Cash
He thought he heard someone knocking at the door, but when he didn’t hear it a second time, he figured his mind was playing tricks on him. He was on the phone in his office at the back of the house. He’d been at his downtown offices for two days trying to clean up the mess some hackers made of his app. Apparently, some religious bigots hired a hacker with enough talent to target his app and try to shut it down.
Fortunately, he had talented people working for him, and they caught it on the back end before it messed with the front end. But they still had to shut down the app for five hours the day before to cut off its progress. He was pissed that it hadn’t been caught sooner and kept from fucking with the apps usage. They’d posted a “down for maintenance” notification and got it back up as quickly as possible, but it still impacted his customers and for that, heads would roll.
He’d been told something like that couldn’t happen. The fact that a virus was embedded in the servers and sped its way through the application at lightning speed meant they’d be having post mortems on the event to determine the root cause, which would lead to a Kaizen event to improve every process that was impacted. He was going to Six Sigma the fuck out of the situation until it was dealt with completely.
The five-hour shut down didn’t cause too much of a financial burden on the company, but even if it had, he wouldn’t be too worried about it. What pissed him off was that the service was cut off for his customers; that in and of itself was enough to have him on a rampage.
Everyone managed to keep their jobs, thanks to his upper management team, who finally convinced him they had everything under control and would have post mortem results in less than a week. He’d been in the office for just shy of forty-eight hours without breathing fresh air when Mitch McAvoy approached him, telling him he’d take over. Cash nearly told the man he could fuck off. He caught himself before doing so, knowing it wasn’t Mitch’s fault, and Mitch had been hired to manage his company so that he could be more hands off, or at least work on other projects he had a passion for to further the app’s reach.
He’d let Mitch handle it going forward until he proved he couldn’t. He was just finishing up the latest call with the man when the doorbell rang, proving it had been someone knocking on the door. He walked towards the front of the house still talking with Mitch. When he got to the door, he yanked it open, his anger from the last forty-eight hours still simmering in his veins.
The young kid standing there was bundled up in a ridiculously puffy jacket, the hood covering his head nearly to his eyebrows. He had a backpack slung over one arm and a suitcase in his hand. He’d turned to walk away, but when Cash opened the door, he turned back around to face him. He realized he was staring at the kid in confusion, and Mitch was still talking to him.
“Mitch, someone’s at the door, deal with the situation and call if any more problems arise.”
He hung up and squinted his eyes at the kid who gave him a tremulous smile. He didn’t smile back. He wasn’t buying what the kid was selling. He waited for the kid to talk, but when he didn’t, he finally asked, “What do you want, kid?”
He saw the boy gulp and try to keep the smile on his face. He finally took a deep breath and said, “Hi, Daddy. I’m Liam, your new boy.”
The fuck?
What the hell was he talking about? And why did his dick stir when he’d heard that sweet voice calling him Daddy? Pissed that his body was betraying him and confused beyond belief as to who the fuck this kid was and how he knew he was a Daddy, his voice was harsh when he asked, “What the hell are you talking about, kid? I don’t have time for some teenage freeloader. And, I don’t need a new boy. I’m not in the market for jailbait either, all right? Now, go on and get the hell outta here before I call the cops for trespassing.”
The small gasp and horrified look the boy gave him made him feel like shit, and the trembling lips and the eyes that looked like tears were imminent nearly killed him, but not enough to take back his words. He didn’t have time for some crazy kid to come knocking. He had no clue who he was, and that made him suspicious as hell, especially after his app got hacked. The kid picked up the gigantic suitcase that looked to be heavy enough to cause back issues for a man of Cash’s size, let alone this tiny thing in front of him.
He couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to try to help the kid, but he flinched away like he was going to get hit, and Cash felt like an even bigger asshole. He was about to apologize and tell the boy he wasn’t about to hit him, when his phone rang. He answered it before the first ring had ceased and barked out, “What now?!”
He glanced up and saw the kid flinch again at his tone. He was halfway down his front steps and appeared as if he had things under control when Mitch started talking again. Shutting the door to keep out the cold, he walked to one of his front windows to watch the kid continue down the winding path. When he was out of sight, he tuned back in. “. . . found the underlying cause of the breach and have taken measures to guard against it temporarily to keep it from happening again until we can find a more permanent solution. I just wanted you to know.”
