Sawyer
After seeing that Jackson had responded to our email, everything else about my day was shot. Not that I’d opened it. Cooper had made me promise that neither of us would read the email until we both got home. Well, that promise had been made hours ago, and I was starting to lose my patience.
I tried to make dinner when I got home, but my brain wasn’t functioning enough to figure out what I could cook from the list of things we had in the house. So I’d gone out and grabbed a pizza. Driving there instead of getting delivery killed some of the remaining time until Cooper got off work, so it was the only thing that saved my sanity.
“Cooper.”
“Sawyer!”
The minute the door opened our voices called out at the same time. Cooper bounced into the kitchen, a huge grin on his face. “He emailed back!”
“I know. I’ve been waiting hours to read it.” Not wanting to appear too eager, I pointed to the table. “Do you want to eat first or check his message?”
He looked at me like I wasn’t fooling anyone. “Come on.” Taking my hand, he marched us out to the living room and grabbed the laptop before going to the couch.
Smiling, I sat down while he curled into me, balancing the computer on our laps. “This will work better. You’ll want to see too.”
“I will?”
Cooper snorted and started logging into the website. It only took seconds to pull the email up, but by the time he was clicking on the links, we were both holding our breaths. I’d read Cooper’s email at lunch and he’d made me laugh, but I wasn’t sure that Jackson would actually answer his questions.
I also wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answers. But they weren’t as bad as I feared they would be. “He’s not scared off by the idea of two guys or two pups.”
“And he wants to go out to dinner this weekend!” Cooper’s eyes were wide, and he had an ear-to-ear grin. Most of the time I forgot he hadn’t really dated in high school, but then he’d do something so cute or get excited, and it would remind me how different things had been for him.
Not that he’d been the type in high school to randomly hook up with some curious football player or to play doctor with a kid down the street. No, Cooper might be kinky, but he’d always had this innocence about him that made people shy away from shit like that.
“You want to go on a date with Jackson?” I laughed when Cooper did a fabulous impression of a bobblehead doll and nearly sprang up off the couch.
Remembering the computer on his lap at the last second was the only thing that kept him in place. “Yes! Do you?”
There was no way I’d say no to all that enthusiasm, even if I had reservations. But there weren’t as many fears in the back of my head as I expected. Maybe if he’d been more flippant or had treated Cooper’s questions more casually, it would have been different, but he seemed to be very conscious of the fact that it was serious for us, and that it wasn’t a game he was playing.
Some people might think it was a little transactional or not as romantic to talk everything out by email, but I liked the distance it gave us. Jackson was right that the next step needed to be dinner. The phone call would let us know if there was some basic compatibility, but it was too easy to read into things on the phone. In person was really the only way to see how we related to each other.
Maybe I was too cautious, but I didn’t want Cooper hurt. Dragging things out by email only to find out that he’d lied about something, or that we didn’t have that passion for each other in person would only be harder for him. No, dinner would be better.
“What if he likes you better? What if he thinks I’m too young-looking or excitable?” Cooper’s brows pulled together and he frowned, glancing down at the email.
We’d run into a few guys who’d liked one of us better than the other, and one asshole who’d said that Cooper was too bouncy. He wanted a more mature pup and hadn’t tried to hide that from Cooper.
“He’s already seen you’re excitable. I read that last email, Mr. I’m Going To Overshare.” Leaning into him, I gave him a kiss. “And he’s seen a picture of both of us, so I don’t see how either of those things could happen.”
It had been one of the reasons I’d wanted to send a picture in the original email. Yeah, we seemed less like a scam when you could see what we looked like, but he’d also know if we weren’t his type right away.
Sometimes things changed over time and people grew to love or even desire each other, but that wasn’t what we were looking for. I didn’t want something forced or that we’d grow into. I wanted someone to hold us, and for the passion to be there from the get-go.
Cooper started to relax, nodding to himself. “Yes, you’re right.”
