“I’m sure Hudson would like to help,” Aaron said. Hudson was as excited about the pups as he’d ever seen anyone.
“Maybe we won’t ask Bastian,” Carter replied. He slid down the front of the couch to sit beside Aaron. And he was sittingclose enough that their legs touched. “He named himself Bas as a cat.”
Aaron laughed. “I’m not one-hundred-percent sure how that happened.”
“Eat.” Carter bumped his elbow against Aaron’s arm.
Yes, sir! Aaron bit back the words. While he would be teasing, Aaron also sort of wanted Carter to boss him around. Shifting his leg away and placing his plate over his lap, Aaron mentally scolded himself to stop thinking about Carter as anything other than a friend. A friend. That was all.
Taking a big bite of the toasted sandwich, Aaron nearly choked with how fucking good it was! The cheese was perfectly melted, the green and red peppers added the right amount of crunch, and the steak tasted fucking amazing. A moan escaped before Aaron could hold it back.
“That good?” Carter questioned with a smile and leaning close.
Aaron nodded his head while chewing. He couldn’t wait to take another bite!
“You have something—” Carter used his thumb to swipe something off the corner of Aaron’s mouth.
Aaron froze in place.
“Cheesy,” Carter said before sucking his thumb into his mouth.
Aaron was grateful the plate was over his lap as his cock came to full fucking attention. That was way hotter than it should have been.
“Eat more.” Carter dropped his gaze to Aaron’s mouth.
Eat? Fuck the food! Aaron wanted to feast on Carter’s lips. He was jealous of Carter’s own thumb. He found himself edging closer until the front door swung open and banged into the wall behind it.
Aaron and Carter both jumped. The pups awoke and started to bark.
“We’re here!” Hudson announced loudly. Like that wasn’t obvious.
Drawing back, Aaron didn’t know whether to thank Hudson for his amazing timing or curse him. Kissing Carter? That might be the biggest mistake of his life. Not kissing him could be even worse.
Chapter Four
Carter
“What do you mean Bas is moving in?” he demanded barely above a whisper. Carter had been told that the shifters could hear most everything. And, okay, while Carter was willing to admit that made sense in this strange paranormal story he found himself in, the words his brother was saying did not.
Hudson shrugged. “We’re mates.”
Pinching the ridge of his nose, Carter forced himself to remain calm. This couldn’t be happening. Not right now. He was just starting to think that he could handle all this information that had dropped on his lap and now this.
“I could move into his cabin with him,” Hudson said. “I…I just didn’t want to leave you. Not…yet.”
Carter dropped his hand. “I don’t want you to leave either.” That was the truth. He just hadn’t expected for Hudson to bring home a man that neither of them barely knew.
“So that means Bas is going to live with us!” Hudson replied cheerfully.
Great. Awesome. It was bad enough that Hudson and Bas had interrupted what Carter was sure was going to be his and Aaron’s first kiss, but now this? It was a lot to take in.
“I mean”—Hudson gave Carter a huge grin—“you have a man here.”
Carter rolled his eyes. “He’s helping me take care of the puppies.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Hudson’s smile grew. “I still haven’t heard about how you ended up in the middle of the state park rescuing three puppies. That doesn’t sound like something you’d normally do on your day off. Unless there is something that you haven’t been telling me?”
“Don’t you have a man to help settle in?” Carter asked. He had no problem throwing his brother in Bas’s direction if it got Carter out of answering all his brother’s nosy questions. At least that would be a benefit of Bas just moving in. No notice or anything.
