Page 13 of Foxed Up

I wondered what it would take to get him into t-shirts and shorts. I knew for certain he had great legs and cute knees, but like a lot of guys, he seemed self-conscious about displaying much skin below the waist. He was almost as bad as a straight man in that sense.

"How's it going, foxy?" I asked. I'd have nudged him with my shoulder if he'd been standing a little closer, but he was sort of keeping his distance, and so was his expression, a vague frown, a slight look of being somewhere else and not entirely happy.

I hoped he wasn't dreading this meeting that much. It really was just the beginning, not a make-or-break situation. I wasn't giving up on either of them even if this picnic went wrong.

Avery shrugged, not taking his hands out of his pockets. I longed to reach over and tweak his curls, smooth his hair a little. But now wasn't the time or place, I guessed. And he seemed so distant, like if I touched him he might turn a hard look on me. I tried to think of anything I'd done.

Aside from acting like an asshole with Phelan, nothing. I'd been a pretty good boyfriend, I thought. But I didn't have much practice, so maybe I hadn't done as well as I'd thought. Could I have forgotten his birthday or an important anniversary? Did those kinds of things matter to gay people as much as to straight people?

I was generalizing, obviously, but I just couldn't imagine a man getting as upset about a skipped anniversary as a woman would, even a gay man. But if I had, and Avery was upset about it, how did I fix it? It wasn't his birthday, surely? I really should have his file memorized… If that wasn't worse than forgetting his birthday, at any rate. I had a feeling it ranked someplace on the creepiness scale where I didn't want to go, but I wasn't certain. Avery was so good at all the files he'd probably have some way of knowing if I checked into his, too. Better to just ask.

"What's up?" I asked him with a smile.

He shrugged, avoiding my gaze. "When do we eat?" He turned his gaze on the grill, looking far from happy, his mouth twisted down. A cold feeling began to grow in my stomach.

He couldn't have overheard that...could he? Yeah, foxes have a great sense of hearing — all shifters do — but he'd been outside when I made that fuck-up, hadn't he? There was no way he could've known.

"Soon," I said. He gave a vague nod and wandered away to go and look at the yard. I stared after him, then quickly flipped a burger. His shoulders, his stance...yes, something was definitely wrong. He was hurt, possibly angry, definitely stewing about something.

It wasn't the rabbit now, it was me. I was almost entirely positive of that. I didn't see much margin for doubting it.Damn it.

Who might've squealed to him? Not that jerk Claire, surely? She'd been pissed off when she found out we were not just working together, but actually dating. Like she really thought she and I would work. Give me a fucking break. Even if I still liked ditsy blondes, which I don't, not after Dianna, we wouldn't have been good together.

Matt. That bastard, Matt. He'd do anything to break us up. I hadn't thought he was nearby, but if he had been, or had heard it from someone else, I had no doubt at all that he'd have passed word along. He'd do anything to break us up, the slimeball.

"Hey, Wallace," I said, putting down the spatula and springing towards my boyfriend. My very distant boyfriend. "Uh, did Matt say something to you today? Because, uh—"

"No." His mouth was compressed, like maybe he was trying not to show negative emotions: weakness, sadness, distress.Damn Matt! Couldn't he have kept his conniving mouth shut? Didn't I deserve a chance to make any mistakes privately? I'd been doing better, really. My first slip-up in a while and he had to go and report it straight to the man who would be hurt the most by it. The man I'd never wanted to hurt at all.

I touched his arm. "Um, hey, Wallace, I don't know what you heard, but I'm sorr—"

"Daddy!" Eli came barreling into the backyard, arms stretched wide. Mom had picked him up from his after-school tutoring so I could get started on the barbecue. We really wanted him to be able to graduate with his class, but so far it was taking a lot of extra work, on his part and ours. He was a good kid, but classroom stuff didn't come easy to him. It took a lot of time and a lot of patience to manage, when he was still getting up to snuff in so many other areas.

I couldn't help the proud, probably sappy smile that crossed my face when I saw him. I dropped to a crouch and held my arms open, letting him barrel into me. He seemed to love running into a hug really hard, lately, as if he was a linebacker going for the tackle. It used to be he was more tentative. Now he reveled in these running hugs, relishing my strength to catch him, to keep him safe.

"Oof." I stood up, making a show of how heavy he was. "You're getting so big, buddy!"

He laughed. He still liked hearing that. "Daddy, I—" Then he saw Wallace, and his smile died really quickly. He squinted at Wallace, his mouth going thin. "Who's...that?"

Wallace gave him a coolly amused look, a hint of laughter in his eyes. "I'm the evil step-whatever, don't you know?" He waggled his eyebrows portentously, a grin twitching at his mouth. Whatever he'd been upset about seemed to have left his thoughts for the moment. I'd work things out with him later.

"You are not," said Eli, sounding uncertain. He gave me a quick look, asking for help, checking to see what was going on here.

"This is my boyfriend," I said, nodding to Wallace. "Wallace Avery." It still felt strange to say that aloud.

"Pleased to meet you, Eli," said Wallace politely, looking as if he didn't expect to have the sentiment returned and wasn't bothered by that.

Eli stared at him for a moment, then buried his head against my shoulder, hugging his arms around me and going limp and heavy in my arms, as if he was giving up in some way. He kept his face hidden there, hands grasping and unclasping on my shirt. He did not respond at all, the happiness and buoyant energy completely absent from him now.

I gave Wallace an apologetic shrug, and patted Eli's back, carrying him towards the house. "Wallace, will you flip the burgers for me?" I said.

Eli raised his head and looked at me from close, squinting a little, trying to look like he wasn't close to crying. "I could do that."

"You're gonna get changed out of your school clothes and get ready for a barbecue. Don't want you ruining another one of your good t-shirts with barbecue sauce." The kid could really go through school clothes. I hadn't been that bad at that age, had I?

"You want to wear your dinosaur shirt?" I asked. "Hm?"

He shrugged, mouth twisting a little.