CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
SAWYER
“So what’s the verdict, Doc? Will our little princess be okay?”
Despite the stethoscope, I still managed to hear Walter’s question. I looked up to see him and his partner, Lenny, holding hands where they sat on the couch.
“She’ll be fine, my love,” Lenny said as he pulled Walter’s hand up to press a kiss against the back of it. Walter tore his eyes from the squirming ball of white fur in my hands and leaned his head against Lenny’s shoulder. Despite the fact that both men were nearing their eighth decade of life, my heart always felt fuller whenever I saw the two of them interact. Their history was a long and painful one and although they’d spent most of their lives apart, there was no doubt that they’d been meant to be together from day one. How many people were lucky enough to find that?
The question sent my thoughts immediately to the very place I’d been avoiding both in my head and in person for three days now.
This hurts so fucking much.
I could still hear the fear in his voice as he brokenly whispered the words against my lips. The amount of trust he’d shown me…
God, what the hell had I done?
“Sawyer?”
I heard my name being spoken but it wasn’t Jett’s deep, husky voice that tore me from my thoughts. I turned my head from the wall I’d been staring at. I looked down at my lap and saw that Puddles had escaped and was now sitting between Walter and Lenny who were both looking at me with concern.
“Sawyer?” my friend Ford said softly as he gently put his hand on my shoulder like he was afraid he was going to startle me.
“Yeah, no, sorry,” I said with a shake of my head as I tried to clear my head of the image of Jett’s soulful eyes as he’d kissed me right before he’d made me come.
Not yet.
Those had been the last words he’d spoken before his eyes had drifted shut. He’d tried to reach for me as well, but he’d been too spent.
“Sawyer?” Ford said for what had to be at least the third time.
“Sorry,” I murmured as I looked first at him and then at the couple across from me.
So fucking unprofessional, Sawyer.
For once, I was glad for Marcus’s voice in my head.
“Puddles will be fine,” I said as I put my stethoscope away. “I’m pretty sure I know what’s causing her weight gain, though.”
“It’s all those Doritos he feeds her in bed,” Lenny chided.
“Why shouldn’t she get some too?” Walter asked as he patted his lap. Puddles immediately hopped into it. “She deserves a reward for staying in her own bed while we fu—”
“Fumble with the remote!” Lenny interrupted. His pale cheeks went bright with color as he shot Walter a hard look.
“What?” Walter asked innocently. “It ain’t like we’re the only ones doin’ it in this house. At least we’re not using the garage or car or shed like that one over there”—Walter motioned to Ford who’d returned to the doorway of the den—“and Sheriff Well-Hung.”
“Jesus, Walter—” Ford said as his cheeks also went pink.
It was all I could do not to laugh out loud. I wished I could be a fly on the wall when Ford told his lover, Camden Wells, who was, in fact, sheriff of Pelican Bay, about his new nickname.
“Well, am I lying?” the crotchety old man asked Ford. He then turned his eyes on Lenny and smiled slyly. “At least I know how to make sure my man is comfortable when I’m—”
Lenny slapped his hand over Walter’s mouth. “So, Doc, you were saying about Puddles?” Lenny implored. He dropped his hand from Walter’s mouth and then promptly leaned in to softly kiss his man.
I shot a glance at Ford who was watching the couple as well. His eyes shifted briefly to mine before he sent me a knowing smile. No doubt he and Cam saw plenty of the PDA between Walter and Lenny since they’d invited the geriatric couple to live with them. Of course, they probably also got more than an eyeful of sexy times between the old men since neither of them seemed to be able to keep their hands off one another.
As was the current case because the kiss Lenny had started went on for several long seconds. Ford actually had to clear his throat to remind the men of our presence because one of Walter’s hands had gone from holding Puddles to settling on Lenny’s thigh to moving farther north the longer the kiss lasted.
The men broke apart in surprise. It took both a few seconds to collect themselves. I couldn’t help but wonder what it was like to love someone so much that the rest of the world fell away when you were together.
“I don’t think it’s the Doritos,” I said to both men before hastily moving on to my next question. “Walter, I can’t believe I never thought to ask you this or to check for myself, but did you ever get Puddles spayed?”