Bryan
We both jumped when the phone went off. Startling when it was on vibrate made us both feel a little bit sheepish, but Mad just laughed. “Wasn’t expecting that.”
“Are you going to answer it?” It was an unknown caller. But the phone number was from the university, so one guess who it was.
“Yes. I’m going to answer.” He sounded confident, but it took him two more rings before he swiped his finger across the screen. “Hello.”
“Yes, this is he.”
Leaning back against Maddox’s chest, I could hear some of the conversation but not everything. It was the housing office. And from the sound of the voice, I thought it was the woman we met when we first walked in the door. Was it a good thing or a bad thing that it wasn’t someone higher up the food chain?
I couldn’t decide.
Either way was reasonable. They could have decided to blow off two college kids as unimportant or the fact that Mad’s family had money might have swayed things in our favor. Anything had to be better than where he was. Right? Even the worry-wort side of me had a hard time thinking of scenarios where it would suck more.
Well, my brain could think of them but I could see they weren’t very reasonable. Hopefully. I could hear the buzz of the words coming over the phone, and it was getting hard to be patient. It turned out that I didn’t have to be, though.
“Wait one minute, please. I want to put you on speaker phone so that Bryan can hear this as well. Thank you.” Maddox’s voice was smooth and had an air of authority. I couldn’t remember him sounding like that before everything started with us. Had he always had that power he could tap into to seem more in control and I’d not noticed it?
Maddox brought the phone down so we could both see the screen and hit the speaker button. “All right. Thank you. He can hear now.”
A nasally, slightly frustrated voice came through the phone. “As I was saying. The only option the university has available are apartments just off campus that we have a contract with. They’re not owned by the university but they work with us because most of their tenants are students. I’ve made some phone calls and they do have two units available right now. The school is willing to transfer the funds that were paid for your room and board to the management company to go toward rent. Because of the unfounded allegations made against Mr. Grant, the school is willing to offer him the same terms. How long the funds last would depend on which apartment or apartments you choose. The school will not provide any other monetary assistance beyond what you have already paid for this term. Any further costs for rent or utilities would be up to you. This is the only option we have available right now.”
I was shocked. This sounded perfect. Even if the place was a dump, at least we would be together. Money might be tight for a while, but we’d figure it out. Looking back at Mad, I nodded. He smiled. “Yes, ma’am. I think that should work for both of us. Can you send me the information for the apartments?”
“Yes. I’ll have that emailed to you in a moment.”
“Thank you. And the management company is aware of the funds available to us? It’s too late to go over there tonight, but I want to head over there first thing tomorrow.”
“Yes. I’ve notified them of the situation and they will be able to go over rental costs and options tomorrow.”
“I think that’s all my questions for now. Thank you for your help.”
“Have a good day, sir.” Then the call disconnected. She was glad to get rid of us.
“Wow.”
“I know, right? I was sure they would only be able to stick me in one of the sucky old dorms. This is…”
“Perfect. We get to live together.”
He gave me a hug. “And we should have some time to figure out the money side of things. I’m not sure how much they cost or how long the school’s money will last but it’s something. And it gets us out of the dorms.”
The weight I’d been carrying around on my shoulders was finally gone. We were going to be together on our terms. No more figuring out private places to hide because we couldn’t actually use our rooms. No more eating out every meal. No more sleeping alone. Oh, sleeping…
“Hey, one problem.”
Mad looked at me curiously. “What?”
“We have no furniture at all. If we get the apartment tomorrow, can we move in with nothing? I don’t want to have to wait for weeks to be with you.”
“We’ll figure it out. I’ve been looking at some of the discount stores in the area. It’s not going to be as bad as you think. I’ve got a little money saved up, so that will get us the basics.” Mad set the phone down and turned me in his arms.
He gave me a huge grin and a big kiss. “We have to celebrate.”
I liked that idea. “How? What do you want to do?”
“We’re going to grab an overnight bags’ worth of stuff and find a hotel. We’re going to sleep together tonight and not worry about anything. Then tomorrow after classes, we’ll head over to the apartments and check things out.” His eyes sparkled and I could see the plans running wild through his head.
I wasn’t going to ask about money or plans or anything else right now. We had enough to cover the hotel room and to be honest, we needed it. Having an entire night together would be awesome. I’d missed living with him.
“How soon do you think we could move in together?”
He shrugged. “She said they had two options available, so I’m thinking pretty quickly. I don’t care if we have to camp for a while. As long as we’re out of the dorms and together, it doesn’t matter. Let’s go. We’ll grab food on the way to the hotel.”
