Austin Inverness loves dogs and his wife, Erika. Erika was the only girlfriend Austin ever had who didn’t judge him for being bisexual, and dogs never judge, period. Unfortunately, Erika isn’t much of a dog person. Airman Neil Stafford has been deployed to Turkey for a six-month tour and he enrolls his schipper-poo, Bunny, in the Fosters for Fighters program that arranges fostering for soldiers' pets. There he meets Austin, who will foster Bunny while Neil is overseas. The two men keep in touch via Skype and Austin is delighted by how well they get along. Erika, on the other hand, is delighted by how little she has to do to take care of Bunny. That is, until Bunny needs an emergency trip to the vet. By the time Neil returns home, Austin has noticed key differences between his wife and the new friend he can’t stop thinking about. As for Neil, he knows for sure he wants Austin in his life, but not at the cost of his friend's marriage. When Austin realizes Erika questions his bisexuality, the cracks in their relationship quickly spread and Austin questions everything, including if he can make the right choice. Will Austin and Neil be able to overcome the bumps on the road to happiness?

Fostered Affections

“I’m definitely going to have to take some pictures of you while you’re stoned,” Austin told her.


Bunny hadn’t recovered much by the time Austin got her home. He had to pick her up again to carry her inside because she wouldn’t get out of the car. She sprawled on her bed, staring at nothing with glassy eyes. When Austin offered her some banana and peanut butter, she ate it slowly, pausing every few seconds. Austin could almost hear her whisper, “Duuuuude…”


“So she’s still alive?” Erika asked, emerging messy-haired and decked out in pajamas from their bedroom.


“Yeah, she’s fine. Kinda stoned from the sedatives, but they said it’ll wear off by dinner time and she’ll be fine eating her normal food.” Austin pulled the gauze-wrapped tooth from his pocket. “They saved the tooth. Wanna see?”


Erika shook her head. “No thanks. I’ve seen enough gore today. I’m in the middle of a Netflix binge if you want to join me.”


“Maybe soon, I wanted to take some photos for Neil first.”


Chapter 19