Page 10 of The Grumpy Vet (Vet Shop Boys Down Under #3)

Dario

"Holy fucking shit,"

Ryde spits out, panic rising on his features as he races towards the open door of Linus's bedroom.

Up until three seconds ago, we were drying off and getting changed into our normal clothes.

"What's going o?—"

"Shh!"

He cuts me off with one arm as he stands in the doorway and cranes his neck towards the hallway. He listens, for I don't know what, for a few seconds before he clasps a hand over his mouth, closes the bedroom door, and scurries back over to me.

"Get changed. Quick."

"What's going on, Ryde?"

All colour has drained from his face.

"Dad's here."

"What?!"

"I heard voices, and since I haven't known Linus to talk to himself…"

He points to the bedroom door.

"It's Dad. He's here. In town. In. This. House."

"Oh, fucking shit shit shit."

I scramble, drying myself off as fast as I can then jumping into my clothes.

Ryde does the same. Once we're both dressed, I grab him by the shoulders and stare straight into his panic-stricken blue eyes.

"Just play it cool, okay?"

I say, doing my best to keep the alarm out of my voice.

"Your dad knows about these training sessions we're doing, right?"

Ryde nods.

"Yeah. I told him about it when we first started."

"Good."

Less good is Ryde's face. It's growing even more pale by the second. I give him a little shake to wake him up. Now is not the time to falter. He needs to be on his A game. We both do.

"So, look, if your dad knows we use Linus's home gym, there's nothing weird about us being here. It's normal to have a shower and get changed after a workout."

I pause.

"It's not like your dad walked in on us having a shower together."

Ryde scrubs his hands down his face, letting out a pained groan.

"Can you imagine if he got here ten minutes earlier?"

"No. No, I cannot. And you shouldn't either. Let's thank our lucky stars that didn't happen and go out there and act normal. Surprised to see him, but normal because we've just had a normal workout followed by a normal shower. Nothing to see here at all."

Ryde lets out a shaky breath and starts nodding.

"Okay. Yeah. Normal. I can do that."

"Good. Now let's get out there and save Linus. He's got to be shitting a brick. That's one hell of a surprise he just got."

Ryde's eyes bulge.

"Shit. You're right."

With a final quick towel dry of his hair, we race out of Linus's bedroom, only slowing when we approach the kitchen and the sound of the two men's voices grows louder.

"Dad!"

Ryde exclaims.

"What a surprise!"

He crosses the kitchen and gives his father a hug. That gives me enough time to shoot Linus a quick look and mouth, "What the fuck?"

He shrugs a shoulder then refocuses on Ryde and Oakey. Good idea. I need to take my own advice and act cool. Nothing to see here, folks.

"Oakey,"

I say, putting on a warm smile.

He embraces me.

"Good to see you, Dario."

Oakey Hunt has always been nothing but nice to me, welcoming me into his home with open arms. Over the years, I've sometimes worried that he's picked up on my feelings for Ryde, but if he has, he hasn't said anything. At least not to me, and I'm pretty sure not to Ryde, either. Surely Ryde would've mentioned it if he had.

"How was your workout?"

he asks, but since it's not clear which one of us the question is directed to, the three of us stare at each other, unsure who should answer first. Oakey's blue eyes—similar to Ryde's but a shade lighter—narrow, flicking between me and his son a few times.

"Great,"

I finally say.

"Ryde's been whipping us into shape."

Oakey quirks a brow and turns to Linus.

"You getting in on the action, too, mate?"

Linus chokes out a chuckle then clears his throat.

"Yeah. Figured I could stand to get into shape."

"Too right you can. You're a monster. I can barely look at you."

Oakey shields his eyes as we all laugh politely—and maybe a little nervously—at his joke. Seriously, you could cut the tension in here with a knife.

I guess when I asked Ryde before if he'd told his dad about these workouts, I should have asked if he'd mentioned that Linus was involved as well. It's clear now he omitted that minor detail.

Linus adds another plate and serves up chicken stir fry for the four of us.

"So, and I mean this in the nicest possible way of course, what are you doing here?"

Ryde asks his old man once we're seated around the dining table.

"Oh, you know, I was just in the neighbourhood,"

he replies with a wry grin.

Ryde raises a brow. "Right."

"Nah, I just wanted to pop in. It's been a while since you've been home, and I've been at a bit of a loose end since things ended with Fiona, so…here I am."

"Well, it's good to see you," I say.

"It's good to be here,"

he says, then, "Oh, shit. I'm an idiot."

"What's up, Dad?"

"With Dario staying at yours, I guess that doesn't leave any room for me."

"I've got a spare room,"

Linus chips in.

"You can stay here. For a reasonable price."