“Of course I am.” I grinned as Cooper cuddled into me, and some of my stress faded away. Jackson knew I was more reserved—that had to be obvious from the emails—and as long as you could ignore the fact that sometimes Cooper seemed young, we both looked like our pictures.
Everything was going to be fine.
“Pizza now, so we’re not eating when we call?” Cooper glanced over at the pizza and back to me.
“Sure. I just got back with it, so it shouldn’t be cold.”
“Great, I’m starving. I think I ran a thousand miles behind the counter this afternoon.” Setting the computer on the coffee table, Cooper stood up. “I’m so glad he didn’t want to wait a few more days before we talked.”
“I don’t think you could’ve waited a few more hours.” My laughter turned into a grunt when he landed on my lap.
Straddling my legs, Cooper ground his cock onto mine. It was impossible to miss that we were both already half-hard. He started kissing down my neck, and I could hear the change in his breathing as he got even more worked up. “You’re not fooling me. I know that you were thinking about what he would say all afternoon, and I bet you’ve been going crazy waiting.”
Hiding my need wasn’t an option. “I looked at the preview a thousand times this afternoon.”
“He’s going to think we’re both sexy and fabulous, and he’s going to end up being perfect for us.” Cooper’s tongue flicked out and started teasing my ear, making me gasp. “He’s going to flirt with us at dinner and get to know us, and then at the end of the night we’re going to get a sexy goodnight kiss.”
Cooper’s teeth nibbled at the sensitive shell of my ear and his hot breath made me shiver. “You want a goodnight kiss from Master, don’t you? I bet you want to see me get a kiss too. Do you think he’ll be a gentleman and keep it nice and sweet, or do you think he’ll take control and make it deep and dirty?”
Either. Both. The images Cooper was putting in my head were making me crazy. “I don’t—Cooper—harder.”
He giggled and moved his body back just enough to stop the delicious pressure on my dick. “But we need to get dinner first. Master’s going to be ready in just a few minutes. He’s finishing up his stuff right now, and I bet he’s counting the minutes until we call.”
“Master’s going to punish you if you tease him like that.”
“You think so?” Cooper seemed to love the idea. “What kind of punishment?”
Laughing, I refused to reward the little flirt. “Pizza.”
I got a pout, but he climbed off my lap, so he really must have been hungry. Cooper started walking over to the table and glanced back at me. “You really think he’s going to like us?”
“Yes. He wouldn’t have taken the time to respond back if he didn’t see possibilities with us.” I wasn’t going to magically turn into Cooper, but I was going to do my best not to imagine the worst. Jackson had been spending a lot of time researching things, if his emails were honest, and nothing he’d seen seemed to scare him off, so I had to think that was a good sign.
Cooper gave me a teasing grin. “Because we’re wonderful.” He amped up the smile and batted his eyelashes at me. “And we’re sexy pups, so he won’t be able to think of anything else but us.”
“All right, wonder pup, I like the way you think, but I’m starving—so you need to feed me before your perfect master starts getting impatient for his call.”
“You can’t call me that.” Cooper started cracking up. “He’ll think we’re nuts or that we have some kind of superhero fetish too.”
I tried to picture Jackson trying to research that too and figuring out how it would all work together. “Probably not a good idea.”
Cooper had worked so late that by the time we’d eaten and he’d gotten a shower, it was almost time to call Jackson. We teased and talked about regular stuff, trying not to appear nervous, but as the time got closer, we both grew quieter.
When Cooper washed down the table for the second time and started pacing around the room, I knew we couldn’t put it off any longer. We were only a few minutes early, but the way Cooper’s nerves were starting to rattle, he was going to explode if we waited.
“Come on, he’s probably ready for us to call.”
Cooper stopped and looked over at me, then down at the phone on the table. “You don’t think we should wait a few more minutes?”
“I think if five minutes makes a difference to him, then he’s not someone we want to get to know anyway.”
