“No,friendship,” Finn said. “Which involves telling you what you need to hear, sometimes.”
Oscar snorted. “I feel like ninety percent of our relationship is you telling me what I need to hear. How would I live without you?”
That, Oscar supposed, was the other thing he’d been afraid of. Finn was his best friend. The thought of losing him if this place went under was too much to bear, too. His wholeliferevolved around the sanctuary.
Fear and doubt were reasonable responses to hearing that it was right on the verge of collapse.
“What’s the other ten percent?”
Oscar shrugged. “I guess that’s the part where you get some value out of the deal.”
Finn laughed again, crossing the room and throwing an arm around Oscar’s shoulders, pulling him in for a hug. “This isn’t a transaction,” he said. “I like having you in my life. You’re fun, and you know stuff, and I can talk to you about my job for hours without you getting bored.”
“I guess,” Oscar said, leaning into the hug. He liked it when Finn hugged him.
It was a shame he saw him more as a brother than a boyfriend. They could have been good for each other if not for the fact that the thought of kissing him was mildly repulsive.
Not becauseFinnwas repulsive—he was objectively gorgeous, the kind of man people would have fought over—but because he just… wasn’t for Oscar. There was no spark between them at all.
But that was fine, because there was no one in the world Oscar was more comfortable with, either.
“And you let me have all the pineapple off your half of the pizza,” Finn added.
Oscar made a face at the thought of eatingpineappleon a pizza. “That’s because you’re disgusting.”
Finn grinned at him as though that was the highest compliment he’d ever been paid. “Thank you. I love you, too.”
“I do love you,” Oscar said. Hedidlove Finn, and May, and he loved this place and every animal that came through it. He loved anyone or anything that showed him love.
The thought of losing all that had made him panic.
He needed to apologize to Ryan. Because Ryan had been trying tosavethat, and he’d yelled at him for it. Which wasn’t fair.
“I know.” Finn smiled at him. “You’ll be okay for the weekend.”
Oscar sighed. “I’m holding Ryan to that foot massage he promised me.”
Finn raised an eyebrow. “He promised you a foot massage and you still think he’s straight?”
“I know he’s straight,” Oscar said. “I… insisted on getting a foot massage in exchange for doing this.”
Finn snorted. “Wow. Even while you were mad at him you were still thinking with your dick.”
“It’s gotta be good for something.” Oscar shrugged. “I was too upset to think with my brain.”
“Jesus,” Finn responded, rolling his eyes. “Help me move this dog, will you?”
The small terrier on the table really didn’tneedtwo people to move it, but Oscar dutifully followed Finn over and opened up the recovery crate that was already prepped for it. The owner would be back in this afternoon, but Finn needed to watch it for a few hours, just in case it reacted badly to the anesthetic.
They’d been through this so many times that Oscar could basically have done the operation himself at this point. He’d come to think of it as one-on-one time with Finn, a rare break where Finn would swear blind that Oscar really needed to be there in case he needed a second pair of hands.
It was nice to be trusted. Especially when it came to a beloved pet.
Yet another thing Oscar didn’t want to risk losing.
The weekend ahead would be fine. He wouldn’t be alone, and he owed Ryan an apology anyway, so maybe once that was done they could even have a little fun.
Making new friends was nice, and nothing said bonding like having to pretend to be boyfriends in front of strangers for a weekend.
What could possibly go wrong?