“That’s good news. I still want a formal post mortem on the situation and anything that contributed to it, and a breakdown of areas of improvement needed for a Kaizen event. We need to ensure this doesn’t happen again, Mitch.”
“Yes, sir. I’m on it. But rest assured we’re on our way to having the answers. Try to get some rest. We can talk in the morning.”
“Thanks.” He hung up the phone and looked outside, realizing he hadn’t seen the kid’s car drive off yet. He gave it another couple minutes then grew concerned, feeling more and more like an asshole for not asking questions and just shutting the door in the kids face. Jesus, he needed sleep. He hadn’t been this frustrated and stressed in years. He usually never let stuff like this work him up, but unhappy customers usually did it.
He gave one last look out front then walked towards the garage. Passing his cars, he approached the exterior side door and looked out the window. His heart constricted in his chest when he saw the boy crying, head in his hands, his whole body shaking with his sobs.
Jesus, he was an asshole.
He opened the side door of the garage and walked around to the driver’s side of the car. Opening the car door, he felt even worse when the kid jumped out of his skin and squeaked in surprise. His eyes popped wide, and he shook his head, a scared look on his face, all color leached from his skin. He fumbled with the keys and got them in the ignition, trying several times to start the car. Cash tried to put a placating hand on the kid’s shoulder, but that just made things worse.
When the engine finally caught, the boy let out a relieved breath and leaned away so Cash’s hand would fall from his shoulder, looked up at him, sadness radiating from him and said, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I showed up out of the blue. I thought you were expecting me, Sir. I thought…” The kid shook his head and continued, “It doesn’t matter. I’ll go. Please don’t call the cops. I’m leaving.”
He reached for the door to close it on Cash, but Cash held the door fast and asked, “What do you mean you thought I was expecting you? Why would I be expecting some kid to show up talking about being my new boy?”
The kid frowned, and new tears started to gather. He shook his head, and his breath hitched before he said, “I don’t know. I don’t know anymore. Maybe it was all a joke. But it doesn’t matter because you weren’t expecting me, and you don’t want a new boy. I’m just gonna go.” He tried again to shut the car door and finally let out a frustrated huff. “I just wanna go home. Please. I’m humiliated enough. Please, just let me leave.”
The hitched breath on the last words was the last straw. Cash hunkered down until he was eye level with the boy. And god was he a beautiful boy. He rested his hand on the kid’s shoulder, gripping it lightly, but firmly enough to let the kid know he wasn’t going to be able to dislodge it. Somewhere between the kid’s thought that someone had possibly played a joke on him and his last, defeated words, his Daddy side had had enough and took over.
“Boy, I need you to calm down for a minute. All right?” He felt the shudder make its way through the boy’s small frame, the use of “boy” affecting him so much he shook with it.
Jesus.
He’d never had someone react to him so openly, as if he didn’t know how to school his reactions. He’d calmed under his touch enough for Cash to ask, “Who sent you?”
The boy looked down at his lap and picked at a nail, avoiding eye contact. “Tommy.”
Cash let out an incredulous breath, something between a laugh and a groan escaped, and he lowered his head, shaking it and running a hand through his hair in exasperation. The kid must have thought he didn’t believe him, so he continued, “He said he'd make sure you knew I was coming. I’m not making it up. But it must have all been some kind of prank or something. Look, Sir, if you’ll just back up, I'll be on my way, and we can forget this whole thing happened. I can't apologize enough. Truly. I shouldn’t have come."
“Boy, stop. I believe you.” The kid stilled immediately, not a muscle moving. “Tommy doesn’t humiliate people for fun, and he wouldn’t set someone up to get hurt. I wasn’t expecting you, but life has been chaos since he left. I’ll have to call him and find out what’s going on, okay? Why don’t you come inside. It’s cold, and it’s late. You can stay in one of the guest rooms until we figure everything out. I’ll talk to Tommy, and you and I can talk in the morning, okay?”
The kid shook his head. “No. Thank you for the offer, Sir, but, no. I don’t want to take advantage. That’s not why I came. I think it’s best if I just go home. You’re obviously not looking for a new boy, and now, it just doesn’t feel right. It’s okay, really. There’s a hotel I passed by earlier. I’ll stay there and be close to the highway and on my way home first thing in the morning.”
