Bryan
The panicked waiter had to get the manager before he could figure out what to do. Once he’d realized who Mad’s father was, things went much smoother. I got the feeling it wasn’t the first time his father had walked out in a snit as my mother would say.
The manager said they would handle Maddox’s parents’ portion of the bill, but we still had to pay for our overpriced lunch. I’d thought Mad was off his rocker when he started talking about the food as we’d driven over. I owed him an apology.
His parents really were nuts.
Trying to lighten the mood after the manager left, I gave Mad an innocent smile. “I’m not sure ordering dessert here is a good idea. They seem slightly high-strung.”
Laughing, he shook his head. “Ice cream on the way home sounds better.”
“And closer to our budget.” Ten-dollar desserts didn’t sound that appealing.
“Oh yeah, especially now.” He started to frown, so I spoke up again.
“We’re fine financially. No matter what happens, we’re good. Remember that.” I needed him to understand that no matter what happened, we’d be fine money wise but also the two of us together. Nothing they said, or would do, could change that.
“I know. I might need you to remind me though.” He gave me a half-hearted smile.
“Does this mean we aren’t going to…Sarah and Richard’s?” I couldn’t decide if I was relieved about that or not. Mixed feelings was an understatement.
Giving me the first truly genuine laugh since his father had stormed out, Mad shook his head. “Oh, no. We’re going to have fun this afternoon before we head home. We have a busy week, so we’re going to enjoy what’s left of our weekend.”
I couldn’t help but wonder what else he had in mind.
The way he said it made my stomach start to do flips. His grin let me know he’d been vague on purpose.
“Besides, I have a Christmas present to buy.”
“No, you can’t!”
“I can—and after this, I think I deserve something fun.” His grin was positively wicked.
“You’re going to be the death of me one of these days.”
That naughty smile flashed again. “Finish your lunch. You’ll need the energy.”
My chicken was actually pretty good so eating it wasn’t a chore, but I didn’t have the right incentive to finish it quickly. I would have felt better if I could tell myself he was teasing, but I knew him too well for that. He wouldn’t push me outside of my comfort zone, but he’d tease Jeremy and Kevin mercilessly if he knew they wouldn’t mind.
They wouldn’t mind, but I might still die of embarrassment.
I took so much time finishing my lunch Mad was starting to give me funny looks. When I couldn’t put it off any longer, we paid the waiter and left the restaurant.
“I think they were glad to get rid of us.”
He snorted. “You think?”
Climbing in the car, we looked at the GPS. It would be a circular route home but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. Knowing we still had Sunday to unwind and get ready for the week made me feel better too.
The drive over wasn’t bad. The twisting back roads were almost peaceful and much more relaxing than driving on the interstate. I’d almost calmed down by the time we drove up to the store. There weren’t any other cars in the parking lot, which made me more comfortable.
We’d visited enough times that I wasn’t exactly uncomfortable going there; it was more like a general case of stage fright. It took me a few minutes before I realized why I felt so strange. Except for the first time, I’d always been wearing my cock cage or ring when we’d gone over. I’d never been just me and it felt weird.
As I parked the car, I had to remind myself it was just a shop and they were our friends.
“Ready, Baby?” Maddox used his Daddy voice, soothing nerves I didn’t even realize were frayed.
“Yes, Daddy.” I knew I looked sheepish but I couldn’t help it. Something about it made me nervous. Like everyone there could read my mind and knew all the crazy things that were always going through it.
Climbing out of the car, I shoved the keys into my pocket and reached out to take Daddy’s hand as he came around the car. Heading in, I felt…not comfortable but less worried. Daddy would take care of everything, so there was less to obsess over.
“Hi, I’m glad you guys could stop by.” Sarah was at the register. Her sexy librarian look always threw me for a minute.
“I hope this is a good time. Lunch didn’t take as long as I’d expected.” Daddy’s voice was teasing, but it was clear she knew something was up.