Gathering up our stuff, we headed over to his room first. It didn’t take us long to get there and soon we were walking down the hall to his suite. He paused at the door, looking at me. “So, overnight bag this time. Then if we can move in tomorrow, we’ll come back and grab the rest in the afternoon?”
“Yup. I think that’s the best plan. I don’t want to pack everything up tonight just in case. And more than likely Jay’s going to be back and I don’t want to deal with him right now.” It looked like Maddox didn’t want to see his roommate any more than I did mine. I could see his tension starting to rise.
It wasn’t like I could blame him. After everything that happened, I would be crazy, too. I didn’t want any confrontations that would ruin our evening. Deciding that a distraction might be in order, I shoved back my embarrassment and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Are you going to get your box too, Daddy?”
Reaching for the door handle, Maddox froze. Turning to look at me his heated gaze made me start to blush. “Baby, I think that’s a wonderful idea.”
Heading into the suite, Maddox’s whole demeanor changed. Gone was the stress. In its place was a Daddy with plans to make. Buzz was in the room but he had headphones on, having some kind of discussion on coding while playing a video game. He didn’t even look up when we came in. Most of Maddox’s clothes were still in the bag on the bed so he grabbed those and then started rummaging around in the bathroom.
Within minutes, we were out the door, clothes, bathroom stuff, and toy box in tow. I wasn’t completely sure what he had in the box, and I wasn’t going to ask. He had that wicked look on his face that said he would tell me if I questioned him. Walking through the middle of campus was not where I wanted to have that discussion.
We dropped his stuff off in my car before heading up to my room. Luckily Jay was out, because I wasn’t in the mood to hear what he had to say. It took me a little bit longer to grab things than it had Mad but not much. Soon we were back to the car and heading out. Maddox had spent the time while I packed looking up hotels, so we had a plan when we pulled out of the parking lot.
Quickly grabbing food, we got to the hotel and checked in before it was too late. It was only about ten minutes from the campus, so it wouldn’t be terrible to head to class the next day. It wasn’t a five-star resort but Mad picked out something pretty reasonable.
Heading into our room, I was surprised to see how nice it was. I’d been getting the stuff out of the car when Mad checked us in, but this was way nicer than he’d talked about. “What?”
He just grinned, a big goofy smile. “I got them to upgrade us. Only paid for the regular room but he put us in their version of a suite. It’s not the Hilton, but it’s got a jet tub and big king-sized bed.”
Setting my stuff down on the bed, I walked over to give him a hug. He was so cute, all proud of getting us something nice. “This is wonderful. Thank you.”
Resting my head on his shoulder and my face against his neck, I breathed his scent in and relaxed. We had a whole night together and hopefully many more after that very soon. It had only been a few weeks since we’d lived together but it felt like longer. I don’t know how we would have made it to Christmas.
Mad wrapped his arms around me and simply stood there, holding me. So much had happened in such a short time that I was having a hard time pushing it all away. Just this morning I’d been ready to wait months to live together, but now it was happening so quickly. Tomorrow we might be in our first apartment.
I knew this was the right thing for us. I’d had too many lonely nights to think about it, and we’d already done it over the summer. I wasn’t questioning the decision; I simply needed to catch my breath.
“I think you need a bath, Baby. We need to get back on a regular schedule when we move into the new place. The first step is going to be bath time at night.” His hands were running up and down my back in a soothing way that made me want to cuddle into him tighter.
“Yes, Daddy.” In that moment, I wanted him to take control of everything. I didn’t want to think or make any decisions. I was so tired, my brain was fried.
He pulled back enough to kiss my forehead. “Bath time, B. Let’s go see what the tub looks like.”
The bathroom was bigger than I’d been expecting. The tub was a regular size but it had the jets and was deep so it was still nicer than the one I had at home. Maddox plugged the tub and started getting everything ready while I stood there.
Daddy would tell me what to do.
The thought was soothing and helped push me into that frame of mind where I was his boy and he was going to care for me. It’d felt so natural to slide in and out of that part of myself before, but now it was harder. I guess because I had to lock it away when we started school again.
I couldn’t wait to get to the point where we had that once more. Special times where he was Daddy and all I had to do was be his baby. It had never been this hard to push it away. The past couple of years it had been a constant nagging desire but nothing like the need I’d felt lately. Shoving it down had been like holding back a flood.