Shrugging, Cooper started slowly walking to the couch. I’d been pretending to play with my phone for the last few minutes, so it was easy to scoot over and make room for him. When he was sitting right next to me, I picked up the phone and brought up the email.
Copying the phone number, it only took seconds to start the phone ringing. Hitting the speaker button, I didn’t protest when Cooper grabbed my free hand and hung on for dear life. I looked outwardly calmer, but inside, I wasn’t much better than he was.
When the call connected, I could hear Cooper hold his breath.
“Hello?” The voice was rich and deep. It was easy to picture Jackson keeping biological dogs, or us as pups, under control without having to yell at all. It took us both a second to realize we needed to respond.
Cooper either recovered first or his brain totally malfunctioned, and he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“It’s Cooper and Sawyer.” The words tumbled out excitedly.
Jackson chuckled. “I’m assuming this is Cooper?”
“Great.” I sighed, hopefully too low for Jackson to hear.
Cooper was going into full-blown hyperactive puppy mode. “Yes, and Sawyer is here too. Sawyer, say hi.”
Whispering low, I bumped his shoulder. “I’m not a kid.” Then, louder, I tried to sound reasonable. “Hi, nice to talk to you.”
Jackson chuckled again. Great. He heard us. “It’s nice to talk to you too.”
I’d had nothing but questions running through my mind since we’d read the email, but suddenly my brain was blank. Luckily, Cooper didn’t have that problem. “Dinner sounds like fun. How was your work today? What kind of classes did you teach? What are your classes like?”
The questions came tumbling out, and I wasn’t sure Jackson would be able to follow them. There was the sound of movement from his side of the phone, and I pictured him curled up on his couch. When he started speaking again, there was still a smile in his voice, but he didn’t seem to mind Cooper’s excitement.
“I have a lot of younger, less experienced groups in my classes right now and a handful of more advanced training sessions. Tonight was mostly puppies. And they’re excitable groups.” Jackson laughed, and I was picturing him leaning back on the couch remembering his classes. “They’re a handful, but you can’t help but enjoy it when you see them running everywhere and exploring. It’s mostly about socializing the little ones and getting them used to being around strange people and new dogs.” It was clear from the sound of his voice that Jackson loved his job.
I was still trying to make the connection between my mouth and my brain work, so I wasn’t sure what to say. However, I thought the easiest response would be about his work, but Cooper’s brain took the conversation in a different direction.
“You sound like you love your job and watching the puppies. Do you think you’d have as much fun watching pups like us?”
God bless my excitable Coop.
Jackson was quiet for a moment, and it was the longest five seconds of my life. I couldn’t tell if he was shocked or just surprised by Cooper’s question, but it made my stomach whirl. Cooper didn’t seem to have the same issues; he watched the phone like the silence was nothing significant.
Finally, Jackson cleared his throat. “I think it would depend on how I felt about the pups. I think as long as there is a connection between myself and the pups, feelings, I would enjoy watching them.” There was another pause, but that time I was too relieved to even come up with an emotional response.
He wasn’t completely freaked and could actually say that out loud. I was going to count it as a point in our favor. When Jackson started to speak again, his voice was deeper and sounded smoother, but I wasn’t sure if that was because it was what I wanted to hear. “It’s not a lifestyle that I would have ever considered for me personally. But the more research I do, and the more I read about it, I’m finding that it’s something I can relate to.”
Wow.
Cooper couldn’t resist. His mind went right to the gutter, teasing and flirting. “What kind of research have you been doing?”
That sexy voice, with just a touch of naughtiness was so him, but I wasn’t sure how Jackson would take it. I probably shouldn’t have worried. “Sawyer, does he really look that innocent in person? In the picture, he seems like he’d be too sweet to say something like that.”
I laughed, and Cooper gave me a wicked grin. “He’s worse. If we’re not careful, he looks like a kid I’m babysitting, and we get crazy responses because he doesn’t act like people are expecting. We actually had to leave a bar one time because they thought his ID was just a really good fake.”