Her brows pulled together, and she leaned against the counter. “I’m sorry. What happened?”
We’d all texted and emailed enough that the question wasn’t out of line. She knew how difficult Mad’s parents were and had been hoping lunch would go better than he was expecting. Daddy walked us over to the counter and shook his head.
“It’s stupid, really. One of the people in the author’s workshop I did the other day knew my parents. One of those friend-of-a-friend things. My father was already in orbit by the time we got to the restaurant. There was nothing I could have done.”
“That’s terrible.”
Daddy nodded. “So now all the school stuff is out in the open. They know about the business and the fact that I’m not majoring in Finance and going back to work with him.”
“Wow. That must have been some lunch.”
“It was actually a short one. He walked out before we’d even eaten.”
“I’m sorry. I’d hoped things would work out better than that. How are you handling it?”
“Better than I expected. It’s not like it was a surprise. I knew how mad he was going to get when he finally figured it out. I’d just hoped to have more time.” Daddy shrugged. “But no more about me. How have you guys been?”
Sarah beamed. “We’ve been doing wonderful. Business is up so much we hired another new part-time guy who’s working out well. We’ve been able to take more time off and even have a vacation planned soon.”
Daddy and I both smiled at that. They’d been working so much lately it had been getting overwhelming. They’d had a long-time employee quit, and they’d had a hard time replacing her. Training the new hire had taken up a lot of their free time as well. Having another new employee would give them more flexibility.
“That’s great.” I couldn’t help but be excited for her.
She looked at me, smiling. She knew how flustered the store made me, so most of the time she didn’t push me to make conversation when we were over there. On the phone or email was a different story. She’d pester and ask a thousand questions if she thought I was ready to open up about something.
They weren’t into age play but having friends who understood a power exchange relationship helped. I knew Daddy went to her and Richard with all kinds of questions.
“How is everything going with the new job? Do you still like the doctor?” Her smile was gentle, and I knew she’d back off if I started to panic. Having Mad there as Daddy helped though.
“It’s going great. It’s a little weird since he’s…well, you know…but I’m getting used to it. And I like the clients I’ve met.” It wasn’t much of a conversation, but it was better than I usually did in the store so I was proud of myself.
It had been easier to share that Dr. Sheppard was a little as well over text message. Saying it out loud in person was harder to manage. She got it though because she beamed at me and turned her focus back to Daddy so I could just listen.
I knew she’d have more questions waiting for me in an email later—and possibly a second email from Richard. Who was oddly nowhere to be found.
Still holding Daddy’s hand, I looked around the store, trying not to focus on the movies and toys. He was usually at the register so it was strange to see him missing. Sarah must have noticed my curiosity because she answered my unasked question.
“He’s in the back. He’ll be out in just a minute.”
Richard wasn’t as intimidating since we’d spent so much time emailing. It had been easier to see past his looks when all I could focus on were his words. It was weird having so much in common with someone who was so different from me.
As Richard came out from the back of the store, Sarah got excited and changed topics quickly. “I had an email the other day that I meant to forward to you. The club up in D.C. is having more littles nights, and they wanted me to pass along the information to anyone I knew who’d be interested. I didn’t give your information out, but I said I’d pass it along.”
The club.
I’d known about the littles nights for a while, but it was something we’d only talked about vaguely. One of those things we’d think about doing later but not something we’d ever planned. At least, I didn’t think it was something we were planning on doing anytime soon.
“Forward me the email. We’re not ready yet, but I’d like to learn more.” Daddy gave my hand a squeeze, and it helped me to take a breath.
“They might be able to help you find other Daddies and littles near us, other people who might want to have dinner or something.” The words were forced out in one long breath. Once they were done, my lips slammed shut.
They both just froze and even Richard blinked at me. Daddy finally spoke like I’d said nothing out of the ordinary. “That’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll email them and see.”
Agreeing with him, Sarah went back to talking about the business and only referred to the club in vague references. I was pretty much done with conversation. I was afraid of what other crazy things might come out of my mouth.
