A Matter of Priorities Read online

  I cocked an eyebrow at Liam, brushed my hands over my jeans and shrugged. “What can I say? I’m not distracted from class now.”

  Morgan waved her hands frantically through the air between her and us. “You stay on the other end of the table. I swear to God I’ll claim I’ve never met you if anyone smells your funky self.” She was mumbling about nasty boys and how much they bugged her.

  I glanced at Liam and he winked at me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “It’s Nyman. He fed you some tube steak.” My friend was taking the teasing to a new level.

  “No. Not Nyman. This guy had a pencil dick and could barely find the damn thing. The blow job was decent though…acceptable,” I said, listing all the things Liam wasn’t.

  Liam snorted and shot me a knowing grin. “Whatever!”

  He started to say more, but Dr. Nyman walked in and the room went quiet. I pulled out my sketchbook and began taking notes. I tried to avoid looking at Liam since he kept shooting me his shit-eating grin. After about thirty minutes, all instructions had been given and questions answered. We opened the project on our laptops and started our part of the work. We spread the various bits and pieces of our model across the table as we glued everything into place. We’d made good progress when I felt a touch on my shoulder.

  “Looks like you three are doing fine. Any questions for me?”

  My mouth had gone as dry as the bottom in a ten-man gang bang. My tongue seemed stuck to the roof as the heat from his hand washed over me. Liam didn’t have the same reaction to Dr. Nyman as I did. I’d seen him shoot the professor a few sharp looks that seemed to say he didn’t much care for the man. Liam was such a squirrel. I had trouble taking him too seriously, though. But in our years of friendship I’d learned one thing. If Liam considered you a friend, he had your back. He might not agree with you, but he’d defend you until the sun went supernova. While my head swam from the contact, Dr. Nyman held on to my shoulder and Liam explained our idea. Dr. Nyman seemed impressed.

  “Great work. I like the use of unusual angles. Good concept and excellent execution.”

  With that, the atmosphere between the four of us relaxed and we soon chatted. It became the most comfortable conversation I’d ever experienced with a professor since I’d been in college. In the process of discussing our project and getting suggestions for improvements, Nyman’s hand slipped from my shoulder and my breathing returned to normal. I proposed small adjustments and he agreed with my ideas, though it was odd when Liam appeared fidgety. I didn’t understand what to make of it, but it forced me to feel less like an adolescent hanging out with his father. As he explained another detail, I realized I should act like a college student.

  “Dr. Nyman, what about—?”

  “Cooper, call me Lucas.”

  The familiarity sent a flutter through me. Before I could respond, he turned to the other two. “Same goes for both of you. Please call me Lucas.”

  I glanced at Morgan and Liam to gauge their reaction. Morgan seemed to study the implications, but I’d expected that response from her. She was always the calm, rational adult of the group.

  Liam’s response surprised me more. My best friend for years looked as pissed off as I’d ever seen him. He was normally so chill you’d think he was stoned. But so far as I knew—and I’d heard about it each time he found a new chest hair—he’d never played with wacky weed. He’d always told me he was weird enough without drugs. So for me it was unusual to see him in a bad mood. I considered pulling him into the hall to find out what was wrong but realized Lucas was still talking to the three of us.

  “I need assistance with a project, but we wouldn’t start on it until after the end of the semester. We’d be able to use some of the equipment on campus and also what’s in my home studio. Once everything is ready, my studio space is the perfect spot to assemble the models. The client wanted to see several choices based on their needs. The number of models is why I need help. Of course, I’d pay you for your time. I don’t expect you to work for free. What do you think?”

  It was only through tremendous willpower that I wasn’t jumping up and down like a kid who had just found out he was going for ice cream and not to the dentist. My summer was busy with a couple of part-time jobs and a summer class, but I’d find the time for this.

  When none of us responded, Lucas explained further in depth. “The project would only last three or four weeks and I’m flexible. Whatever time works best for you.”

