“Pollux growled at him the other day. And I already didn’t like the guy.” He smiled. “Anyone would have done the same thing.”
Missy patted his cheek, and grinned at me. “Newb to the city. Chase, just make sure that he knows anyone wouldn’t have done that. Just a cute former football player from Troy.”
Marcus’s cheeks went utterly pink, and it was one of the cutest things I’d seen in ages. He affected a terrible southern accent for his answer. “Well, schucks, Missy. T’weren’t no theng. You’re right welcome.”
Her laughter floated back at us as she ascended the stairs to her apartment. “Thanks, guys!”
Marcus looked lost a moment later. “So, I have to apologize for my idiot dog. I don’t know why he’s so keen on barking at the wall. He’s actually a really good dog and I don’t want anyone upset with him.”
“Well, he’s met me now,” I said, crouching down to give him some ear scratches. “Maybe now he’ll relax a bit at night.”
“I sure hope so,” Marcus said. “I like this building and you’ve all been really nice to me since I moved in.”
“Except for poochy here, we’re all reasonably pleased with you too. The old guy who lived there was a crab and a jerk and used to make nasty sexist comments to Missy. I had to defend her more than once. And the homophobic comments…”
God, the times I had held my tongue against that asshole and his comments. We were in the Village. Gay was not a new thing here, and that old man couldn’t stand that some of us liked dick.
“I’m happy to replace his homophobia with homophilia.” Marcus laughed.
Wait.
What?
MARCUS
ONCE AGAIN, MYSHOCKING ABILITYwith words rushed to the forefront and I outed myself.
I figured this Chase guy was at least an ally, if he was bitching about a homophobe. So, I had that going for me, but still. I knew better. I’d learned the hard way that not everyone was okay with gay men. They might even be fine with lesbians, but men with men freaked them out.
Thanks, toxic masculinity!
Chase didn’t seem to react to my outing myself, still petting Pollux. I just let it go. Either he was or wasn’t an ally and that was that.
“So, how about if we let Pollux stiff around my place,” Chase said. “If you think that would reinforce that I’m the good guy and not here to steal his bed.”
Okay, he was cool with this. “Yeah, I mean, that sounds like the right thing to do.”
“Good,” Chase said, and stood up. “Let’s go.”
He held his hand out and I froze. Why was he holding his hand out? Was I supposed to take it? Slap it? High five? Lace our fingers together?
Pollux barked.
I was an asshole. He wanted the leash.
Jerking myself back to the real world, I offered it and he took it with a smile. I watched as he headed up the stairs with my dog.
And a very, very hot ass.
Shit.
I trotted up the stairs after him to the third floor, and he went right to his door. He popped the door open, clearly having left it unlocked on his flight down, and Pollux trotted in happily.
Pulling the door closed, I realized his apartment was a quarter turn off of mine, meaning my living room was against his bedroom.
That’s why he could hear my idiot dog so well.
“Man, I didn’t realize they did that,” I mumbled. “Logically, this building should be mirrored, and that should be your living room.”
