“Chaos?” Colby asked, brushing grass off his ass.
“And Mayhem,” Tristan said, gesturing to the other goat, who was now trying to chew through the gate. “They’re sisters. I got them when I first came here. Bryce said I could have a pet, and I wanted something with character.”
“Something with character,” Colby echoed. “You gotgoats.”
“I was fourteen. I’d just discovered goat videos on YouTube. My logic was flawless.”
Colby shook his head in disbelief. “And you kept them?”
“Jason likes to use the milk for cooking. When they’ve kidded, that is. Matt put his foot down about it this year, afterMayhem ate his laptop cable. He said two demon beasts were enough. Jesse and I are working on him for next year, though honestly? If he doesn’t say yes soon, I think Jesse’s going to let them go searching for next door’s billy all by themselves.”
Mayhem had now climbed onto a rain barrel.
“You going to do something about that?” Colby asked.
“Nah,” Tristan said fondly. “She’ll come down when she’s ready. Or she’ll fall and try to style it out.”
Colby eyed the goats with healthy suspicion. “So let me get this straight. You named themChaosandMayhem, and nobody thought that might be tempting fate?”
“Oh, they thought it. Believe me.” Tristan’s grin was sunshine and innocence. “But it wasn’t too bad until they started following me into the kitchen.”
Colby turned slowly to look at him.
Tristan raised both hands innocently. “Just once. Maybe twice. And itwasBryce’s birthday…”
Colby sighed. “You aredangerous.”
“Only when armed with livestock,” Tristan said cheerfully, reaching out to tug Colby closer by the hem of his shirt. “Come on. I’ll make you coffee.”
“Sounds like an offer I can’t—hold on, aren’t you supposed to be studying?”
Tristan shuffled. “Maybe I thought you could test me? I have a quiz on Monday.”
“Okay,” Colby said. “But shouldn’t we do something about the goats first?”
“You’re a braver man than me,” Tristan said. “You can try if you like.”
Colby looked at the goats, looked back at Tristan, and chose the better part of valor.
As they walked together toward the house, a faint thread of contentment uncurled in Colby’s chest, warm and unfamiliar. Something stirred in response. Slight, but unmistakable. It was just a flicker of presence from his wolf, but it was there. Watching.
Chapter Twenty-five
TRISTAN
Tristan managed to knuckle down to some serious coursework in the afternoon, though he did so at the kitchen table rather than the desk in his room. That meant he could rest his eyes from the screen by looking out the window every so often. Out the window to where Chaos appeared to have decided Colby was her new favorite person.
Everywhere Colby went, from collecting eggs to filling troughs to topping up hay nets—because he’d pleaded with Tristan for some jobs he could do to contribute—he was followed by a goat-shaped shadow. One who seemed to take great delight in becoming motionless whenever he glanced around, giving the impression she wasn’t stalking him but simply investigating a random plant or contemplating the sky.
Tristan would need to ensure the goats were locked up for the night in future. Last thing he wanted was Chaos forcing her way into his room when they were about to…
Oh, God. Just the thought of it was getting his blood fizzing. It had been intimate and caring and gorgeous. It had also been hotter than hell, Colby’s firm body plastered against his, the pressure of his cock through the thin, well-washed cotton of boxer shorts.
He bit his knuckle hard and forced himself to concentrate on the screen in front of him. He had to get this done, then he could have the rest of the day with Colby.
* * *
By the time the sun started tipping toward the horizon, Tristan’s coursework was done—well, mostly—and Chaos had finally given up on stalking Colby and wandered off in search of food or mischief, or both. He stood to stretch, arms over his head, and groaned as his spine cracked.
