Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 1

know yet what he would say. Besides, he knew the boys would be working with Cal again today, and he couldn't stomach the thought of them witnessing what would no doubt be a rather revealing confrontation.
    He thought about promising Cal that he would do nothing more that would imply dominance or submission in any way, but Jordan honestly didn't know how to do that. He didn't consider himself a hard core "Dom." But he would never be able to stop seeking the buried—and surface—needs of his lover and doing everything he could to meet those needs. Denying they existed wasn't a valid option. He'd never be able to do it.
    "Dad." Jordan stared at the phone in his hand. He had no recollection of it ringing or of answering it.
    "Dad!" Patience was not a virtue his son was blessed with.
    Jordan snapped out of his thoughts. "What?"
    "What happened last night?" Thomas demanded, sounding like he was trying to avoid being heard. "Cal was all fun and cool yesterday, and today he's all pissy and bossy."
    "I don't know." He shook his head. Jordan still hadn't figured out how to define all that had transpired yesterday. "Did you guys finish the fence?"
    "Almost." Thomas sighed. "Thanks to the human post-pounding machine."
    He didn't pretend to know what that was supposed to mean. "Good."
    "No, Dad," Thomas argued. "It's not good." He lowered his voice and hissed, "You need to fix this." Having properly chastised his father, he promptly disconnected the call. And left Jordan wondering just how, exactly, he was going to fix anything.
    Jordan had gotten only as far as a shower when the phone rang. He sighed and groaned when he saw Mrs. Miller's number. "Yes, Mrs. Miller." That was good. Cool and professional.
    "Dr. Mac, you have to help me!" The shrill voice stabbed directly into Jordan's spine, somewhere between C6 and T2 vertebrae, he estimated.
    "Calm down, Mrs. Miller." Jordan took the words to heart himself. "Tell me what's wrong."
    "He's gone!" The decibel of her screech reached record levels. "Winston is gone !"
    "What?" Jordan was moving entirely too slowly today. "What do you mean, gone?"
    "I mean I let him out into the backyard and now he's missing!" Mrs. Miller was clearly working towards full-on panic.
    "Okay." Jordan thought. "First, are you absolutely positive he didn't fall asleep under the porch again?"
    "Yes. And he's not in the bushes and he's not in the house..." Mrs. Miller sobbed. "I've looked everywhere, Dr. Mac!"
    Jordan's personal cell was ringing, but he couldn't leave Mrs. Miller. It was Thomas. Jordan shot him a quick text that he was on another call.
    Almost immediately came the reply:
    You'd better get out here .
    Jordan sighed. "I'm on my way, Mrs. Miller. Don't go anywhere."
    "Okay," she sniffed.
    Jordan disconnected and dialed Thomas. "What is it, son?"
    "You're not going to believe this," Thomas whispered.
    "What?" His patience was at an end.
    "It's Mrs. Miller's dog."
    Jordan shook his head. "No, it can't be."
    "It's him, Dad, and he's got B pinned under him and if we go near them he freaks."
    He was already to his vehicle. "I'm on my way." He shook his head. "I don't know what's gotten into that crazy dog."
    On his way, Jordan called Mrs. Miller and told her to meet him there. She lived on the other side of town, and it would double his time to get there if he picked her up first.
    Pulling into the driveway, Jordan couldn't see anything because of the way the house sat. He entered where he'd been welcomed by Nina just yesterday, and made his way to the kitchen. Stepping into the yard, the teens spotted Jordan immediately.
    "Dad!" Thomas ran towards him. "That was fast."
    "You called him?" Cal sounded offended, but Jordan was so overwhelmed by the sight of him he couldn't care. He found small pleasure in the fact that Cal looked like he was as miserable as Jordan.
    "Dude," Thomas scoffed, with a pointed look at the dogs. "I'm no dog whisperer. What did you think we were going to do?"
    Jordan snapped to attention, forcing his eyes to drop from Cal. He carefully approached the dogs. Winston lounged almost casually over the miniature B. Held under the bulldog's foreleg, the white ball of fluff laid on his back, looking for all the world like the most contented animal Jordan had ever seen. Stepping closer, Jordan knelt next to Winston.
    "What's going on here, boy?" He murmured. Winston chuffed in his face, and dropped his leaking jaw to tuck B under his chin. Holding a hand out to get permission to