Wiley whistled in appreciation as he took in the room. French doors led to a balcony that overlooked the backyard and pool, letting in tons of sunlight. A full bed with a burgundy comforter graced the right wall. The room had its own bathroom and walk-in closet, and there was even a small utility room off to the side. It wasn’t as big as the room Baer was using, but it was definitely nice. Dane had done a great job of remodeling it.
He set the carrier down. “Want me to leave her in here awhile or go ahead and let her out?”
“Let her out. I doubt she’ll go far at first. She’s never been out of my apartment other than trips to the vet, so she’ll probably be cautious.”
Baer opened the small door, and Queenie shot out of the carrier and took off out of the room.
“Guess I was wrong,” Wiley said with a soft laugh. There was a screech, then the sound of barking. “Look, she’s already making friends.”
Baer tuned in to Ruby to find she was delighted to have a new friend. Poor dog.
He was getting better at paying attention to one animal than when he’d first gotten his powers. In the beginning, the voices and images had been a crazy jumble of noise that had given him headaches. Now, he could better pick the threads of images out and pay attention to one creature at a time.
“I’ve never stayed in a place so nice,” Wiley said as he walked to the window. “It’s always just been me and my grandmother. I lived with her in her small house until I went out on my own.”
“No parents?”
Wiley shook his head, staring out at the backyard. “My father took off while my mother was still pregnant, and she died when I was a toddler. So, it was just me and Grandma.”
“And she’s the one you texted earlier, right?”
Wiley nodded. “Yeah. She’s only in her sixties and still as lively as ever. She works as a receptionist at a small law firm in town. Been there as long as I can remember.” He walked to the bed and set his suitcase on it.
Baer struggled not to frown at what sounded like a lonely life. It explained why there weren’t a lot of family pictures at Wiley’s apartment, but what about friends? Did he not have close friends he could hang out with? People who would worry about his sudden disappearance? That didn’t make sense. Wiley was a sweet, funny guy. He should have oodles of friends.
But he couldn’t ask about that. At least, not yet.
He cleared his throat. “I’ll leave you to unpack. When you’re done, come downstairs. I’ll be in the kitchen, seeing what I can rustle up for lunch. We usually grill something.”
Wiley flashed him a bright smile, seeming a little more relaxed than he had when he first came into the house. “Sounds good.”
He stared at Wiley for another moment, taking in the shiny blond of his hair in the sunlight coming in through the window. Wiley nervously adjusted his glasses, his smile turning a little questioning.
Reluctantly, Baer turned and left the room. The connection was still there. Faint and different than what he felt with Clay or even Grey, but there. Shaking his head, he headed back down to the first floor.
Grey was in the kitchen and he smirked at Baer as he walked into the room. “That guy is a real cutie, eh?”
“You interested?”
Grey shook his head. “No, just noticing that you thought so. Plus, I’m not blind.”
Baer grimaced and opened the refrigerator for a bottle of water.
“That his cat torturing Ruby?” Grey asked as he leaned against the counter.
“Yeah, I should probably check on them and make sure Queenie hasn’t attacked poor Ruby.”
He carried his water with him as he searched out the thread of Ruby’s voice. He found them in the dining room, both animals stretched out on the floor, eyeing each other. Ruby was all kinds of curious about the cat, while Queenie was shooting daggers out of her eyes.
On the bright side, her thoughts weren’t as chaotic as she wondered why she was here and what was going on. Poor thing was pretty damn confused and scared. He wanted to pet her to reassure her, but she was in no mood to be touched.
“You two are going to have to learn to get along,” he told them.
Wiley came into the room and once again, Baer found himself drawn to the man. Now that he was consciously thinking about it, he was becoming wary. He didn’t have the greatest dating track record. His last relationship could be tossed in the disaster column.
What was it about him that drew Baer in?
He was cute, perky, and so damn energetic. If the art he’d seen posted around the apartment and on the desk was any indication, he was amazingly creative and a hell of an artist. He also got a feeling that he was biting his tongue, but there were little hints that he could also be snarky as fuck. Part of Baer was dying to see him finally let his guard down and say what he was thinking.