Page 81 of To Hell and Back
Andras shoved Princess off of him and wiped at his face. Then he pouted. “That man is a menace,” he declared.
“Oh dear. What did he use?”
“Szarka,” Andras complained. “He said Andras has Hungarian roots here on Earth, so he wanted to keep with the theme.”
“And Szarka means?”
“Thief,” Andras grumped.
Drew sniggered. “Sounds fitting.”
“Fuck you.” Andras pushed the urco towards Drew, who was then subjected to his own face licking.
They lounged on the lawn, enjoying the sun for a while longer. Leila was busy scratching in the small garden bed, eating bugs, and Princess started following her, eating her poop. Luckily, he didn’t attempt to lick either of them again.
After a while, Andras cleared his throat but refused to look at Drew. “So, uh, I never did say thank you,” he said. “You know, for fighting to bring me here.”
Drew smiled at him. “You’re welcome.”
Andras tore off a piece of grass and ripped it into smaller pieces. “The only family I’ve ever really known was Zachariel. I’m sure he never saw me that way, but it’s how I felt about him.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, now it feels like I have you too.”
Drew scooted over the grass on his butt until he was sitting next to Andras and could throw an arm around his shoulders. “Andras, you helped me when you really didn’t have to. You’ve defended me, put your life on the line for me, and taken care of me. You’re my family too.”
Andras sniffed and quickly wiped at his eyes. He nodded, avoiding eye contact. “Okay. Cool. I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
“Okay, I think this one will be big enough,” Zach said, coming into the garden and holding a dog harness and leash. He looked at the urco and nodded. “Glamour looks good,” he told Andras.
They wrangled Princess into the harness and then clipped on the leash. “Time for walkies,” Drew told him.
“Are we heading to the park?” Andras asked.
Drew shook his head and ducked down to allow Leila to jump onto his shoulder. “Nope. I’m going to introduce you to one of my favourite things in the world.”
“I’ve already met Zachariel,” Andras drawled.
Drew shook his head and said with a grin, “No, this is even better than Zach. It’s a peppermint mocha frap.”
“Wow. And here I thought you loved me,” Zach said, shoving Drew playfully.
“Does this mean if you don’t want him anymore, I can have him?” Andras teased.
Drew poked his tongue out at both of them. “Shut up and get walking,” he told them, shooing them out the gate.
They started walking, and Drew couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. It was a gorgeous summer’s day, and he was with his fiancé, his new friends, and his familiar. Life couldn’t get any better than this.
