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“There is no place I would rather be. Let me get us some water and lock up.” He smiled at me and pulled a pillow against his chest.

“Okay. Come back quickly.”

In the kitchen, I found Earl, covered in cheesecake. We hadn’t put it away properly, and it seems he felt, since we were busy, he could just help himself. “God damn it, Earl.” I picked the little dragon up and carried him to the sink, where I had him stand in the basin. I rinsed off his tummy scales with the sprayer, then wiped his face clean. “You are a menace, but really cute.” I kissed his head. “Go to bed with your Daddy.” I watched as he flew down the hall.

When I returned to the bedroom, my eyes landed on Tyler, the sheet wrapped around his waist, most of his body on display. The sight of him took my breath away. He was beautiful, and he was mine. How did I get so lucky? When I slipped into bed, Tyler moved over to me, his head on my chest, my arm around his back. This felt like where I should be, what I had been missing all along. We fell asleep wrapped around each other. I hoped to be like this with him for a long time.

I woke up with Earl looking at me while he sat on my chest. Tyler wasn’t in bed, but I could smell bacon, which made me think Tyler had sent the little dragon in to wake me up. He had probably promised him some of that bacon. When I entered the kitchen, Tyler wore only boxer briefs and an apron while he put batter in the waffle iron. A bowl of fresh fruit, some honey butter, and syrup was on the table. Looked like we were having waffles and bacon for breakfast. He knew how much I enjoyedthem yesterday, and my stomach rumbled at the prospect. When Tyler saw me, he filled a mug with coffee and came over to me, then asked for kisses. They weren’t deep but were tongue-heavy and carried a lot of heat. Today, I could feel the desire behind the kiss.

“Good Morning, Sexy.” I liked the look he gave me at the compliment.

“Good Morning. How are you feeling? Sore?” I certainly could feel that he had been in me the night before, but it was a pleasant reminder. It had been a long time since I had bottomed, and I looked forward to the next time with Tyler—he was a fantastic lover. He guided me to the kitchen table, where we sat and enjoyed our meal. We still needed to discuss a few things, but it had been a lot over the last few days, and it was time for us to plug back in to our businesses and any other things that might have been set aside over the previous few days.

“I think I need to go to The Dapper Duck today. At least for a few hours, I’ve put a lot on Spark’s shoulders and need to show my face.”

He nodded. “Yeah. I am going down to the shop. I need to check on Jamie, and it’s a lot of work for one person. I think we have enough business now to hire at least someone else part-time. Thanks to your special offer.” He nudged me with his thigh.

“I am happy it helped.” I leaned over and kissed him. I could tell we were on the way to building a solid foundation for our future, and it felt good. Even though this morning felt incredibly domestic, it made me stupidly happy.

Tyler and I slept at my house the rest of the week. Larry and Charlie got along like siblings, and it was wonderful to see since the two were at my house all day. They were pretty cute together, and it did my heart good to know we had our family unit, even if it was a little different.

During the week, I did some research for our future, as promised, I planned to find a therapist who would help both of us navigate Tyler’s PTSD. I could see a future with Tyler and wanted the very best for him, which felt natural because he was everything to me.

Chapter twenty-one

WEST

“I think you should go for some inpatient therapy, Tyler.” Dr. Porter said matter-of-factly. You need to take a time out for a reset. The place I recommend focuses on people with PTSD, which he had been officially diagnosed with, and they strongly encourage the patients to have a support animal.” My eyes darted to Earl, who had his snout in Dr. Porter’s coffee cup.

“Earl, no.” I stood up, grabbed him, and wiped off his face with the bottom of my T-shirt. I quietly prayed he didn’t suggest he trained Earl because I wasn’t sure he was capable.

“I thought since you have Earl,” and there it was. “You could take him, and he could learn to be the support you needed.” Tyler snorted next to me as Earl crawled up on his lap.

“I believe in you, Earl. You can probably do this.” He said while he petted his friend, we looked at each other, neither of us actually believed he could. He was a wonderful, sweet companion, but he was motivated by food and was kind of a free spirit when it came to paying attention.

I looked at Tyler. “Will you go?”

“Of course, I want to be healthy mentally. I am tired of always expecting the worst of people.” His conviction made me smile; that’s what I wanted for him, too. I could already see how he trusted me more and even let East get close to him as a friend. It did my heart good.

Three weeks later, I stood at the airport kissing Tyler, trying not to cry. It wasn’t like he would be gone forever, but I would miss him so much. We went out on dates regularly, I took my days off every week, and we made sure to spend that time with each other. Our relationship was stronger every week, and I knew he was my forever person. After one last hug and kiss, Tyler and Earl headed to their gate.

“I am learning a lot about myself and how to cope with what happened to me.” My phone calls with Tyler were everything. I made sure Larry and Charlie would see him on video calls, since I knew they missed each other. It had been five weeks and I always kept my shit together for him even though hearing his voice broke me. I missed him more every day, but this was so important to him, and I wouldn’t do anything to damage that.

“Earl is trying, West, but I don’t know. He is a great friend and does some adorable things, but this might not be his calling.”

“What are our options if he, ummm…” I didn’t want to say flunk out because I loved that little dragon, and saying something like that seemed wrong. “Doesn’t make it?”

“West, I think a support animal would help me from spiraling. If Earl doesn’t make it, we need to look into finding a service dog. They take years to train, are ridiculously expensive, and are very hard to find, but I am sure we could find one in a year or two.”

What Tyler didn’t know was that a benefit of owning one of the most popular high-end bars in a major city was that you knew a lot of people. A customer who had been coming into The Dapper Duck for a few years trained service dogs from puppies. Not that I didn’t believe in Earl, okay, I didn’t, but I thought maybe a few inquiries would be wise. The next day, I contacted Jeremy, who had two retrievers that had finished their pre-training and he was was getting ready to sell them. The dogs would then get the training their handler needed from a specialized kennel or clinic like the one Tyler was at now. That afternoon, I paid triple the price Jeremy asked for, guaranteeing the dog was ours.

A few weeks later, I sat on the couch, excited to talk to Tyler. He had confirmed he would return home after ninety days, so only a month remained. The phone rang and I jumped to answer the call. I could tell by his face that something was wrong.

“Hey, Baby. You doing okay?” I’d been taught not to assume but to ask directly. I watched as a tear slipped down his cheek. I ached to reach out to him, hold him, comfort him, but I couldn’t because we were thousands of miles apart. “Talk to me.”

“Earl isn’t going to make it. When he was supposed to be working, I caught him with his head in the box with a birthday cake for one of the staff. Earl hadn't been paying attention at all, West. When he was caught, he was covered in frosting.” Tyler snort-laughed.

“I’ve got you, Sweetheart. There is a dog on hold for you through one of my patrons. Yogi is yours if you need him. His training is finished, but he will continue to be worked with until you are ready for him.”

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