His smile was so sad, and he was putting on such a brave face, Cash wanted to draw him in and hold him. Instead, he gripped the boy’s chin, lightly, unable to keep the thrill from zinging through him like electricity when the boy shuddered again at the small touch. Looking in his eyes, he put command in his voice when he said, “Boy, I’m not taking no for an answer. Come on now. Get your backpack. I’ll come back out to grab your suitcase once I get you settled.” He saw the boy was going to try to refuse again and shook his head. “You’re exhausted, and I won’t have you driving this late. Not if I can help it.”
He stood up, holding the door open wider and waited. The boy finally got the message that he wasn’t letting him go and sighed. He leaned over, grabbed his backpack from the passenger seat, and got out of his car. When they were standing face to face, Cash couldn’t help but take the boy in. His hood had come down and his short blond hair; smooth, youthful skin; and warm brown eyes, red rimmed from crying, set Cash’s pulse to racing. Ignoring it, Cash tilted his head towards the house and said, “Come on. I always have one of the rooms set up for visitors, just in case.”
He held out his hand, and the boy hesitated but finally put his own small one in Cash’s much larger one. He led them back inside through the garage. Once they were inside, walking through the mud room and on into the kitchen, the boy’s pace slowed considerably. He glanced back and took in the wide-eyed wonder on the boy’s face. His mouth was hanging open, but when he realized Cash had glanced back at him, he closed it with a snap, and his face turned beet red.
He felt a tug and realized the boy was trying to extricate his hand from Cash’s, but Cash wasn’t having it. The kid’s hand was freezing. He wanted to take both of them in his, rub them to warm them, and then blow on them until he could no longer feel the chill of his skin. And wasn’t he feeling fanciful? Where the fuck had that come from?
He shook off the strange mood he found himself in and continued towards the back of the kitchen to the back staircase. The guest room he’d be putting the boy in was closest to it, so he didn’t feel the need to drag him through the rest of the house to the front staircase and double the distance.
He opened what Tommy had always called the blue room, as the walls were a blue-gray above the wainscoting and the bed had a darker blue duvet and mounds of blue and white pillows. There was a white chaise lounge with thin, navy blue stripes, more blue pillows, and a striking abstract painting in all blues and grays.
He had to admit it was a bit much, but he’d picked specific rooms he’d given a fuck about in the house, explained what he wanted, and let the designers have their way with the others. Everything was tasteful, and expensively appointed, but only some of the things in his house were to his specific taste. He figured if he ever found someone to settle down with, he’d let them have their way with the place and make the rooms he hadn’t specified homier. Who knows if that day would ever come.
“Put the backpack down on the bed and take your coat off.”
The boy followed his instructions immediately, holding his coat draped over his arm as if it was a shield. Cash held out his hand, and the boy finally handed it over. Cash headed to the walk-in closet and hung it up. Turning back, he saw the boy was even thinner than he’d thought, the puffy coat having camouflaged it. And while he wasn’t remotely close to being emaciated, Cash didn’t like that he could see the boy’s ribs through his shirt. He’d need to make sure he started eating better.
Wait. What? No. This kid wasn’t his.
He had to stop that train of thought immediately. He was still mourning the loss of Tommy. Yes, it had been mutual; yes, it had been time; and no, he hadn’t been in love with him, but he had loved him, and he would miss him for some time. He shook his head, realizing he had to call the boy and get to the bottom of this mess. He clasped the boy’s hand again and pulled him along to the large, attached bath where the blue theme continued. He opened up the linen closet and removed some towels and a washcloth, setting them over the towel warmer and turning it on.
He opened the middle drawers in between the two sinks. “There’s everything you could possibly need in these drawers, from toothbrush and toothpaste to moisturizer and nail clippers. Use whatever you need. You’re freezing. Go ahead and get a shower. Everything you could need is in there, as well. If you’ll hand me your keys, I’ll get your suitcase out and move your car out of the driveway. I’ll bring the case up and leave it on the luggage rack. All right?”
