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

Rather than flat out politely refusing, Austin did what Erika was always telling him to do: think before he acted. Declining the invitation meant avoiding the most conflict, but it also meant snubbing Neil’s friendship and possibly causing a rift in that friendship that Austin didn’t want to lose. Besides, Neil was going to read The Seventh Tower, and having someone to have fresh discussions with would be nice. He didn’t need to attend the party to still be Neil’s friend, though. There was a compromise to be made.


Austin was making dinner when Erika pulled up. He barely heard her car over the sound of heavy rain hitting the roof and the pavement. All his thinking was done, except for the part where Erika put in her two cents. He knew what the best option for him was, but getting her opinion couldn’t hurt.


“Hey babe, would you want to go to a ‘surprise’ coming home party for Neil next Saturday? Not this one, the one after it.”


Chapter 22