By the Numbers by Chris Owen and Tory Temple Read Free Book Online Page B

reminds me." He reached around to tug something out of his back pocket. "Here's a pocket shift calendar. I'm the green numbers."
    Deuce leaned forward to take the card and brushed his fingers along Trey's. "Thanks. This'll be a real help, 'specially after I move in. I'll know what nights not to worry when you don't get home."
    Trey didn't let go immediately, looking as if he enjoyed the contact. "I don't go out that much. If I'm not home, I'm at work. And there's the little matter of Lacey. She'll be with me for a few days at a time."
    "Cool. I look forward to meeting her. Do you want me to clear out while she's with you?"
    "Nah. She's a good kid. Reads, mostly. We go out to dinner, and I'll take her to a movie now and then, but she never asks for stuff and is totally fine with staying home, too. I hope it lasts, because I hear really bad shit about teenage girls from the older guys at work." Trey looked uncomfortable just thinking about it.
    "I'm sure you'll handle it just fine when the time comes." Deuce thought for a moment. "If she's into it, we can get her into training the dogs. Doing things like agility or fly ball, when she's older. For now just learning how to teach them commands might keep her interested."
    "Oh, she'll love it. She's been asking for a pet since she was five. I'm sure she'll go home and ask her mother if she can live with me full time. That'll be another reason for Holly to call me up and yell."
    "She can yell at me -- I'm a real prick when women start getting shrill at me. But not when Lacey's around, promise." He'd have to remember to watch himself when the child was over for the weekend -- not so much his language but his subject matter. Deuce glanced around at the puppies. "Are we missing one?"
    "There's one here." Trey picked the sleeping one out of his lap. "And there are two over there, disguised as one big lump. Come on, I'll help you collect them and bring them inside." He cradled Six in one muscular forearm and reached for another puppy.
    "Thanks." Deuce watched him with the dogs and nodded to himself. Things were going to work out just fine, he thought. It was getting more promising by the minute, really. Dinner, a room to stay, and possible dates... things were fine, indeed.
     

Six
     
    Fuck, fuck, fuck. Trey muttered profanity and nonsense words to himself as he checked the stuffed artichokes in the oven.
    It had sounded like such a good idea at the time. Invite Deuce to stay, bring the dogs, sure you can meet Lacey, come on over for dinner, oh by the way, if we ever go out on a date, I love museums. And hey, here's a shift calendar so you know exactly when I'll be at work and when I'm home.
    When the hell did Trey get so desperate?
    He'd been doing fine since the divorce. That was two years ago already, and life had gone on. There were guys he'd met and liked, a couple he'd fucked more than once, and one he'd even seen a few times after that. He'd been truthful with Deuce, though. No dates. It was kind of weird, with Lacey and everything. Trey knew the day was coming when he would need to sit down with his daughter and explain to her why Daddy preferred men to women. Holly had already -- without Trey’s permission, mind -- told Lacey that Trey liked boys better than girls. However, it was Trey’s job to explain the why part of that, if possible. Someday.
    But then Deuce and his dogs had appeared, and now Trey thought that day might come sooner than he'd expected.
    The doorbell rang and a quick look through the window allowed Trey to see Deuce at the door, holding two bottles of wine and looking back at the front yard, his eyes hidden by sun glasses. He was dressed in jeans and short-sleeved blue shirt, open over a white T.
    His anxiety dissipated almost instantly. Trey paused just a moment longer to take in the man standing on his doorstep. The blue was nice on him, although Trey thought that Deuce could be wearing pajamas and a robe and still meet with approval. He was really one of