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

They called a truce after a particularly tense race where Austin had attempted to sit in Neil’s lap to block his view, but Neil retaliated by flailing with his leg to knock Austin away. He came close to whacking Austin straight in the nuts, so they finished the race and decided to simply sit and wait for their testosterone-fueled competitiveness to subside. After some mutual apologizing, Neil got up to refill their water glasses. Bunny flopped down next to the couch and rolled over so Austin could pet her while Neil was busy.


The thought of what it would be like to be married to Neil crept back into Austin’s mind. He wished it would stop. He thought of the dreams he had had, of the countless hours spent reasoning with himself to prove he was still a loyal husband, of how heartbroken Erika would be if he left her. He shook his head. He wasn’t going to leave Erika, but he wasn’t about to get rid of these feelings from sheer force of will.


Chapter 29