Page 93 of Love Lessons: Expanded Edition

The streets near Dustin’s house were tree-lined and filled with wide lawns and the first colorful flowers poking out from the soil. They ran together about a mile along the streets, and then broke into a small park. It wasn’t huge, but there was a nice loop that they took several times, nodding at a few other runners and avoiding racing kids and baby strollers.

Their second round of showers were more perfunctory, and then Dustin suggested that they find something to do together. They eventually settled on a crossword puzzle, snuggled together on the couch.

It wasn’t quite like Daddy-middle time, but it wasn’t far off either. Landon didn’t want to regress again until he had some time to think about it, but it was also clear that Dustin was structuring the day for him and planning things that he would enjoy. Just very subtly.

When the afternoon rolled around, Dustin asked if he had any work that he needed to get done and Landon almost put on a pout. He didn’t want to ruin the relaxed feel of the day, though. Maybe he was feeling too happy to even be bratty.

Plus, they’d agreed to pull back the kink.

So he just explained what he had to do and how long it would take. Unfortunately, as he started listing it, he realized that he had a lot more to do than he’d expected, since he hadn’t done any yesterday. It was probably enough that he should just go home right now and power through for the rest of the afternoon.

Alright, so maybe he was pouting. Ugh.

Dustin wrapped strong arms around him, and he relaxed a little bit. He told himself that he could come back another day. This wasn’t the end of the world, even if it felt a little bit like it.

Dustin pulled back so that he could sign. Let’s go get your stuff. We’ll pick up everything you need for work tomorrow, too, and you can stay the night.

Oh! That was much better. Landon suggested that he could just drive over by himself to get his things, but Dustin insisted on making the trip across town.

Dustin really didn’t intend to let him out of his sight, which felt very Daddy Dom even if Dustin claimed it wasn’t. Landon felt like he was floating.

When they got back to Dustin’s place, it took him a little while to get into his work, but eventually he got absorbed and had to be pulled away from it for dinner. Dustin had brought him a snack earlier, but he was starving now.

They ate in front of the TV, legs pressed together.

Dustin got a text from Zhong and spent a while texting him back, which reminded Landon that he should text Ash, too. Ash had been an amazing friend yesterday, and he kind of wanted to tell them about how everything had worked out.

Eventually, he and Dustin were both texting more than they were watching the show. He would have felt guilty for ignoring Dustin, but Ash and Zhong were both funny, and they kept showing each other their texts. It felt cozy, snuggling up to Dustin and texting a friend.

Dustin got out a chocolate bar, some blueberries, and a banana. Landon had only mentioned that he wasn’t a big fan of sweets once and now Dustin always made sure that he had fruit for dessert.

So, they sat like that, texting and watching a show, with Dustin occasionally putting blueberries in his mouth. It felt more like home than anything had in a long time.

Zhong finally put them all in a chat group together, and then it was even more cute to sit in Dustin’s lap while their phones both buzzed at the same time.

At last, Dustin told everybody good night, and then threatened to take Landon’s phone away if he kept texting. Ash and Zhong were still at it, but Dustin had decided it was time for them to go to bed.

And Landon couldn’t really complain, since he’d be sleeping beside Dustin again tonight. He was finding that he craved this kind of caretaking. It wasn’t any kind of scene, just Dustin reminding him that he needed sleep.

As he snuggled into bed, Landon knew that if he could keep having days like this, he’d never need anything else.

Now he just had to hope that it would last. It never had before, but with Dustin, he really felt like it could be different.