Page 18 of All Tied Up

“I’m… a bit overwhelmed, Sir. I don’t know if I can do this.” Neil’s hands were shaking until he gripped his own knees to stop them.

“Sure you can,” interjected Jamie. “All the Daddies are going to love you. And we’ll help.”

“We will indeed,” Daddy agreed, shooting Jamie a quizzical glance.

“Later,” Jamie mouthed. Then he batted his eyes at Daddy and cocked his head at Neil. They’d have to discuss his whole plan for giving Neil a shot at the other Doms. But if that didn’t work out… Jamie was really looking forward to this weekend.

Fortunately, Daddy knew just what to do.

4

Sebastian

Sebastian stretched his arms over his head and checked the time. It was just past four, and he’d been staring at the screen for hours. Frustratingly, he still had more work to do before he’d be free for the weekend. He frowned as he closed out payroll and switched to entering expenses. Every purchase made sense, planned with careful consideration of the costs. But together, the expenses were somehow just more expensive then he planned.

While he typed, he kept an eye and ear out for the lobby. His desk was positioned to give him a view of the front door and a good bit of the atrium. Guests for the kinky weekend were starting to trickle in. Some were visible by their clothes, as in the case of the sassy boy who’d just walked in with the fishnet shirt, and all of them by the excitement on their faces.

The next guy who came in, though, looked anything but, strutting around the place like he owned it. His expression said he wouldn’t deign to touch any of the cozy couches or sun-washed nooks if he were held at gunpoint.

Sebastian snorted and tried to put him out of his mind. Usually he didn’t get annoyed so easily, but his stress over the bank account was getting to him. They were doing well for the summer, especially with Cuffd Destinations filling up every room. They were even getting twice the usual income for the cabins since they could rent them out to four individuals willing to share a bathroom and kitchen instead of a single family.

But things would be rough in the fall, when there was a lull in visitors until the winter sports season started.

Frankly he wasn’t sure if the lodge would make it. He’d already looked into taking out a second mortgage, but the banks had all turned him down. He had too much other debt piled up from the original construction and ongoing maintenance. The banks offered small short-term loans, but five K, or even ten, wasn’t going to get him far.

This lodge was the dream that he’d built with his boy, and he hated the idea of admitting that they’d failed.

The only thing that made it a little bit better was the warm, flirty tones of Jamie chatting with someone just outside the office door.

He listened a little more carefully when he realized that Jamie was definitely trying to pick him up. The thought brought a slow smile to his face.

As long as he had Jamie, his ray of sunshine, he had to believe that everything would work out somehow.

Now Sebastian was burning with curiosity about whoever he was talking to out there. His name was Neil, but who was he? The boy in the fishnet shirt? Unless someone else had come back downstairs, it had to be him. Presumably the other two men who had just entered, both Daddies by their bearing and suits, had already been checked in and sent on their way.

Sebastian hadn’t gotten much of a look at the boy, just a general sense of dyed hair, a soft, round body, smooth skin studded with metal, and a relaxed posture that had him swinging his overnight bag through the air while he walked.

Sebastian had pegged him for a feisty brat, yet he strained to hear the low tones of his voice. So, a shy one, it seemed. You never could tell just by looking.

Sebastian's skin was already starting to tingle in anticipation, his blood rushing south. They’d had a few playmates over the past year, including one at the last Cuffd weekend, but this boy sounded so tentative and sweet. His voice was quietly melodic. Almost a whisper.

In contrast, when Sebastian’s own adorable brat, Jamie, was “whispering,” Sebastian could hear him loud and clear.

Getting into the game, Sebastian called out through the open door. “Daddy said you weren’t supposed to look at the Cuffd profiles at all and let the guests find their own matches.”

It was true. Jamie had been obsessing over them for weeks, his favorite new game. He had it all planned out who should hook up with who, and was constantly interrupting Sebastian to show him each cute boy who registered with a hopeful smile on his face.

Sebastian had humored him for a bit, but not really looked at any of the profiles. He wanted all of the guests to have a good time, and if he and Jamie brought in a third for a scene or two, it would be because the energy was right. That was something you couldn’t get from an app.

Sebastian kept doggedly entering expenses, ears attuned to the conversation outside. He interjected occasionally, mostly to let Jamie know he was listening.

He could practically see the expression on Jamie’s face. God, he loved his little troublemaker. He was clearly spoiling for a spanking.

Sebastian imagined the boy, Neil apparently, blushing as Jamie flirted and pursued. Not every boy was open to being picked up by another boy, even if there was a Daddy waiting to play with them both.

That was another reason that Sebastian wanted to give the two of them some time alone. He was adamant that he wouldn’t play with anyone who wasn’t equally interested in Jamie. That was one lesson he’d learned the hard way.

It was still tempting to head out there right now, but he really did need to get through the rest of this mess if he wanted a free conscience for the weekend.