The boy still hadn’t said a word since he’d made his last-ditch effort to get Cash to allow him to leave. But he nodded. And just because Cash was an asshole and wanted to hear it again, he raised a brow. The boy’s face pinked up again, and he opened his mouth, licked his beautiful pink lips, and said, “Yes, Sir.”
There it was. Yeah. He liked hearing it. A bit too much. It wasn’t Daddy, but it was close. It would have to do. The kid shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled out his car keys, handing them over. Cash took them and walked out of the room before he tried to get the boy to call him the name he really wanted to hear. Shaking his head, he realized he needed to keep his wits about him with this kid. He was dangerous.
He jogged down the stairs, through the kitchen, and out to the garage. He hit one of the buttons, and one of the garage bays slid up. It was the side he kept his motorcycles in, so he moved them forward enough to make room for the kid’s car and drove the little rat trap into the garage. He opened the back door of the car, and it creaked open, putting up a lot of resistance. Jesus. Was this thing even safe to be on the road? He grabbed the suitcase and slammed the car door shut.
He closed the garage bay and took the suitcase upstairs. He set the case on top of the suitcase rack in the closet and was about to leave the room when he heard the water being turned on. He was about to knock on the door and let the boy know the suitcase was in the closet and the keys were on the dresser, but he heard something else that had him leaning towards the door. Afraid he knew what it was, he held his breath.
A soft sob came through the wood of the door, and Cash closed his eyes feeling like such an asshole. “It was a mistake, CC. He doesn’t want a new boy. He didn’t even know I was coming. I don’t understand why Tommy would do this to me. I’m so embarrassed. I knocked on the door, so happy to meet him, and he yelled at me and called me freeloading jailbait. I’m so stupid.”
He sobbed again and answered yes and no to several questions this CC must have posed. He was about to walk away when the kid added on, “I don’t know. He wants me to take a shower while he’s moving my car out of the driveway, like I’m too dirty to sleep on his sheets, or he’s just too embarrassed to have an old Honda sitting in his driveway. God. What was I thinking? I knew it was too good to be true!”
Cash’s heart plummeted that this beautiful boy thought that was the type of person he was. He had no one to blame but himself. Liam paused to listen to CC again and then answered, “Yeah. That’s what I’m gonna do. He wants to talk to me in the morning after he finds out what’s going on with Tommy… Yeah… Right, that’s what I was thinking. I’m sorry, sis.” Pause. “I know, but I’m still sorry… Yeah. Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow... I love you, too. Bye.”
He thought about waiting another minute and knocking, but he figured he’d let the kid shower and heat something up for him to eat. Ten minutes later, he had some of Mimi’s leftover lasagna heated up. He fixed the kid a small Caesar salad and toasted up some of the garlic bread he had left over. Pouring the kid a tall glass of milk, he added a side dish to the tray with tiramisu.
He laughed at himself when he thought about what Tommy would say about his actions. But he’d deny that he was trying to fatten up his new boy until his dying breath. That was absurd. This kid was too young by far, too inexperienced by a mile, and he was not in the market for a new boy. Sighing, he took the food laden tray upstairs and tapped the door with his booted foot. He had to tap it again when Liam didn’t answer.
When he finally did, Cash took him in from head to toe. He was in a skin tight, long sleeved, thermal shirt, and a pair of low slung pajama bottoms, with no underwear that he could see. Dammit. He cleared his throat and looked back at the tray he’d brought up. “I brought you some dinner. I don’t know how long it’s been since you ate, but I figured you’d been driving for a while. You can make yourself comfortable. You’ve got the TV remote there on your nightstand and pretty much all the cable channels and movie channels, so just relax.”
The boy nodded and looked into his eyes, realizing what he hadn’t said, “Yes, Sir.”
“Go ahead and eat up. You can set the tray on the little hall table by the stairs when you’re done, and I’ll get it tomorrow. Relax and get some sleep. We can have breakfast in the morning and talk. I’ll have been able to reach Tommy by then to see what’s going on. Okay with you?”
Cash could see the boy just wanted him out of his space when he nodded quickly and answered, “Yes, Sir.”
“All right. Goodnight, Liam.”
“Goodnight.”
Exhausted and feeling like a complete prick, he walked to his bedroom on the other side of the house. Why the hell would Tommy tell the boy that Cash would be expecting him? Tommy hadn’t said a word to him, and they hadn’t talked in. . .
