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

In the end, he caved and watched part two of Boot Camp Butt Cadets. This time it was easier to spot the differences between the actor and Neil, and thankfully the character only appeared in two scenes, both times in full uniform. Austin felt embarrassed anyway. He didn’t tell Erika he was watching gay porn again, let alone one with someone who looked like a friend of his. Sneaking around behind her back might as well have been the first step to cheating in his mind. That was another thing he decided to give up for the sake of her happiness.


Austin’s last Skype chat with Neil was surreal. It had become such a routine that he couldn’t fully comprehend that in a few days he would be able to talk to Neil eye-to-eye. There hadn’t been any further nocturnal mishaps, much to Austin’s relief. He told himself that one time had been a fluke, an intense and sexy but one-time fluke. The fact that he found Neil attractive on a platonic level was a coincidence.


Chapter 21