“You wouldn’t want to be there?” August asks with a frown.
I chuckle and kiss the lines between his eyebrows. “I think I’m a bit of a scary asshole whoknowshe knows what’s best, and I’d only bully him into it. A gentler approach might be more appropriate in this case.”
August laughs knowingly. “Yeah, maybe. I just don’t want you to feel left out. This isn’t like when I’ve Daddied for random boys you never met. This is…”
“Oliver,” I agree. His name sits between us for a few moments, heavy with anticipation. “But I met him first by myself, remember? So if you take this meeting for us, perhaps that would be evening out the relationship, hmm?”
He tilts his head in thought. “You make a good point.”
“Don’t I always?” I ask him with a smirk before getting serious again. “But I do think it’s important that if we’re going to attempt to date someone together for the first time that it starts out on equal footing, don’t you?”
For a few moments, August just frowns in thought. “This feels like a huge thing,” he says eventually. “But on the other hand, it feels obvious and easy and like letting Oliver go would be monumentally stupid.”
I laugh and nod. “Yes, that’s exactly how it feels. So we’re really doing it?”
It only takes him a second to make up his mind and nod back at me, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “We’re doing it. Give me the number.”
First, I take a moment to kiss his lips with a grin. “I love it when you get bossy.”
But August snorts and pokes my chest. “No,youlove being the bossy one.”
I shrug. “True. But with Oliver, I can watch you boss him around instead of me, and that is hot.”
A dreamy look comes over him. “I wouldn’t boss Oliver around. I’d take care of him. We both would.”
I sigh in happy defeat. “This is also true. My phone is on my desk, though. So we’re going to have to move to get it.”
August pouts, sending a flare of lust through me. “Maybe we could celebrate a little first, Master? This is a pretty huge life event we’re proposing, after all.”
I roll my eyes, pretending like I’m anything close to being annoyed. “Are you being a greedy Augie Pie? Trying to get all the cream for yourself?”
He flutters his eyelashes at me. “I amveryhungry, Master. I’d be willing to do anything for you to get a full tummy.”
“Anything?” I repeat, already getting hard.
I feel about ten times lighter than I did twenty minutes ago. I hate when things are out of my control. But now here I am with my gorgeous, willing husband under me, plotting how we’re going to woo our little treat into dating us.
And suddenly it feels like everything is right with the world once more.
I love getting my cake and eating it.
CHAPTER 12
August
It’s beena while since I ventured to Paddle Creek’s iconic gay bar, the Ice Cream Parlor. This and the college football team are about the only thing our little town has going for it. But seeing as the Panthers coach is out and proud, that encourages an usually high number of queer students to the school. That influence has trickled into the rest of the town and was one of the reasons Tallis and I decided to settle down here. Plus, the hiking is amazing, but it’s a different kind of bear I’m thinking about this evening.
Actually, I’m not thinking about anything or anyone except Oliver, and my tummy is filled with nervous and excited butterflies because of it. I was so afraid he wouldn’t reply to the text I sent the day Tallis and I agreed that we both wanted to try dating our little treat. If he was interested, of course. He had me worried for a good few hours. But it turned out he was working a shift at one of the restaurants in town so just hadn’t been able to look at his phone.
When he did message back saying he’d love to meet up with me, I felt like a college kid again myself, giddy with the promise of a date. Considering the exquisitely filthy things we’ve already done together, it’s kind of ridiculous that I’m thinking abouttonight as a first date or am anxious in any way. But that’s just the effect Oliver has on me, I guess.
Tallis is definitely fondly bemused by me taking the tram into town rather than taking my car or a cab. But I’m looking forward to sharing a drink with Oliver and I’d rather not worry about driving back after. Besides, the rickety old tram network is pretty unique to this town, and I like enjoying it when I get the chance. It gives me a chance to look out of the window as the summer evening draws in, bathing the streets in golden light.
My heart lifts seeing how many places are looking better off than they used to. There’s this one family, the McKennas, who own a hefty percentage of the establishments around here. For years, it felt like they didn’t give a shit and were content to let a lot of businesses flounder. But then Rafferty McKenna, the patriarch, had quite the change of heart almost overnight, like something out of a Dickens novel.
It’s amazing what finding the right boy can do for a Daddy. I’d know. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be on this tram in the first place.
I hop off at the stop before the closest one to the Parlor so I can stretch my legs with a short walk. Since Oliver and I set up this date, I was able to concentrate on work again, which was lucky as pining over him meant I got no work done at all for a few days, so I’ve been playing catch-up. Looking forward to tonight helped me focus intensely today, thankfully, so I’m back on target again. My back aches from hunching over my desk for several hours, though.