Page 16 of The Fault Next Door

Nolan didn’t know what to think. No one should have been at his place. A bad feeling slid through him. “Thanks for looking out for me.”

“That’s what neighbors do.”

“I really appreciate it. Let me pay you back and have you over for dinner.”

“Can’t tonight. How about Friday?”

“Sure.” Nolan stopped himself from saying it was a date because it wasn’t. No way would he say anything about this being a date or anything like that at all.

The call ended, and he went back to shopping, wondering who the heck had been sneaking around his house. He finished at the store and when he got home, he made sure nothing had been disturbed. This small town had made him complacent. He should have installed an alarm the day he moved in. He was gone from home on a predictable schedule. If he lived in a larger city, he would have installed an alarm and cameras already.

This weekend, he would figure out what he wanted and place an order. It wouldn’t be too hard to get it installed and up and running. Then he would be safe, or relatively safe, though he was still a gay man living in a deep red area.

Chapter 12

Ryder was looking forwardto spending the evening with Nolan. He wasn't examining his feelings on the matter too deeply. It was just a coincidence that he'd woken this morning to wood so hard he came before he even moved. That hadn't happened in ages.

Getting his libido back was encouraging. The year after Amy died, he hadn't masturbated once. When he spoke to a doctor about it at some random appointment, the man had said it wasn't surprising. That grief stole more than just sleep. He'd looked it up and found that some people spent years not having any desire at all, so he didn't feel bad about it. But waking to cum shooting out of his cock from rubbing up against the sheets was bizarre.

He pushed the errant desire out of his mind as he drove home. The date with Nolan wasn’t why he was excited. Not that it was a date. They were just two friends hanging out. There wasn’t anything to the evening. He hung out with guys all the time.

Ryder didn't investigate that thought too much because he'd only hung out with guys and their wives when he and Amymoved to Atlanta. He might have done a few nights with the guys, but that had been when his friends had gotten married, and it had only been five or so times.

He pulled up into his driveway as Nolan was stepping from his car. Excitement pulsed through him, and his lips spread into a wide grin.

“Hey,” he shouted as he stepped from his truck.

Nolan was in his driveway, a smile on his face. “Hey yourself. Do you need help with the chores before we eat? I noticed Mavis is complaining.”

Ryder chuckled. “She’s always complaining. I’ll toss a bit of hay into the pen and let her munch on that while we eat. I’ll do the stuff after dinner when it’s not so hot.”

"I can help you then. I'd like to learn, so if you're away for a weekend or something, I don't hear Mavis bawling all night."

He laughed again. He hadn't laughed this much since Amy. He felt so much better when he was talking to Nolan. It didn't make sense, but it was like they had some weird connection. Maybe this was the brother he never had and needed. That would explain the feelings and thoughts, well, some of them.

“Sure. After we eat and sit around for a bit. You know, once the night starts to cool, we’ll come out and I’ll show you what I do.”

“Sounds good. I’m going to go change. Come in when you get over to my place.”

“Sure. I picked up a bottle of red wine.” Heat filled Ryder’s face as he admitted that he’d been thinking of Nolan during the week.

“Oh, that’s great. Thank you.”

Ryder lifted his chin and flashed a smile, knowing he was playing with fire, but he liked the way it made his body tingle.

Chapter 13

Nolan smiledto himself as he made his way to his side door. He stepped in and put his keys on the table before turning to the kitchen to pull the lasagna from the refrigerator he’d put together before leaving for work.

He had the lasagna in the oven and was setting the temperature when he noticed something felt off. He set the timer on the oven and then turned, taking in the kitchen. A cabinet was open.

"That's odd," he said to himself before he reached up to shut the cabinet door. He hesitated, knowing he hadn't left the door open. Andrew used to make fun of him for how he would go around shutting all the doors and drawers. A brief thought hit that maybe Andrew's ghost was playing tricks on him. But he didn't really believe Andrew was in ghostly form, following him around the country. He hoped that if there was something after this life, Andrew was living it up, having fun, and not watching after him.

Why would one of his cabinets be open? He would have shut it before work. His heart sped up as he glanced around, worried that maybe the person who’d come into his place and opened hiscabinet was still in his house. He opened a drawer and grabbed the first thing he could find, which turned out to be a big black plastic spoon he used to stir soups and stews. He held it up and rolled his eyes. That wouldn’t do much good if he ran into someone who’d broken into his house.

He set the spoon down and grabbed a meat pounder. It wasn't much, but he might stand a chance if he ran into someone. He could at least throw it at them. Of course, they would probably pick it up and beat him to death with it. Everyone would wonder why the killer had picked a meat pounder to kill him. Good God, he could imagine the headline, "Gay Man Pounded To Death With Meat Pounder."

On second thought, he put the item down on the couch and moved through his house, fearing what would jump out at him. The thought that he should leave whispered through his mind, but he had to check. Andrew would check instead of running out.

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