When the water started to rise, Daddy turned back to me. He had a tender, loving expression on his face. It made my chest hurt and I took a deep breath, trying to fight my emotions. Daddy must have seen something in my expression or just understood how I was feeling because his hands came up to cup my face.
“Baby, it’s okay. I know you’re tired and this has been a crazy day. We’re going to get you a bath and relax for a while, then it’s bedtime. I’m going to take care of you and everything is going to feel much better in the morning. You’ll see.” Then he leaned in and gave me a tender kiss.
The love and emotion seemed to seep into me through his touch. He’d told me daily how much he loved me and he always made me see I mattered to him, but this was different. When he was taking care of me, I always felt like the most important person in the world to him. Like being there for me was the only thing he was concerned about.
When he pulled away, I wanted to protest but I knew there was so much more to come. As he undressed me, his hands were soothing and gentle. Not trying to get me turned on but still showing me his need and his love. I was half-hard by the time he was helping me into the tub, but we both ignored it.
“Lean back and relax, Baby. I’m going to get everything set up out there. I’ll come back and wash you in a minute.” Bending over to kiss my forehead, he eased me down until I was lying down in the rising water.
I heard him moving things around in the bedroom but I tried not to pay attention. He was back in the bathroom in time to turn off the water before I had to worry about it. Opening my eyes, I looked up at him. He was kneeling by the tub, looking at me.
“I love you, Daddy.”
“Love you too, Baby. Time to get clean.” With efficient movements, he quickly had a washcloth soaped and ready.
He started with my arms and legs; it felt so nice I closed my eyes again. By the time he got to my chest, I was so relaxed I could have fallen asleep right there.
“Time to sit up for Daddy. We need to finish.”
Sitting up was harder than I expected, but it was worth it when I was kneeling in the water, feeling him caress me. Rubbing the soap up and down my back, he slowly worked his way down until he was caressing my bottom.
His touch felt so incredible, my body started waking up even though all my brain wanted was to shut down completely. Daddy thoroughly washed my special places and by the time he was done washing me, I was hard and needy.
Maybe sleep could wait.
“Let’s get you dried off. The water’s getting cold.” Helping me to stand, Daddy kept his intent gaze following his hands as he ran the towel over me. I loved how it felt when he was so focused on me. When I was the center of his world.
I was aching by the time he finished drying me, waiting to see what Daddy wanted us to do next. Everything was so simple. Watching Daddy, all I had to do was listen to him.
“I have everything laid out on the bed. Come on, Baby.” Hanging up the damp towel and grabbing a dry one, he took my hand and walked us out to the bedroom. On the bed were a diaper and everything we’d need to have play time.
Spreading out the dry towel, he had me lie down. “There you go. Once we get you dressed, you’re going to have play time with your toys.”
That sounded perfect. Even with my erection, now pressed against my diaper, lining up my soldiers and relaxing would be fun. When he had me in a diaper and T-shirt, he let me get up. At the foot of the bed, my toys were spread out on the floor. He had soldiers and race cars, along with a coloring book and crayons. Those were new.
Looking up at Daddy as I stretched out on the floor, I smiled. “Thank you, Daddy.”
“I’m glad you like your toys, Baby.” Daddy draped himself across the bed and watched as I started lining up the men.
I got completely lost in my imaginary world of soldiers and battles, lining up to fight the enemy. Since I only had one type of soldier, the enemy turned out to be the cars. Transforming aliens who’d come to take over Earth. Maybe if I was good, Daddy would get me more soldiers.
When the toys weren’t that interesting any longer, Maddox turned on cartoons and let me color while he played on his phone. As the show ended, Daddy took my bottle and went to the sink to fill it. Turning the TV off, he started arranging the pillows on the bed.
“All right, Baby. Bottle time, and how about we read another chapter of the book before bed?”
“Yes, Daddy.” I might have said that a bit too eagerly. We’d been getting to a good part when we’d stopped earlier. I blushed when he gave me a knowing look.
Daddy helped me put my toys away and then we climbed up onto the bed to cuddle. Lying back against his chest, I sighed as his arms came around me. Tears stung my eyes as I relaxed into his embrace. Cradling me against his body, he brought the bottle up to my lips.
Taking long, slow sucks, I closed my eyes and listened as he started reading the story again. My lids grew heavier as he continued to read and soon, even the idea of opening them was too much work. At some point, the bottle was taken away and I felt the press of my binkie against my mouth. The warmth that radiated from Daddy and the soothing rhythmic sucking was the last thing I remembered.