Page 13 of Refurbished

“He has cubs? That’s.” He snorts. “I’ve never seen you like this. Happy and shy all at once. When do we get to meet him? As your best friend, I believe it’s up to me to give him the shovel talk.”

“I don’t think we are there yet. Please don’t scare him away, but I will try to get us together if it becomes a thing.” I wasn’t sure how Eion would do in this environment, but I knew my friends were protective of me and would treat him kindly as well. It was easy for me to admit I wanted to get to know him better, and inviting him into my world would do that.

It wasn’t long before West had told Spark about my crush. “I hear you are cute and giddy over an animal guy,” Spark said to me while they stood next to me at the front door.

I couldn’t stop my cheeks from getting red as they nudged me a little bit. Spark was a close friend, and like West, I wasn’t able to hide much from them. “Yeah. I guess.” I hoped I could be evasive. Like with West, I didn’t want to share Eion yet. What was building between us felt delicate, and for now, I wanted to keep it to myself.

“Look at you all shy and blushing. When you are ready to tell me about him, I’m here to listen.”

I gave them a hug, and they gave me a kiss on the cheek. I never expected to have people in my life who loved me unconditionally. West befriended me when he started working at the bar we came from. Then Spark joined us, and we became a trio that stuck together. Years later, we were still great friends—actually family. “Thanks. I hope something comes of it. I really like him.” I couldn’t help but smile. I knew we would see the cubs on his next full visit, which made me do a little dance.

Spark didn’t miss it. “What was that?”

“Just a little happy dance,” I said as I motioned for the next person in line.

When I left for the day, West stopped me. “Don’t forget we have a meeting before we open tomorrow.”

“I’ll be here.” I planned to get dressed for work before going to the Sanctuary. That would let me spend as much time as possible with them.

The following morning I left wearing a red corset with a filigree pattern, black jeans, boots, pants, and a red tie with a black blazer. I sighed contentedly as I soaked in the feeling of the tight laces of the corset squeezing me. The binder accentuated my body in all the right ways. I felt good, sexy, and in control. Even though I had learned I was an amazing man without the corsets, I didn’t see a time when I would give them up.

I was running behind, but I still had time to see the kits and drop off some sweets for Eion. It amazed me how much the little raccoons had already grown. Even though they were still on bottles, I would swear they had doubled in size. I made sure to put Eion’s treats in my backpack, plus a double batch of granola treats for the animals. I hated that I would only get ten or fifteen minutes with them, but I would be back on my day off and give them double love.

When I entered the Sanctuary, I had about twenty-five minutes before I needed to head to the bar. In the nursery, Eion was squatting in front of one of the cages, and my chest squeezed as my heart beat harder. Unable to help myself, I looked at his back, the t-shirt he wore stretched in all the right places—even though it tugged to one side—the muscles flexed as he stood up, and my eyes traveled to his amazing ass. When he turned around, I smiled.

“Fucking hell.” I was pretty sure he staggered, or maybe he didn’t have very good balance after he stood up.

“Hi.” He looked at me, then looked away, then looked at me again. I watched as he licked his lips and swallowed. It was difficult for me to decide where to look. Everything in me yelled that this should feel weird and awkward, but it didn’t—it was charged and exciting. I lifted my hand and waved a little. When the corners of his lips turned up, it encouraged me to say something.

“I brought more treats for everyone. It’s a double batch this time. Most of the residents you keep here will really enjoy them. If you tell me what else they might like, I would be happy to make the appropriate flavor. Unless you don’t want more treats for the animals, but I really enjoy making them. I think you like that I make them. Do you like me making them? Maybe I shouldn’t make them. You’ve never said, “Don’t make them.” It seemed like making them something fresh would be great—“

“Angus, stop.” He said softly. “The treats are marvelous, and the animals all love them.” I liked that his eyes dilated before he swallowed hard. He looked everywhere but at me: my face, throat, eyes, lips, then chest, until he started over. “Angus, it’s…” His voice sounded strained and a few octaves higher than normal.

“Are you okay?” He blinked rapidly. It was like he couldn’t look directly at me. It made me wonder if someone was behind me, so I looked. We hadn’t said anything since my rambling, and my question hung in the air. “Eion?” I was actually starting to feel concerned that he was having a medical emergency.

“What?”

“Are you okay?”

He blinked. “Do you know how you look right now?”

I looked down at myself. “Yeah. I have to go straight to work from here.”

“I mean, do you know… how. You. Look?”

“Eion? Do I need to call an ambulance or something?”

He’d seen me before, so I wasn’t sure what he was trying to say. What I did know was that he was staring at me like I was his favorite meal. Overall, I liked his attention, but I was still confused by his behavior at the moment.

“Angus. You. Fuck.”

My lips tugged upward, unable to keep myself from smiling. It felt like he was trying to compliment me, and it made blood flood south. Could it be that Eion was attracted to me? Oh, I hope that was what was happening. “Thank you. You aren’t terrible to look at yourself.”

He blushed and ran his hand over his face. It was cute. “Sorry. Angus, you are really hot.” He dropped his head. “Shit. Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

This was good. Apparently, my work clothes, which I knew looked good, did something for him. It would probably be too obvious if I wore them all the time, but maybe I could get him to go out with me, and I’d wear a corset in his favorite color. My mind wandered to thoughts of him lacing me up, and my cock thickened. I made a little gasp.“It’s okay. You like what you see, then?”

I watched as he relaxed a little. “Yeah. I do.”