Richard had been inventorying new stock which got Daddy distracted by the toys. I was already so overwhelmed that the idea of them wasn’t that bad. We wandered through the store looking at all kinds of interesting things.
The only time I broke my silence was to groan when Daddy picked up another gag. Sarah clearly had a good memory, because she gave him an odd look.
“It’s a Christmas present for some enthusiastic neighbors.” He grinned, laughing when she looked at him like he was crazy.
We’d casually mentioned Jeremy and Kevin but never in much detail. Daddy went on to explain how loud Kevin was and how he’d thought it was a good idea. When she realized they wouldn’t be shocked, she’d had some other ideas too. When we left that aisle, my face was so red it hurt. I’d never been so glad to see vibrators in my life.
I just hoped there was something safe to crawl under when Daddy gave them the present he’d picked out. There was no way I’d be able to watch while they opened it, no matter how funny or interesting they would find the toy.
By the time we left the store, I was thoroughly embarrassed and more than a little turned on. Shopping for sex toys with people who’d basically become our friends was weird. They knew what we were going to do, and they thought it was completely normal. It always made the world turn on its side a little for me.
Like everything wasn’t quite right but explaining it would only make you seem nuts.
We left with the promise of coming back for dinner next time as long as the weather held out. Around Christmas you never knew. It could be sunny and cool but not too bad or the ice storm from hell. We made tentative plans though, and I hoped we’d get to see them again over the holidays.
I was more confident that I could be a functional person at their house.
“You did a good job. I’m proud of you, Baby.” Daddy pulled me into his arms as soon as we got close to the car. Leaning back against the door, he wrapped me tightly and let me rest against his chest.
I tucked my face against his neck more out of habit than necessity, but it still felt good. It’d been a long day for both of us, and it felt like we could use a minute to catch our breaths.
“I think it’s a good idea. Meeting people I mean. Just not at a club or anything like that. Not yet.” I wasn’t forcing the words out, but it was close.
“I agree. We’re not ready yet to have people watching. That might never be who we are and that’s okay. I just like the idea of having people…people who get it. Jeremy and Kevin are great and understand us, but sometimes it would be nice to have other people.” He laughed. “That sounds greedy. We already have Sarah and Richard and Jeremy and Kevin, but…”
“No, I get it.” Pulling back, I gave him a quick kiss. “Let’s go home, Daddy.”
“I’m ready for the day to be over, how about you?” He was trying to give me a teasing smile but I could see how tired he was.
My mom always drove me crazy but I couldn’t imagine her not being there or not supporting me. To have to watch your parents walk away because they couldn’t control your life was mind-blowing to me. He was handling it better than I would and that worried me.
“How are you really doing?” I looked in his eyes and let him see how worried I was. Maybe the parking lot of a sex toy shop wasn’t the best place to have the conversation, but I didn’t want to put it off. “I’m not sure if I need to be worried about you or not.”
His smile was genuine and loving, and pulling me back against him, he gave me a kiss. “I’m doing better than I thought I would. Honest. I guess it’s because I knew this day was coming.”
Mad sighed, and I felt his hands start to rub up and down my back. “This was bound to happen sooner or later. I wasn’t going to go on living my life on their terms. It might be just school and career stuff now but what would it be later? They’d never be happy letting me make decisions based on what I wanted.”
“Do you think they’ll call or eventually come around?” I wasn’t sure what I wanted to hope for. That they’d leave us alone, or that they’d try to fix things.
“I’m not sure it’s important. Watching him leave like that just showed me how much I really matter.” I could feel his shoulders move up and down as he shrugged. His voice wasn’t as stressed and he felt more relaxed. “I’m not going to waste my time chasing after people who don’t want me. There are plenty of people in my life who matter, and I’m going to focus on them.”
He moved back enough to kiss my cheek. “I have you.”
“And I’m not going anywhere. I love you.”
“I love you too.”