“Three bingos!” She declared once they’d finished going through them. “Go collect your prizes. This might take a moment, so if anyone needs treats or refreshments, this would be the perfect opportunity to grab them from the snack table.”
I got up and joined the line, glancing over my shoulder every now and again to see him still at the prize table, carefully moving items aside. Smart boy, not just grabbing the first thing thatcaught his eye. Since we’d just had cupcakes and would likely have a few more before we left the room, I grabbed us both juice boxes and white cheddar popcorn, along with a couple wet wipes for our hands, and started to turn away when one of the other men in regular street clothes, probably a Daddy or caretaker, tapped me on the shoulder.
“The cooler under the table has soda and energy drinks for the Bigs, if you’re in need of a caffeine pick-me-up,” he said, directing my attention to the clear plastic bin filled with ice that I’d already spotted.
“I’m good, but thanks,” I said. “If I have the same thing as he does, It’ll be way easier to tell when the sugar twitches and inevitable crash are fixing to hit.”
Whether it was the right way of thinking or not, I didn’t have a goddamn clue. I just remembered hearing one of the leather daddies at a club say it way back when. It had popped into my head while I was trying to select what to get for us, so that was the direction we were going in.
We reached the table at the same time, a huge basket clutched to his chest, along with a package containing bubbles with unicorn heads for caps and unicorn-shaped bubble-blowing wands and another package so hidden by everything else I couldn’t tell what it was. Oh yeah, Payden had unicorns on the brain. His basket looked to be filled with unicorn-themed items, including board books, stuffies, and a block train set with unicorn-shaped cars and a uniform figure to act as the conductor. He’d have fun building those, or we both would, if he didn’t mind me helping him. I was glad to see that he left everything in the basket, though, with the cellophane wrapper keeping his treasures in there, there was no risk of losing something.
“I got something for you this time,” he declared, a rosy blush blooming on his cheeks. He removed the plastic wrapping beforehe passed me a headband with a plump, colorful unicorn horn sticking up from the top, but only after he’d pressed a button to show me the way the tip lit up. “Now you can be a unicorn too. Well, um, if you want to wear it.”
He dropped his gaze then, at least until I raised the headband and slid it into place. It was a bit on the heavy side, perfect for holding my long hair back as I sat back down beside him.
“There, now we can be unicorn besties to the bitter end,” I declared as the next game got underway. “Onward and into battle.”
I didn’t have a sword to point, but I did have a blotter that I directed at the paper, and as the room was reduced to groans in the wake of numbers and letters again, all I could think about was being unicorn besties forever.
But how the hell was I going to make anything last when this train ride came to an end?
Chapter Seven
Payden
I couldn’t help yawning, I was tired. Stone and I played so hard today, and the really great part was he actually did play with me. He was a hands-on Daddy—the best kind there was.
“Little unicorn, I saw that yawn,” he teased. “Time to take off your costume and get ready for bed.” He slid right into Daddy mode.
“Will you read to me, Da, err, Stone?” my face heated to a ridiculous level. I almost called him Daddy. That would surely be one way to get him to hop off the train. “After I take a shower?”
“Absolutely. Which story?”
“Um, you pick.” There was no better way to end our day than with story time. Seriously, the new me was gonna be the best version of me. No more settling for the wrong men. I wanted a forever with a man like Stone. Who was I kidding, I wanted thatto be Stone. Now all I had to do was find a way to keep him after the trip ended.
Go-go Payden’s brain!
I wondered how much stuff was hidden inside the gift baskets we won. Yup, just that fast the squirrels jumped from thinky mode to prezzie mode. We had dropped the baskets off after Bingo then headed to the party car and danced until our feet hurt. After a late dinner we were too wiped out to try any of the other events but now that we were back in the cabin, I was ready to tear into our goodies.
“Scrubby, scrubby, scrubby. Wash, wash, wash,” I sang as I soaped up and washed my hair. I can’t remember the last time I was little for an entire day, and I got so many new toys. “B-I-N-G-O. B-I-N-G-O. B-I-N-G-O and Bingo was his name-o,” I sang the familiar childhood song as I dried, slathered on lotion and put on my jammy-jams. Now I was all ready for my story.
“Were you singing in there, little unicorn?”
“He-he,” I blushed. “Maybe.”
“You are one adorable boy. Did you want to pick through your baskets first and see the treasures hidden inside?”
“Treasure hunt? Yay!” Stone had lined them up in a row on the bottom bunk. “We still have cupcakes left too.”
“I hope so or I’d be chasing your sugar filled butt across the cars,” he rolled his eyes. “What else did you win?”
“We won. It was a team win. Here, hold my new uni Hugo, please.”
“Hugo? Where did that name come from?” Stone stared at the stuffy like the name would suddenly make sense.
“I dunno. Just popped into my head.” I pulled more stuff out. “Lots of bubbles. Bubbles are so fun. Lookie, a coloring book and crayons.” I couldn’t wait for playtime. “New blocks and cars that go really fast. Vroom! Vroom!” they raced across the bunk, but all my energy was gone. There was a cute unicorn train setso now Thomas, and his friends had even more friends to choo-choo along the train tracks with.
Stone slid the curtains closed. “Okay, sleepy boy. Crawl into your bunk and I’ll tuck you in before story time. You can tear through the rest tomorrow. Maybe we can squeeze in some downtime in our room so you can unwind and play with them.”