  Morgan and I answered in the positive within the same breath. A few seconds later, Liam joined the group. When I glanced at him, he looked happier. Not his typical happy-go-lucky self, but he’d moved from angry to neutral.

  Once all of us had agreed to work with Lucas on the collaborative project, he popped his meaty hand against the table and shot us a huge smile. “Excellent! I have my team. I’ll send out a few options for meeting times so we’re ready to go after finals.”

  As Lucas shifted his attention to the next table, I couldn’t keep my eyes off his body.

  What the hell have I gotten myself into?

  Chapter Four

  I dug through the mountain of clothes surrounding my laundry basket. I didn’t need new clothes or even clean ones for what I was about to do, but I wanted Liam to go with me and he has certain expectations. So far, I was having no luck convincing him. But if nothing else, I was persistent as fuck.

  “Come on, Liam. You want to go. You love playing with the puppies.”

  “It’s not the puppies that worry me. It’s the vicious-ass pit bulls who would gnaw on my thighbone to clean their teeth. The dogs don’t like me. I have the scars to prove it.”

  I waved a dismissive hand at him as he walked to the sink with a half-filled cereal bowl. He never eats all of anything he makes. It drives me crazy. But in the big scheme of things, it didn’t matter. Liam always had my back. Everything else was gravy, like him going with me to the animal shelter I volunteered at. I’d bug him until he was aggravated enough at me then he’d agree just to shut me up. Dogs scared Liam. One had bitten him when he was little, and as a result, being too close to an adult dog left him a sweaty mess of nerves. I kept thinking I could help him get over his fear.

  “Come on, Liam. You don’t have to get close to the grown ones. Petting puppies… I promise.”

  Liam sighed and turned to face me. “Why do you always pull this? I won’t be any help.”

  I buttoned my jeans as I smiled at him. “Just keep me company. It won’t take more than an hour.” I paused before continuing. “Maybe they’ll have a pet rabbit you can snuggle with again.”

  “Asshole,” Liam said, but his face broke into a grin. “That was a huge rabbit, and they said it was hard to hold on to if it didn’t want to be held.”

  I recognized signs of weakening and went in for the deal closer. “Come on. You want to spend the afternoon with the hottest stud on campus. You know you do.”

  Liam chuckled then shrugged. “Fine. But if Cujo bites me, you’re the one who’s taking care of me.”

  I pulled a T-shirt on, and when it settled into place, I noticed Liam shaking his head.

  I ignored his cocked eyebrow and nodded toward his bedroom. “Well? Get your shit on and let’s get going.”

  Liam was still shaking his head so fast that he looked like the world’s biggest bobblehead as he disappeared into his room.

  * * * *

  I walked into the cacophony from the animal shelter. It was almost overwhelmed by the scent of disinfectant—and other stuff—but they tried to keep the atmosphere cheerful. In a lot of ways it reminded me more of a preschool. I’d been coming to walk the dogs as often as possible since my freshman year. They’d discovered I had a knack for working with difficult animals. It was easy to see this shelter did the extra work by the details they’d incorporated into the facilities, beginning with the glass enclosure filled with carpeted tubes, squares and about anything else that might entertain the dozen cats who lived in it.
It was evident the staff here tried to do whatever it took to make the animals happy. Several small dogs lived in a comfortable space on the opposite side of the room. There was a young family with a volunteer checking out the lap dogs. I hoped they would find a perfect match. None of us liked it when a dog came back.

  Then someone opened the door to the large-dog kennels and their familiar, deafening noise. These were the dogs I always worked with. I heard a choking noise and turned back to see Liam had turned an odd greenish-gray color. I didn’t want to make him any more uncomfortable, so I pushed the small talk along. I walked over to the receptionist’s desk. “Hey, Penny. How are things going?”

  The middle-aged volunteer wasted no words. “Joey isn’t getting any calmer. They’re hoping you can work some of your magic on him.”