Fuck.
He jogged the rest of the way to his room, knowing exactly when Tommy had told him about Liam. Tommy had left three days prior, and Cash had been busy spending time with him on his last day and had crashed that night after seeing Tommy off. Tommy had told him at the airport that he’d left him a letter on his nightstand and to be sure he read it with an open mind. He’d been woken up at five in the morning with the emergency at work and hadn’t had the chance to read it; then he had completely forgotten about it. He walked directly to his nightstand and opened the envelope labeled “Daddy” and sat on the edge of his bed to read it.
Daddy,
I’ve been a bit of a sneaky boy, but I couldn’t leave the man I love most in this world on his own if I could help it. You have been the most important man in my life for years, and I love you with all my heart. I wish I was in love with you, just like you wish you were in love with me. How many times have we said that to each other?
We would have been the perfect couple had we just fallen madly in love with each other, but instead, we were the world’s most imperfect, perfect couple. But I wouldn’t change that for the world. You helped me through so much and made me a better man. You put me through college and supported me unconditionally.
All I want to do for you is give you something in return. You’ve been the best Daddy a boy could ever ask for, and I’ll be using you as a measurement for my next Daddy, and my next after that. It’ll take a near perfect man to take your place.
You knew when it was time for us to go our separate ways, even when I would have held on for much longer. You provided me with your love, your patience, and your discipline, and in the end, the biggest opportunity of my lifetime, knowing I’d never be able to turn it down.
I wanted to give you back a bit of happiness as a thank you, so I created a profile for you on your own app. Genius, right? Remember…I love you.
The moment I took you up on the offer you extended to me, I created that profile and began my search. It took me a couple months, but I finally settled on the absolute sweetest boy I think I’ve ever met.
He’s perfect for you, Daddy. So perfect. And I know you’re thinking, “I’m not ready.” But Daddy, you’ve been ready since before you met me, and you’re even more ready now. Please, give him a chance.
Liam is smart, hardworking, beautiful, dedicated, strong, sweet, obedient, loyal, and funny. He’s such a natural Daddy’s boy. I’ve been getting to know him for over a month, and he’s everything I could ever want for you, and even more, he’s everything you could ever want for yourself.
He didn’t approach me, I approached him, and he did his best to turn me down. But I talked him into listening to what I had to say and eventually convinced him you’d be the perfect Daddy for him.
Don’t let me down, Daddy, but most of all, don’t let yourself or Liam down. The list of kinks on his profile more closely align with yours than even mine did. Don’t be a stubborn ass and push him away just because you think it’s what’s best.
I want you to THRIVE, not just live. I want you to LOVE, not just settle. Do this for me, but most of all, do this for you. You deserve it more than anyone I know.
I’ll love you forever, Cash Moreau.
Your boy,
Tommy
Resting his arm on his knee, the pages of the letter hanging between his spread thighs, he wiped away the tears that had gathered and ran his hand through his hair. Damn that boy. If Tommy was there right then, he’d have pulled him over his knees and reddened his beautiful bottom until it was screaming hot to the touch. He wished Tommy had told him face to face so he could have known and been able to avoid treating Liam like he had.
He stood and walked towards the door of his bedroom before realizing the boy had probably had enough emotional upheaval for one night, probably didn’t want to see him just yet, and was undoubtedly exhausted. He sighed and realized he too was ridiculously tired from the turmoil of the last several days. They both needed a good night’s rest, and he’d talk to the boy in the morning. He still wasn’t sure what he’d be doing, but at the very least the boy deserved an explanation and a heartfelt apology.
He looked at the clock and calculated the time difference. He wasn’t about to call Tommy at two thirty in the morning. He sat for a few minutes, knowing he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep at eight thirty. Debating what to do, he figured a swim in the pool might do him good. Dressed in swim shorts minutes later, he took the elevator down to the daylight basement and set about a brutal pace. An hour later, he was thoroughly exhausted and upstairs, showering off the salt water.
He booted up his computer and checked his work email, happy to see there wasn’t anything he needed to address. He turned on the television and watched a few episodes of a favorite show then settled down to sleep. He’d call Tommy in the morning and get as much information as he could before making a decision and chatting with the boy.