When unlikely attraction blossoms between a twentysomething genderqueer tattoo artist and an older, small-town veterinarian, both are forced to face their pasts for a chance at a loving future. Four years ago Padraig Donovan lost his husband, the only man he’d ever been with. Now his life consists of the work he loves, a big empty house, and the possibility of a lonely future. Kaos’s experiments with makeup landed him in the hospital at the hands of his disapproving ex. With nowhere else to turn, he flees to Acker, Wisconsin ... and runs into a sexy widower and the kindest man he’s ever met. Padraig and Kaos know there’s something worth exploring between them, and as they raise a puppy and deal with the ups and downs of their respective jobs, they fit into each other’s lives in ways they never expected. Being with Kaos -- who is so different than the guys he’s always been attracted to -- opens up an exciting new world for Padraig. But can he convince Kaos to trust another man with his body ... let alone his heart?

Four

It seemed weird that he hadn’t been scared of Padraig, just wary, when he’d first moved in. He’d felt about him like he would any new person he spent time with, including Emil, for fuck’s sake, and Emil was the least threatening human being he’d ever met. The incident had affected everything, and he knew he’d be lucky if he’d ever get over it completely. Fortunately his sometimes-absentminded veterinarian was on the same wavelength with him.


Living together as an official couple had changed some things. They now had pet peeves when it came to each other. Somehow they managed to discuss them, though. It had been eye-opening to find things about Padraig he didn’t really like, and to realize it went the other way too.


He didn’t like the way Padraig sometimes whistled along with commercial jingles or other music on TV, because somehow his ears hated whistling in general. It made his skin crawl. Whistling once to a dog was fine, but whistling a tune was horrible.


Chapter 67