Resilience by Bailey Bradford Read Free Book Online Page A

hint of his sexuality until tonight, so…
    So Todd was still fucking confused, that was all there was to it, but he was determined not to ignore what was happening between him and Adam any longer. He couldn’t, even if he’d have wanted to. Adam called to him, and, after tasting him, Todd wasn’t going to be able to keep from doing it again.
    He got back to his apartment and stumbled up the steps, and in short order he
    collapsed onto his bed for a few hours. It sucked that he had to work but life was what it was.
    He wouldn’t have not helped Sparky, or missed that kiss with Adam, for the world.
    And the work day itself was more exciting than usual, that was for sure. Todd was out in the boonies because he’d got a call about a stray at old Mrs Shumaker’s place. Todd knew her—she was a snippety, judgemental, ornery woman, one of the people in town who’d
    known about the abuse his father had heaped on him and commented once that Todd should behave himself if he didn’t want to ‘feel the rod’.
    That hadn’t endeared her to Todd one bit.
    He also knew Kaufman had heard the call, and the idea of sneaking another stray from under the jerk’s nose easily overrode Todd’s aversion to Mrs Shumaker. He pulled down the long drive, though, and it wasn’t a dog he saw once he got out and started looking. As soon as he saw the wounded black wolf lying by the barn, Todd started backing up even while he dialled Adam’s cell number. He wasn’t sure what was wrong with it, but the animal was bigger than he’d have expected a wolf to be. It’s fur was dull and grungy looking, like there was dried blood and God only knew what in it here and there. All in all, the wolf didn’t look good, and Todd wasn’t sure it could get up, but he didn’t want to find out the hard way and end up being mauled or whatever.
    Adam answered after the first ring. “Hey, Todd, got another rescue?”
    He sounded so casual, as if the kiss hadn’t turned him on his ear like it had Todd. Well, maybe it hadn’t—or maybe Adam was a really good actor. Todd intended to find out. “Yeah, there’s a wolf—”
    “A what?” Adam asked, his voice hitching a bit.
    “A wolf, and it looks pretty bad. Can you come?”
    Adam huffed but Todd could hear him gathering stuff up in the background. “Yeah,
    yeah, I can, but I’ve only ever dealt with cats and dogs and the occasional rodent. And a snake, once, but—” Adam made a clucking noise. “Oh, listen to me rattling on. Tell me where to go.”
    Todd did, and added that Adam needed to hurry since Kaufman had likely heard about
    the call. Next Todd called Gabe, who wasn’t as far away as Adam, then he couldn’t do anything else but wait for the others to arrive, and hope to hell they got there before Kaufman did.
    When Gabe arrived, Todd waved him on back. Gabe parked close to where he was
    standing. Todd noticed Gabe left the truck running, probably to take off in a hurry if he needed to. Gabe was smart like that.
    “Look at him, Gabe. The poor thing’s barely alive.” At least it seemed so to Todd. The longer he’d stood there waiting, the worse off the wolf appeared to be to him.
    Gabe walked around him and went right up to the wolf. Todd’s pulse shot up at that.
    He’d been scared to get too close, but Gabe didn’t hesitate. Adam arrived shortly after that, and Todd tried not to eat the man up with his eyes. He was ashamed of the way he’d run off after the kiss, and was more than a little hesitant to look Adam in the eye.
    But Adam didn’t spare him a glance, his attention on Gabe and the wolf. Adam started scolding Gabe and Todd moved up to the front of the barn. He needed to keep an eye out for Kaufman, and anyway, if he stayed to close to Adam, he might beg the man to kiss him again. Adam would probably laugh at me if I did. Why would he want to kiss me after the way I acted?
    Todd kept glancing back, unable not to steal glimpses of Adam while he had the
    chance. Adam and