10
Frankie
Okay…so I totally didn’t expect to come home to Pup Evan jumping into my arms, but I have to admit, as far as surprises go, it was a damn good one.
There was something so freeing about his whole demeanor when he’d come bounding toward me—like he’d just opened up, let go, and allowed himself to truly be. The thing is, I can also tell he’s holding back, that as much as he wants this, he still has to work on getting into what they call puppy space. But if Pup Evan is this passionate and free right now, I can’t imagine what he’ll be like when we get more involved in this.
A warmth burns through my belly at the thought. Christ, I really fucking want this.
I’d taken a shower and changed clothes at the station, so once Evan has his hood put away and gets a shirt on, we head down to my car. I’m pulling out of the parking lot of Metropolis when he asks, “Where are we going? Otterly is the other way.”
“I looked up some other leather stores. There’s one across town that I thought we’d try out. Z obviously knows about you, but I know you’re not quite ready for anyone else to find out. I figured we’d have less of a chance of running into anyone we know this way.”
He gives me this bright, happy smile, showing off those perfect teeth of his as if I’d just hung the damn moon instead of just considering his comfort. There haven’t been enough people in Evan’s life who put him first, who truly thought about what was best for him and ever since the first night we spoke, I decided I would be one of those people for him.
“Thank you, Frankie.”
“I didn’t do anything you need to thank me for. I’m being a good friend. That’s all.”
He reaches over and puts his hand on my knee. I pat it before continuing to take the longer drive through cross-streets rather than up 85. I figured we’d hit less traffic, but there’s still some streets that haven’t recovered from rush hour. But it doesn’t take us too long to get to the kink store.
“Hey,” a man behind the counter says without looking up at us. Okay, so he’s obviously not going to be as helpful as Z is anytime I’ve gone into Otterly.
“Why don’t you grab that basket?” I tell Evan, and he does, carrying it in one hand. I thread my fingers with Evan’s as I lead him around the store until we find the section we’re looking for. “The floor at home will kill your knees. The most important thing we get today needs to be kneepads.”
“Yeah, even just going from my room to the entryway hurt today.”
“No more Pup Evan on the floor without kneepads okay? Already being a bad boy.” I wink and get another grin while his cheeks color pink.
“Okay.”
I find the small kneepads, open the package and then kneel and try them on him. “You don’t have to do it for me,” Evan says.
“I know. I want to.”
He’s wearing jeans, but I can tell they’ll fit right without them, so I package them back up and hand them to Evan.
“Wow…” Evan says as he looks at one of the crawler suits. It’s made of leather and the pup’s legs would be sort of strapped up by its ass, so it would be impossible to put their feet down. The arms are tied up the same way so the pup uses its elbows as its front paws.
“Do you like that?” I ask him, and he shakes his head.
“I think that’s a little too much for me.”
That’s how I thought he would answer, and we’re on the same page there—at least for now.
“Gloves next.”
They have a variety of different kinds of pup gloves. Some bigger and bulkier and others a little simpler. We go with a pair of plain, black gloves with a zipper to keep them snug on his hands.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he says, this sort of soft awe to his voice that makes a strange well of pride swell in my chest.
“You should be proud of yourself for doing this.”
“I am. For sure it’s just…kind of amazing. To let go like this and to do it with you.”
“Awww. Shucks. Aren’t you sweet?” I wink and he rolls his eyes.
“Come on. Let’s get a collar. I really want a collar.” This time it’s Evan who grabs my hand and tugs me down the aisle until we get to the collars and leashes.
I read about different levels in collaring—a regular pet collar, a chain, locks. “I think the regular collars are the beginning. A lock means you’re in a committed relationship with someone.”
“I mean, I just need something simple for now, right?” he asks.
“Yeah, we’ll just be doing it at home, so we can start easy and see where it takes us. This is the same blue that’s on your hood,” I say pointing to one of the racks.
“Um…do you know me? Totally not my style.”
Laughing, I hold my hands up in defeat. “By all means then, you pick.”
“Thank you,” he says playfully. Evan sets the basket down and begins fingering through the different styles of collars. I can’t help but stand there and watch him, see the look of concentration on his face because he’s taking this so damn seriously.
Again, I get a swell of pride for him, for what he’s doing. It’s strange, what I’m getting out of this already, how seeing Evan take this for himself and being a part of giving it to him begins to fill this void I didn’t know needed to be filled.
“What do you think of this?” He holds up a black, leather collar with what I can only describe as delicate silver studs and silver stitching as accents.
“I like it. I think it’ll look hot as hell on you. Here, let’s try it on.”