Jackson chuckled. “So he’s that naughty all the time?”
Cooper was grinning ear to ear again and nodding so enthusiastically I thought he’d give himself whiplash. But thankfully, he kept his mouth shut that time. “Yes, he’s um…” Might as well be honest. “Egging people on to get a spanking is a pastime he thoroughly enjoys.”
Another long pause. “Interesting.”
That was it?
No, thank God. “Sometimes pups do need discipline.” Hearing him say that was so hot we both almost melted into the couch. “But Cooper likes being a naughty puppy?”
Cooper sighed. “God, yes.”
Jackson laughed—a rich, deep sound that sent shivers through both of us. “I don’t have a problem with that at all. But is there anything more specific BDSM-wise that you’re looking for in a…partner?”
Not exactly sure what he was asking, I tried to guess. “No, we’re not into anything hard-core, just the puppy play…um…spankings…maybe being restrained a little. That’s it.”
Dating had gone all kinds of weird when someone could honestly say “that’s it” to spankings and being restrained.
“Okay. I’m comfortable with those limits.” There seemed to be a bit of relief in his voice. How weird had his research gotten?
“And we are looking for a partner. A third.” Cooper’s excitement was starting to boil over again. “We want something serious. We don’t want to jump right in and do anything stupid, but we’re looking for someone who would be a long-term member of our family.”
It was nice that Cooper had been paying attention, but I wasn’t sure Jackson needed to hear that I’d told him we weren’t going to do anything stupid. Jackson seemed to appreciate what he was saying, though. “I can understand that. I spoke with someone who’s familiar with the lifestyle, and she said that it created a stronger bond between people faster than I would expect.”
“Who?”
“Who?”
Jackson chuckled. “My sister evidently writes dirty romance novels. I’m not sure exactly what kind, but she’s the one who got the ad mixed up. It was surprising, but she’s actually had a lot of interesting things to say about the lifestyle.”
“Does she know there’s two of us?” Cooper leaned toward the phone, eyes wide, biting his lip.
Jackson’s voice was cautious. “Yes. Is that okay? I didn’t think it was something I needed to hide from her.”
Cooper’s wide eyes turned to me, and he mouthed the words excitedly. He told his sister about us! Then he responded to Jackson. “That’s fine. We don’t want to hide anything.”
I was just as excited, but what did it mean?
“Good.” Jackson’s voice evened out, and I thought it sounded like he was relieved to hear Cooper’s answer. “Although, I don’t think people need to know everything.”
Cooper giggled; there was no other way to describe the sound. “Yes. They don’t need to know we’re pups.”
“I would have to agree with that. But I know that a lot of pups and their masters attend different groups and meetings. Have you gone to any?”
“No.” Cooper shook his head like Jackson could actually see him, and I had to fight not to smile. “We decided that seemed a little overwhelming, especially since we’re both pups. We’ve talked to people online, though.”
“That makes sense. There’s a lot about all of this that’s a little overwhelming, but I’d like to get to know you better and learn more about what you’re looking for. Does dinner still sound like a good idea, or do you need time to talk it over?”
Cooper managed to restrain himself enough to look over at me, which I appreciated. I shrugged and pointed to him. I was good with it as long as he was. He started nodding again and beamed at the phone. “Dinner sounds great. What time?”
As they talked about schedules and flirted, I couldn’t help but stare at the phone in shock. I’d never actually thought we’d meet someone who would be open to getting to know us both. It felt a little surreal.
Cooper was so sweet and lovable; I knew someone could easily fall for him, but Jackson honestly seemed excited to talk to Cooper and me. I hoped that as we kept whatever it was we were doing going, he was still just as interested in both of us.
Jackson seemed like the kind of guy that would fit right in with our family. He seemed to balance out Cooper’s excitement, and that warm, deep voice made me want to curl into it.
I hoped he was the same person when we met him. Cooper didn’t need any more disappointments.