Oakey chuckles.

"I was a very fair landlord to you back in the day, thank you very much."

"You were,"

Linus concedes.

"And I got my full bond back despite what I did to the bathroom drains."

Oakey tilts his head.

"What did you do to the bathroom drains?"

Linus chuckles.

"Nothing, mate. I'm joking."

Oakey's head tilts even more. "You…are?"

"It's what people do. They talk. They make jokes. I'm learning."

Linus's eyes dart between me and Ryde, igniting a flare of warmth in my chest.

He really is trying, and he's opening up to Ryde and me, in the same way I opened up to them in the bathroom. I honestly didn't think I could go through with taking my shirt off, which may sound silly, but to me, it was the most terrifying thing in the world. But then I thought about how safe they make me feel, and I knew that whatever fears I had, they were mine, not theirs. So I did it. And I'm glad I didn't fucking dilly dally about it, or Oakey would have walked in on a whole other scene.

"I'm impressed,"

Oakey tells his best mate.

"You're living proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

The two men exchange a warm smile before moving on, with Linus filling Oakey in about what's been happening around Scuttlebutt and the clinic. That gives me an opportunity to catch my breath and ponder how the arrival of our new visitor is going to affect things.

I'm sure it'll be no problem for Ryde and me to continue using Linus's gym, but it might be a good idea if Linus doesn't join us. In fact, it might be a good idea if the three of us limit spending time together outside of work until Oakey leaves.

Which…feels pretty awful. But I think it's the right thing to do. At the clinic, we've got the busyness of work to occupy our minds and hide our feelings. But when we're alone, an electric charge buzzes between us, and we cannot—repeat cannot—let Oakey catch on. He's a smart, observant man, and I don't think we have it in us to pull one over on him.

I do my best not to let the disappointment of the three of us possibly spending less time together show on my face, and when Oakey asks me how I'm finding working at the clinic, I tell him a story about Muir and Fitz that has him cracking up.

But on the inside, it feels like someone is squeezing my chest tighter and tighter until I can no longer breathe.

I don't get it.

If this is just a casual thing, why does the loss of it—or at the very least, the temporary postponement of it—weigh so heavily on my heart? Sure, I'll miss the fun we have because seriously, I've never experienced this level of hotness ever before, but it's more than just the sexy times.

I like just hanging out with them both, shooting the shit, making fun of Ryde, and watching as he gets increasingly more confident and starts volleying back with his own jokes and teasing. We have a special vibe when it's just the three of us. It's unlike anything I've ever experienced.

But it's not just the three of us anymore, so I guess I'm just going to have to accept this new reality and adjust my behaviour accordingly.

Ryde

"This is a nightmare,"

I declare as soon as we close the car doors.

"Don't start just yet,"

Dario says in the weird, friendly but clipped way he's been speaking since Dad showed up.

"Who knows? Maybe your dad can lip read?"

I start the car and wave at Dad and Linus standing on the front porch, as they wave back at us.

"Oh my fucking god."

I bang my head against the headrest once they're firmly in my rearview mirror.

"Nightmare, nightmare, nightmare."

"I feel bad for Linus. He's got this lumped on him, and he doesn't have anyone to vent to. We at least have each other."

Dario's hand lands on my lap.

"Is this okay?"

I nod, his touch sending gentle waves of relief through my tensed-up body.

"It's just what I need."

"Good. Now relax. We got through that. Everything from here onwards will be easier."

"How do you figure?"

"We survived an unexpected Oakey ambush. From here on out, we'll have time to plan our moves in advance."

"You make it sound like we're in a war zone."

"Uh, no,"

he says, and I can hear the hint of playfulness in his voice.

"A war zone is much less scary."

I chuckle.

"God. If Dad ever found out?—"

"He won't. We'll make sure of it. None of the guys at the clinic have cottoned on, have they?"

"No."

"No one in town's any the wiser, are they?"

"No."

"So, we'll be fine with your dad. Besides, he's not going to stay forever, I assume, so it's only for a little while that we're going to have to make some…adjustments."

"Yeah."

I chew down my lower lip.

"I guess you're right."

Dario's argument is solid, and I want to believe him, but I'm still in shock. Just mentioning Dad casually in a conversation when the three of us are talking is enough to throw me for a loop. Being face-to-face with him in Linus's house with the taste of Linus's cum still lingering in my mouth is enough to send me spiralling.

Which I'm going to try super hard not to do. The stakes are just as high for Linus as they are for me, and I need to get my shit together because the last thing I want to do is ruin their decades-long friendship.

"Penny for your thoughts,"

Dario says as I pull into the driveway.

"I'm just thinking about how to best handle this situation."

