros Hendrix.

“Alright,” I murmured, pocketing my phone and grabbing my car keys. “Let’s get you to the vet.”

Dr. Hendrix’s parking lot was empty, and the street was quiet when I pulled up. With Ash cradled in my hand, I got out of the car and headed to the door, a bell above jingling when I pushed it open. A blonde man with sharp cheekbones and warm, striking green eyes popped up from behind the receptionist’s desk, a smile on his lips.

Fuck , he was gorgeous.

I blinked in surprise at myself. Had my first impression of him really been that he was gorgeous?

I was straight . Had always been straight. And obviously, I had nothing against being gay considering my son was in a relationship with two other men, but was I suddenly having some bi-awakening moment at the age of forty-fucking-three? I was a little old for that, wasn’t I?

“Hey, how can I help you?” he asked, his voice smooth and deep but not overly deep. It was the kind of voice that could soothe you to sleep. The kind of voice that could read me the Declaration of Independence and keep me captivated.

“Uh, hi. I just moved here and found this cute kitten in my backyard roaming my flowerbed,” I told him, stepping closer to the counter so he could see her.

His eyes widened a little. “She’s young,” he said, frowning. “Hold on, and I’ll let you back. My receptionist is out grabbing us coffee. I’ll have her get all your info when she gets back.”

“Sure,” I said, but I wasn’t even sure if he’d heard me. He’d already disappeared from sight.

The door to my right opened, and the doctor poked his head out, smiling at me. Christ, his smile was pretty. This man was worthy of being a model—like front of GQ magazine kind of pretty. Why the hell had he decided to become a veterinarian?

“Through here.” I followed him through the door and down a short hallway, coming out into a bigger area with benches and pillows with little paws on them. My lips quirked. They were cute pillows. “What’s your name?” he asked, gesturing for me to follow him into a room off to the left. “You can set her on the table. Just keep an eye on her for a second.”

“Jaxon,” I told him. “Jaxon Wreath.”

He walked over and lifted up the kitten’s tail. She turned and hissed at him, swatting at him with her cute, fuzzy paws. He laughed, grinning at her. “She’s a feisty girl.”

I pursed my lips, nodding my head as I gazed at her. “Good to know. I’ve been thinking of her as one,” I confessed.

He chuckled, looking up at me from beneath his blonde lashes. “What’s her name?”

I looked at her gray fur and adorable, white paws. “Ash,” I finally settled on.

He nodded. “It’s a good name.” He rubbed his finger beneath her chin, and she began purring, her claws scraping against the table. I laughed softly. “I’m thinking she’s about four to five weeks old. I’m going to give her some deworming medication today, but in two weeks, I need you to bring her back for her first round of kitten shots and another deworming treatment.”

“Is there something wrong with her?” I asked, concern tightening my chest as I reached out to run two fingers down her back. She was a little bony, which worried me.

He shook his head. “She looks healthy. Her eyes are clear. She’s not sneezing. It’s just routine for kittens, that’s all. I suggest keeping her on formula and maybe introducing some soft food to her until her next appointment.”

“Formula?” I asked, thinking back to when Spencer was a baby. Kittens drank baby formula?

Eros nodded, now over by the counter, drawing some kind of white liquid into a syringe. “Yep. Kitten formula.” Well, I felt fucking stupid. “You can pick it up from Walmart or a pet supply store. Actually—” he turned and grabbed Ash, shoving the syringe into her mouth between her very sharp teeth, and forced the medication down her throat. She clawed at him, digging her claws into his hand until he backed away from her. “I might have some on hand.” He looked at me with a flirty smile on his lips, and my belly clenched. “I don’t mind giving it to a handsome man who’s rescuing an adorable, feisty kitten.”

“I, uhm, I—” I was stammering. What the fuck was happening?

I didn’t know what the fuck to say to that. I’d never been hit on by anyone of the same gender. Well, I had by Logan, but he’d always been teasing. He was head over heels for my son. I could never take any of his flirting seriously.

Eros laughed and shook his head, heading for the door. “Hold on. I’ll be right—oh, hey, babe.”

I turned, blinking in surprise at the sexy as fuck man standing in the middle of the room, carrying a plastic bag containing two Styrofoam take-out containers. His hair was dark and hanging over his forehead in very slight waves, only just obscuring his vision. Broad shoulders blocked some of the sunlight peeking in through the window behind him, and tattoos covered every bit of exposed skin, apart from his face. In a black t-shirt and black cargo pants with scuffed-up, steel-toed boots, he looked like he thrived on chaos.

He flicked his hair out of his eyes, revealing dark eyes glinting with mischief. “Now that’s a fine ass man,” he murmured, running his eyes over me. My skin heated. He grinned and winked at me before looking at the doctor. “You hungry? I bought your usual.”

Dr. Hendrix nodded. “Yeah, just give me a few minutes.” He looked at his watch, sighing. “Actually, can you bill Jaxon for today? I have no idea where Heather got off to. She gets so easily distracted,” he muttered, heading for another door and pushing through it.

“Jaxon, huh?” the guy asked, raking his eyes over me again. With the way he was staring at me, I felt oddly naked.

“Uhm, yeah,” I muttered, picking up Ash. She cuddled into me, a loud purr emitting from her tiny body.

He smiled and reached out to rub Ash’s head when I stepped out of the room. “Cute kitty.” She opened her eyes, peering at him before deciding he wasn’t worth her time and shutting her eyes again. “Name’s Zeppelin. I’m Eros’s husband.”

But they were flirting with me?

I knew poly relationships were a thing, but my experience with them was very limited considering that experience only came from Spencer, Ezra, and Logan’s relationship with each other. I was a bit out of my comfort zone. Too many revelations had happened in a way too short amount of time.

I cleared my throat. “I need to get going, if you don’t mind,” I told him, my voice gruff. His smile turned to a smirk, like he knew exactly how much he was confusing me and affecting me. But without a word, he strode over to the counter and rounded it, setting the food down before leaning over the computer.

He got my account set up, and I was handing him my credit card when Eros appeared, holding a plastic bag. “There’s soft food in here and some bottles of formula. I included my card, too. I’ve added my personal number to it. If you have any questions…” He let his voice trail off, but there was no mistaking the hidden suggestion behind his smile.

Zeppelin handed me back my card. “We’re both available,” he told me. “ Anytime day or night.”

Fucking hell .

“Uh, thanks,” I muttered, taking the bag from Eros. And then, I quickly turned and left, overwhelmed and really fucking confused about my sexuality.