  My stomach knotted at the mention of the huge Rottweiler everyone called Joey. I thought they’d picked the name hoping something ordinary would somehow change his disposition. So far I was the only one able to work with him beyond basic housekeeping. I tensed but was determined to train Joey for however long it took for him to be safe around anyone. I kept that all to myself and smiled at Penny.

  “I’ll start with Joey then. He may be the only one I work with today.”

  She turned away with a final comment. “Good. No one wants to put down any of the dogs.”

  Her words left me with a knot in my stomach but I wasn’t quitting. Most of the time I could undo the problems caused by poor owners. I only knew some of the things Joey’s former owner had done, but he’d created a dog that was more wild animal than part of a species that has lived with people for over ten thousand years. Working with Joey was like juggling hand grenades. I only hoped the pins didn’t fall out. All this flashed through my head when I turned to Liam.

  “You can stay here if you’d like. I won’t have time to work with any of the dogs besides Joey—and I know how you feel about him.”

  “You mean Cujo’s evil brother? The dog that always seems to be counting how many ways he can kill you? Nope, I’ve got your back. Let’s work with the evil one.”

  I knew what Liam had been through, but this was a pet peeve of mine and I couldn’t let it go. “It isn’t Joey’s fault. His owner had him staked out on a ten-foot logging chain and kept him starved. When he was first brought in, he also had broken ribs—probably from being kicked. The person who did that to him is the one who should be put down.”

  I came to a stop when I realized the room had gone quiet and everyone seemed to be watching me. I turned back to Liam. “I’m guessing I wasn’t using my inside voice.”

  “Nope, you were using your listen-to-me-bitch voice. I think people in the next county heard you. Come on. Let’s check on your four-legged sweetie.” Liam started through the door without another word, leaving me scrambling to catch up.

  It didn’t take long before we were at Joey’s kennel. I had to admit that this dog was different. He never barked. But the glare of his eyes left even me feeling cautious. I squatted in front of the pen and stuck my fingers through the chain-link fencing that made up the front panel of his enclosure.

  “Come on, Joey. Get closer so I can give you a little scratch.” I waited, never letting my attention waver. My heart set a quick pace before he lifted himself to his feet and made his way to Liam and me. Joey’s footsteps were more like those of a dangerous predator but he moved close, sniffed my fingers and I melted when he whined.

  I motioned at Liam. “Hand me a leash. I’m going to take him for a little walk. He needs out of his kennel.”

  Liam looked around the facility. “You sure that’s okay? They seem to think he’s scary, too.”

  “I’ll be careful. You stay back, though. Joey respects me and knows I’m his alpha.” I snapped the stout leash on his collar and eased the door open. He stepped beside me and walked at heel as if he were the neighbor’s old Lab. We made several rounds in the enclosed area before I took him to the outside yard.

  We covered the circumference of the yard a number of times and Joey did a good job ignoring the other dogs. But all hell broke loose when an aggressive German Shepherd escaped and attacked Joey. We fought to separate the two dogs but couldn’t. A few seconds later, people poured into the yard.

  They pulled the dogs apart and bundled them off to their respective kennels. The adrenaline was lessening when I heard Liam make a sound of distress. My gaze followed his eyes to discover blood on me. The sight of crimson covering my forearms put me in shock. The next thing I knew, we were in the emergency room and I had the attention of more people than at any time in recent memory.

  They cleaned me up and sewed the wounds needing it. The ER crew sighed with relief when I told them I’d had the rabies vaccination. Time crawled by as the doctors did the typical emergency room thing of running me through every test possible, including checking my prostate. Okay, maybe not a prostate exam. That might have been an exaggeration since I was tired and irritable. When the ER doc walked into the tiny room, both of us were ready to get the hell out of the hospital.

  “We don’t see any problems. The bites didn’t do any severe damage, mostly punctures in the thigh muscles and a few deep scratches on your arms. Keep everything clean and dry and you shouldn’t have difficulty.”

  “So I can go?” I asked.

  “Yes. The nurse will be in with the paperwork in a few minutes.”