I kill the engine and turn to face Dario.

"Dad cannot find out about this."

"I know."

"Whatever it takes, we have to make sure he doesn't."

"I agree."

Then, in an attempt to lighten the mood, Dario sticks out his pinky finger and wiggles it in front of me.

"To doing whatever it takes."

I hook mine around his and repeat, "To doing whatever it takes."

"Can we talk for a second, son?"

"Uh, sure. Gimme a sec,"

I reply to Dad who's standing in the doorway of the laundry.

I finish folding the last of my clothes and follow him into the kitchen.

He's been in Scuttlebutt for almost a week now, and it's been great hanging out together.

I miss him a lot, and I've been worried about him since Fiona called things off.

She was nice, and I got on really well with her, but as he explained, they wanted different things.

She's super career focused, while he wants to buy a camper van and do a lap of Australia.

It was an amicable breakup, but it still sucks that a great guy like him is single again.

When I joked over beers at the pub a few days ago that he should widen his horizons and date a dude, he chuckled and said, "Maybe I should."

He's going back to Blowend tomorrow.

Linus, Dario, and I have all done a stellar job of acting normal and not raising any suspicions.

Training sessions have just been me and Dario, and due to our work schedules, we've only all hung out together twice.

We're on the brink of pulling it off.

Dad doesn't suspect a thing.

Which is a massive relief, but also…a little sad?

He and I are close.

Always have been since Mum up and left one day when I was seven.

She hooked up with some guy from high school, and that was it.

She and Dad weren't married, but they were living together, and hello, they had a kid.

But none of that mattered to her, so it's been me and him ever since.

He's not just my dad, he's also my best friend.

We have a great relationship, and I've always been able to share everything with him.

I came out to him when I was twelve.

He was with me during my embarrassing Justin Bieber crush era.

He supported me as I see-sawed between Team Edward and Team Jacob—I finally settled on Team Jacob because abs.

I even told him about the first time I had sex and how it didn't feel as great as I thought it would.

Through it all, he's been my biggest backer, my unconditional support system, a complete judgement-free zone.

But this?

Telling him what Linus, Dario, and I have been doing would be pushing it too far. This breaks so many conventions, and as cool and accepting and open-minded as Dad is, I know he'd struggle to accept his best mate and his son doing the stuff we've been doing.

It's a line too far.

A line we've crossed so many times, and I feel awful that a part of me wants Dad to hurry up and leave so we can go back and keep crossing it as soon as he's gone.

At the same time, I feel terrible keeping a secret from him, even one like this that could possibly upset him and ruin his friendship with Linus.

"What's up?"

I ask, plonking down beside him on the couch.

"I want to tell you something I've observed during my time here."

My heart stutters with nerves behind my ribcage.

"Um. Okay. What's that?"

"I could be way off, but I doubt it. Even though my own love life is in shambles at the moment, I can spot someone in love from a mile away."

Forget stuttering, my heart stops. Like, it's about to take a beat but goes, Nah, I'ma skip this one.

"Wh-what are you saying?"

"Dario,"

he replies in that all-knowing Dad voice he gets sometimes.

I scrunch up my nose. "Dario?"

"He's in love with you."

"What? No. We're best friends. That's it."

Dad's eyebrow lifts north.

"Best friends who shower together?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The day I arrived. Linus was making dinner while you two were getting showered and changed. Together. You should've seen both your faces when you came out to greet me. A giant Busted sign was flashing over both of your heads. And there have been other things."

"What other things?"

"The way he looks at you when he thinks you're not looking. The way his eyes go soft whenever you speak. The way he reaches out to touch you but stops himself and quickly looks over to see whether I've noticed. Son, I think your best mate is in love with you."

A gust of air leaves my lungs. On the one hand, I'm relieved Dad hasn't uncovered what's really going on, but on the other, I'm confused. What is he talking about? He's wrong. Dario isn't in love with me. He can't be. It makes no sense.

Then again, I can't or shouldn't be in love with Linus, and yet I am.

This is all way too confusing.

"Keep an eye out for it, son. And you'll see,"

Dad says, patting my knee.

"It might be purely friendship love at your end, but I'm pretty certain it's more than that for Dario."

I finally meet his gaze.

"Gonna need some time to process this."

"Take all the time you need."

He smiles warmly.

"But trust me, I know a thing or two about these things."

And with that cryptic comment, he gets up and says, "I'm heading over to Linus's. You wanna join?"

"Nah. I'm good."

"All right. We still on for dinner?"

"Yeah, we are."

"Cool. I'll be back then."

"No worries."

I sink back deeper into the couch. After the bombshell Dad just dropped, I've got some serious thinking to do.