Page 70 of A Little Bit Naughty

There. Simple. Easy. He’d done his job.

What he really needed to do was change Remi’s name in his contact list so it didn’t say Daddy any more. This was already hard enough. His chest hurt just seeing the name. But he didn’t have the heart to change it either.

When he got into his apartment, he tossed the box on the couch. He would just grab some food, leave it there, and head back out. No problem.

Then he realized that his roommate might open it accidentally, and that was the last thing he wanted. When he was still living with Tommy, they’d eaten breakfast together in their animal jammies all the time. Victor was a nice guy, but not anyone that Isaac wanted to share his secrets with.

Isaac moved the box to his bedroom.

That didn’t help, though, because the package was pretty big and there wasn’t anywhere to put it. His room was small—barely big enough for his double bed and the off-campus housing standard furniture.

He balanced the box on top of the suitcase he still hadn’t unpacked. It was unstable there, though, so he’d really need to find another place.

A chime sounded on his phone.

Daddy: What did you think? ;)

What did he think about what? Were there… presents inside? The box seemed awfully heavy and large for just two outfits. Yes, there had to be more inside. Pressies. Just for him.

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Probably not actually cry, though. He used to cry all the time before T, but now it almost never happened. Still, the swirling emotions sweeping through him felt perilously close.

What had Remi gotten him? And could he live with never finding out?

He picked up his phone, ready to tell Remi thank you without looking inside. But wouldn’t he know?

He looked back at the box. There was a barcode sticker next to his address that looked like it was covering something up. He peeled it back.

Another little dinosaur, drawn without a lot of talent, but a toothy grin.

Ugh. Who the hell was he fooling? He was going to open the box.

He pulled out his keys and sliced through the tape.

The first thing he saw was a plastic tool kit, still in the box. All of the pieces were black and gray and yellow, very masculine, but sized for little hands. Remi had taped a pack of batteries to the top corner.

Isaac hugged it to his chest and started crying. Real tears, streaming down his face.

Despite himself, he started opening the package and untwisting all the little wires to free the toys. They were better than he’d even imagined.

It just wasn’t fair. Why wasn’t Daddy here? Why had the most wonderful man in the world sent him the present his little self wanted the most, when he wasn’t there to share it with him?

A chime came on his phone, but he couldn’t look at it.

His eyes fell on the box instead and he gulped. Oh no. He really couldn’t do this. There was a package of cars… with dinosaurs on the top. Or maybe the other way around. Fierce dinosaurs with monster truck wheels instead of feet. He could see from the picture that you were supposed to pull each one with a brightly colored string.

He hadn’t even known that something like that existed, and he already loved them so much that it hurt. They looked like fun, the perfect way to spend an afternoon playing with Daddy, and also affirming of his masculinity in a way that just reached something deep inside.

Another chime came on his phone and he cried harder.

He didn’t even want to know what was underneath the dino-car package, because he could already see a piece of yellow fabric that definitely wasn’t either outfit that he knew about. And poking out the other side, a package of peanut M&M’s, just like the ones Daddy had made for movie night. He’d bet there was a package of microwave popcorn in there, too.

His phone chimed again.

That wasn’t right. Daddy was supposed to be here right now, not just leave him sobbing alone in his room with the best presents ever.

His phone rang.

Oh, he definitely couldn’t deal with this now. He let it go to voicemail.