Chapter Fifteen

Lance

After the door closes behind Robbie, Lance tries not to panic.

What just happened is eerily similar to a thousand dreams he had as a kid—Robbie gazing at him, touching him, wanting him, and then the dazzling, perfect fantasy was twisted suddenly into a nightmare where Megan, always Megan, descended from nowhere to come between them.

Lance hasn’t needed a therapist to interpret those dreams for the childish and unfair flights of fancy they were. But still, standing in the hayloft alone in his too-big, borrowed clothes, looking down at the blankets where minutes ago he was lying naked in Robbie’s arms, he has a hard time transcending the angry teenager who wants to smite Megan from the Earth for being the one Robbie touches and looks at and wants.

Rationally, he knows better. But his rational mind isn’t functioning at the moment.

The bathroom would be the only place he could shut himself away and avoid them when they come back inside, except that Robbie said Megan, a veterinarian, is here to check out the calf. The calf that happens to be in the bathroom. He’d checked on her before and after his shower, but she just looked up at him, blinking those liquid eyes, and appearing not to have stirred from her towel nest the entire time they were gone.

But even if Lance could hide, he doesn’t want to convince Robbie that he’s just as immature now as he’s ever been. He can face Megan—a perfectly nice woman who has never objectively wronged Lance or anyone else that he knows of—like an adult.

Through a monumental effort, he arranges himself into a casual lean against the kitchen counter facing the door, and waits.

When the door opens again, Megan smiles at him, calm and friendly. “Hi, Lance.” She steps clear of the doorway so Robbie can enter behind her, and they both shed their coats. “I didn’t recognize you at first. It’s nice to see you.”

Everything she says sounds perfectly sincere. Behind her, Robbie is looking at Lance with a careful expression. Lance wants desperately to know what was said while they were outside together, but at the same time, there’s something in Robbie’s expression that gives Lance comfort. He doesn’t seem panicked or anxious or guilty.

Lance can even relax enough to smile back at Megan. “You, too. It’s been a long time. How are you?” He doesn’t look away from their eye contact, and yet he can clearly see Robbie, behind her, break into a small smile.

“Cold,” she says with a wink. “And this weather is keeping me busy.” She takes a bag off her shoulder that’s lined with pockets and zippered compartments, presumably stuffed with her supplies. “So, I hear we have a little miracle on her hands?”

Robbie points to the bathroom, and Megan leads the way. Triplicats Two and Three are lurking in the doorway, peering at the calf in apparent fascination. Megan steps over Two, and Three hisses and tries to catch her with his claws as she passes. Robbie gently and carefully shoos them back toward their sofa.