His eyes widen in this moment of panic as if he just realized he’s in the middle of a leather store trying on puppy gear.
Evan’s gaze darts around the room as though he feels on display. I’ve seen Evan in the clutches of anxiety before, and though we’re not playing right now and I’m not sure if it’s the right thing to do, I wrap a hand around his nape, rub his scalp and say, “It’s okay, Pup. There’s no one here judging you. If you’re not ready, we don’t have to get the collar yet.”
“No!” jumps out of his mouth and I can see it surprises him too. “I want it. I just had a weird moment right there. I want to try it on.”
I nod and take the collar from his cool fingers. Evan closes his eyes as I wrap the leather around his neck and latch it. He doesn’t open his eyes as I pull my hands away, so I continue to watch him, let him do this at his own pace. Christ, he looks really fucking beautiful in it. I love the black against his pale skin. The fact that it’s not too dainty but not big and bulky either. There’s an O ring on it where a tag would go. Will Evan ever want a tag there? Will he pick a pup name he wants engraved on his collar, or will he stick with Pup Evan? So many damn questions that make goose bumps spread across my skin and my dick sort of perk up.
This isn’t about sex, I have to remind myself, though Evan did get hard when he jumped into my arms earlier.…
I don’t have much time to think about it because Evan’s eyes flutter open before he focuses on me. He opens his mouth, but on instinct, I put a finger against his lips and say, “Wait. Tell me what it feels like first.”
I know his first question would have been to ask me how it looks, but right now, I really want to know how Evan feels.
“Okay. Um, the leather feels nice against my skin. It’s not too tight, but snug enough that I can tell it’s there and it…it feels right being there, Frankie. Like it fits and when I say that, I don’t mean in size. Like it’s supposed to be a part of me. I don’t know. That sounds stupid.”
“No,” I tell him. “That sounds perfect. And it looks really fucking good, Ev.”
His bright, hazel eyes get this sparkle to them that I hope to see more of.
“Yeah?” he asks.
“Fuck, yes.”
“Okay, let’s get it.”
“Sold.” I unlatch the collar from around his neck. Then sort of nod my head to the other side of the aisle where the tails are. They have a few that fit around the waist, but the majority of them are all butt plugs. My cock gets a little stiff at the thought of Evan on all fours, a plug firmly in his hole as he wags his tail at me.
Fuck, keeping the sex out of this is going to be hard. Pun intended.
“I…” He walks over. I hang back a little, giving him space to do this thing. Evan takes in all the different tails, even reaches out and touches some of the packaging. “What kind of person wants a tail, Frankie?” he asks.
“Different kinds of people and none of it makes them wrong. Jesus Christ, my dick is hard just thinking about you in one of those.”
When he doesn’t reply right away, I add, “It’s okay to want this.”
“I do. I really think I do, but I don’t think I’m ready for the tail. Not yet.”
“I like the yet.”
He turns then, his eyes darting down to my crotch. Evan cocks a perfect brow at me. “You weren’t lying.”
“Shut up, runt.” I chuckle and ruffle his hair. “Come on. Let’s finish shopping. I want to get home and try some of this stuff on you.”
We head to the toys next. Evan picks out a ball and a bone. I read online that a lot of pups have special stuffed animals they keep, but they don’t have any here. Since Evan hasn’t mentioned it, I’m not sure if that’s even something he would want. I’m kind of following his lead here.
We pay and head back to Midtown. Evan keeps the bag of gear on his lap the whole ride.
He calls us in some dinner. “I’ll grab it,” I tell him when I pull up at our favorite Japanese place.
They aren’t busy, and it only takes me a few minutes to get the teriyaki chicken and California rolls. When I get back to the car, Evan has the collar in his hands, rubbing his fingers over the studs.
“We can put it on you when we get home if you want. Even if you’re not in the mood to be a pup.”
“Yeah, I think I want that.”
The truth is, I think I want all this too. Maybe a little too much.
I also don’t want to take this too fast. Once we get back to our unit, I say, “How about we put the collar on now, then just have dinner together. Afterward, we can try out any of the other gear and toys you want…or if you’re not ready, you can just be Pup Evan with your head in my lap and I can cuddle you while we watch our show. How does that sound?”
Evan grins a happy fucking grin that’s different than the smiles I saw from him before…shit, was that only last night? It already feels like it’s been longer.
“That sounds perfect.”
So, we do just that. We share dinner but instead of going straight to TV, I play my guitar for a little while. Evan joins in with me, singing in his awful, yet adorable voice. Afterward, we cuddle on the couch, his head in my lap and I pet him, while we watch our show and it’s just what he said—perfect.