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Chapter 1
Gaylen
“Stop playing peekaboo. You don’t know if she’s taken or not.” Or if she was as sweet and innocent as she seemed… because that would not work in the long run.
I made innocents very nervous.
“But she’s adorable.” Harper’s voice was low, so it didn’t carry across the room to where she was, but his eyes lit up as she dropped behind the couch to hide and then popped up again. “See? Adorable.”
He wasn’t wrong, her grin was ear to ear, but he’d clearly forgotten how bad our luck with women had been lately.
“She’s been sitting next to the same guy for ten minutes. She’s taken.” Probably. At the very least, she looked innocent enough that I’d probably scare the fuck out of her.
Harper knew me too well and nearly snorted.
Poking my side just to make the cutie laugh was the only consideration my logic received from the ridiculous Daddy Dom. “She’d flirt with you if you stopped looking like a grumpy old fart. I think she likes you but you’re not smiling.”
I refused to point out the statistical probability of her liking both of us—because as a math professor he could probably determine it better than I could—but I had to admit he might have a point with the whole grumpy thing.
In my defense, it’d been a long week. After dealing with one idiot after another, all I’d really wanted was to stay home, but Happy Daddy beside me hadn’t wanted to miss the party. He liked seeing the littles even if most of the time we never ended up seriously talking to any.
“If I smile, I’m going to end up decked again by some asshole who thinks I’m going to steal his property.” Some people were not stable.
Evan finally snorted out a laugh from the chair where he’d been pretending to ignore me as he’d talked with Keaton and Walker, having proclaimed them much more entertaining. “Once. You got decked once and you’re never going to let anyone forget it. You’re like a sexy elephant.”
Rolling my eyes as the group around us laughed, I had to shake my head when Harper pointed at me and mouthed to his cutie, He’s grumpy, which had her letting out peals of laughter.
Harper’s smile just widened and he even sighed.
Total goner.
But since he could have the same reaction to Hallmark movies, I wasn’t terribly worried. It seemed to have something to do with his overly perfect childhood. Hell, his parents even liked me and approved of us looking for a third. Yep, it’d melted his brain.
“You’re not going to win because in just a minute he’s going to turn that charm back on you and you’ll end up doing whatever he wants.” Keaton managed to keep a straight face while he made his asshole declaration, but his partner, Walker, was snickering as Evan laughed again.
I had such wonderful friends and a steady, supportive partner.
Was it any wonder I was such a cheerful Dom?
“I can resist Happy Daddy over here. I’ve had lots of practice.” In the five years we’d been married, I’d told him no on more than one occasion.
No, you may not bring home a goat.
No, you may not turn the basement into a laser tag arena.
It didn’t matter how interesting the math was; that was just a stupid idea. His students were a terrible influence… college kids were damned near feral and they tried to talk him into all kinds of shit. But my job had let me build up an amazing resistance to ridiculous ideas.
As a career coach, I had plenty of opportunities to tell people they were making stupid decisions. I might not be nice but I was damned good… and the fact that half my client list were probably subs helped too. But since that wasn’t something I ever talked about with them, it was just a guess.
“I managed to keep him from getting chickens, a miniature pony, and that damned goat. I’m a badass Dom and don’t ever forget it.” Evan and Walker managed not to laugh until Harper sighed and pouted.
As the bad influences snickered, Harper leaned over and rested his head on my shoulder. “But the goat was cute. I still think I shouldn’t have agreed to give you veto power over pets.”
“Pets and shenaniganry. Don’t forget that last part.” He was a danger to himself and others when he was letting a sweet sub talk him into something ridiculous. He didn’t even have to be emotionally involved with them for wide eyes and a pout to make him agree to the stupidest things.
“I know.” Harper’s drama didn’t last long because the cutie watching him rested her head on the back of the couch and gave him wide, worried eyes.
So he winked and stuck his tongue out at her.
