Page 112 of The Chosen One Universe: Volume One

No one understood why he’d made the choice he did, and hell, Sawyer hadn’t been able to explain it himself. It just felt right and when he’d explained to Draco what he wanted, he’d gotten the other man’s nod of approval. It was all he had needed.

“I’m going to start the grill. There’s stuff for a salad in the crisper. Start chopping.”

“Sir, yes sir!” Sawyer saluted and grinned at Draco’s frown before he turned and picked up Pearl’s water bowl from the floor by the door. He gave his girl fresh water before getting the vegetables out of the refrigerator and his favorite knife from the stand on the counter.

He’d barely sliced into the tomato when something sent a shiver of fear down his spine. The knife slipped and cut into his finger. Sawyer yelped and hurried over to the sink to get the cut under water so he could see the damage. He’d barely gotten the faucet on when Draco was at his side.

“What happened?”

“Cut myself. Obviously.” Draco frowned and looked around the room, as if seeking some hidden enemy.

Before he could comment on Draco’s overprotective ways, Pearl jumped up from her position on the floor and ran to the front door. Draco scowled, obviously torn between going to see what had drawn her attention and the still-bleeding cut on Sawyer’s hand.

“Go. I got this. It’s not bad.”

Draco glanced at the wound, and obviously agreeing with Sawyer’s assessment, followed the dog through the house to the front door.

Sawyer didn’t want to miss the excitement if some rookie salesman dared to knock on Draco’s door, so he snagged a wad of paper towels and quickly wrapped it around his finger before racing after him to the door.

He couldn’t have been more surprised to find both his neighbor and his dog standing on the front porch watching an obnoxiously large bus try to maneuver its way into the driveway of the McMansion.

“Oh my God,” Sawyer gasped. “Someone famous is moving in. That’s why the house went up so fast. They’re throwing money around left and right, making everyone work double or triple time to get the house up as quickly as possible and—”

“Your imagination is running away with you again.”

Sawyer scoffed. “You tell me how that house went up so fast then. Go on. I’m waiting. Moneybags McDuck is throwing wads of cash around and making everyone jump to his whims. There’s probably a solid gold toilet in there.”

Draco smirked and looked away from the bus to meet Sawyer’s look. “Where do you come up with this stuff?”

“My brain is a smorgasbord of knowledge and valuable insight.”

Draco huffed and turned his attention back to the bus, which had finally managed to make the turn into the driveway. “Those buses are incredibly expensive.”

“I know. Remember when we looked at renting an RV and making a road trip?”

“I would not have rented an RV. I wanted to buy one.”

It was Sawyer’s turn to scoff. “Right. Like I was letting you spend your inheritance on something you might have hated. That makes sense. Renting first was the logical choice.”

Draco’s lip curled in disgust. “One, it’s a trust fund. Two, I wouldn’t sleep in someone else’s…” He stopped and shivered in disgust. “And three, let me?”

Sawyer waved his hand in the air, attempting to dismiss his poor word choice with the gesture. He turned his attention back to the bus, which had made it to the top of the hill. The way it sat blocked the door from their view. But… if he…

“Don’t even think about it.”

Sawyer looked up at Draco with a grin. “What?”

“You’re thinking about taking Pearl for a little stroll to try to catch a glimpse of the new neighbors.”

The man did know him well. “Yeah, and?”

“And at least let them settle in first. We’ll meet them another day.”

Sawyer sighed and leaned against the porch railing. “You’re no fun.”

“I know. You remind me daily. Now I’m going to go put the chicken on the grill. Put a glove on and finish chopping vegetables.”

Sawyer snickered and followed Draco back into the kitchen. The poor guy hated germs and constantly worried that Sawyer was going to catch the plague. It was cute, mostly. “But… what if I already got something on the tomato? I might have forgotten to wash my hands before—”