  * * * *

  It was still almost an hour later before we made it back home. By then my legs were stiffening and the trip to our third-floor apartment was painful. Liam was great about helping me, though. He made sure I was comfortable on the couch and hovered close. “What else can I get for you? You hungry?”

  I moved once and grimaced. Before I answered, he was off again.

  “Here. Let me get the blood off.” He was back in a few seconds with water and a washcloth. He kneeled beside me and removed each piece of clothing until I lay naked. Liam dampened his cloth then washed every inch of me. After a moment, a concern popped into my head.

  “Hey, you should put on the rubber gloves from that first-aid kit. Otherwise, you’ll get my blood on you.”

  Liam slowed before coming to a stop and meeting my gaze. His eyebrows were up in an expression that was a mix of laughter and surprise. “You do realize we’ve swapped cum. Anything you have, I have too.” Without further comment, Liam went back to his work. His touch was gentle and firm. I could see how he would be an excellent nurse, which had been his second choice for a major. It wasn’t my thing, but Liam had always taken care of people. My best friend was a giving person—something I wasn’t.

  I glanced at Liam when I realized he was humming. I couldn’t name the tune but found it comforting. As I relaxed under his touch, I thought about Liam’s comment. I liked sex. I loved to bareback. It hadn’t seemed like that big of a deal when it had been just me. But what risk was I putting everyone else at, too? Before I had time to lose myself in deep thought, Liam dropped the cloth into the water and climbed to his feet.

  “That’s most of it. We’ll get the rest when the hospital takes out the stitches.” Liam grinned and reached toward my soft cock, but this time I intercepted his hand, brought it to my lips and kissed his palm. Liam looked at me with an expression that was a mix of emotions. “I’m cold. Get the quilt my grandmother gave me and cuddle with me.” I surprised myself with the request. I never turned down sex, but when I examined my motivation, I was sure it was the right thing to do.

  Liam returned with the quilt, seeming awkward. After a few seconds, he held up the thick blanket. “Got it.”

  I grinned and made quick motions toward myself. “Well, don’t stand there. I’m freezing. Cover me up, strip and get in here with me so you can use that furnace of a body to get me warm.”

  This time Liam’s smile was heartfelt. He had the blanket over me and was stripping down to his bright fuchsia briefs in no time. I lifted the quilt and patted the leather couch. “Get in here. I need to cuddle.”

>   Liam slipped in beside me and with a twist of his lithe body ended up spooning me from behind. I tucked the covers around us and wiggled myself against Liam’s soft skin. My thoughts became fuzzy and I drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Five

  It had been a long and exhausting day between having two final exams, a meeting about Lucas’ project and the evening shift at the pizza joint where I worked to pay my half of the rent on the place Liam and I shared.

  Our apartment wasn’t much—an old three-story house someone had converted into five apartments. It worked for us because…well, it was cheap and close to campus. But as I dragged my ass up to the top floor, I had a strong wish we’d gotten one on the bottom. At least we don’t get the church people at the door driving us crazy. Maybe an elevator? That would make life easier. I shifted my grip on the bag of sandwiches from work and enjoyed the delicious smells filling the hallway. A lot of times I’d bring home some food at the end of my shift, but this time I’d hit the motherlode. Someone had ordered a shitload of food, paid for everything and had never picked up their order. That means Liam and I will have a ton of food tonight if he’s in the mood to share.

  I reached the final landing, unlocked the door and let myself into the living room. I looked around and smiled when I realized the shower was running. Liam was home. I set the bag on the table and stripped as I moved toward the sound. Our rooms were either side of the large bathroom. In the recent history of the place, the owners had remodeled and decided it only needed a shower, which meant the stall was huge and would accommodate what I had in mind.

  I opened the door to billowing clouds of steam and the sight of Liam’s naked body standing under the rainforest showerhead’s deluge. “Hey! Got room for me in there?”

  Liam stepped from under the cascade and wiped the water from his face. He gave me a grin then blew a kiss. “Get your butt in here.”