AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When I got back to work on Wednesday, I was happy to see that Brayden was in a good mood. Back to his usual self, he joked around, hid my favorite wrench under my box of shop rags, and then offered to spring for pizza at lunchtime.
He was back on his game.
“So, are you gonna make me guess or are you gonna tell me why you’re so happy?” Part of me had worried he would still be shaken up over what happened at the hotel. But we got a group text from Augie that morning, thanking us for whatever we did to get him home safely and apologizing for his role in putting us all in a bad situation. He assured us that he felt good and had heard from the hospital that his test results were all negative, so we considered that a win. What happened to him and to us was a wakeup call, and we all realized something much worse could have happened.
“Well…you know James’s friend, Roy?” There was a twinkle in his eye that I hadn’t seen before.
My jaw dropped, excited about where this conversation was going. “Yes. What about him?”
Brayden laughed and held up his hands to slow me down. “Not that. There’s no love connection there.”
“Oh.” My lip pushed out in a pout and my excitement waned. “Then what about him?”
Brayden took a deep breath and smiled. “Well, we had a good time together. He’s a Daddy too, and after we dropped off Dylan, I guess the stress got to me and I naturally regressed when he took me back to my house.” He looked over my shoulder, reliving the memory. “It was really nice. He was like a…caretaker, which I needed. Like I said, there’s no love connection, but I think we have a friendship that I really need. And it gives me hope that I won’t be alone forever. We’re hanging out again this weekend, and he offered to introduce me to some of his Daddy friends at Primal.”
“Wow, that’s really cool.” I gave him a half hug as we walked into the breakroom with the pizza that had just been delivered. “Are you sure there’s no chemistry between you?”
Brayden just shrugged. “Yeah, pretty sure. But that’s okay. I was starting to think there would never be anyone out there I could feel safe being Little with. Not after the bad experiences in my past. But even if he’s just a friend or caretaker, I feel so much better knowing he’s around. And he seems confident that there is a love connection waiting for me…” He held up his crossed fingers with a hopeful smile on his face. “Until then. We’ll hang out. We’ll be friends, and… Yeah, it’s all good. I’m happy.”
“I’m so happy for you too, Bray. You deserve this more than anyone, and until you do find that special Daddy, I’m so glad you have someone to be Little with.” I sucked in a deep breath and clasped my hands in front of myself after sitting at the breakroom table. “Actually, I’ve been experimenting a little bit too.”
“What? In what way?” He threw a slice of pizza onto a plate and slid it over to me, and then grabbed one for himself. “Eat and talk. We’re on the clock here.”
I’d barely had any conversations about this with James, but it was almost easier to work through my thoughts with Brayden. I didn’t want to make James feel any sort of expectations about my needs or desires until I was sure what they actually were. I knew he would do anything I asked for, but I didn’t want to ask for something that, ultimately, I wasn’t comfortable with after we tried it. So working through these things with a friend helped me organize the thoughts in my mind. “Well, I think maybe I am a little more Little than I thought.”
Brayden threw back his head and laughed. “What have I been telling you for the past forever? I see you all the time. I don’t know why you’ve resisted this so much.”
“Well, I don’t want to wear diapers!” I crossed my arms over my chest and realized I was speaking a little too loudly. I took a deep breath and lowered my voice. “I mean, I don’t know what I want, but there are some things that I’m pretty sure I don’t want to do. So I don’t want him to think I want everything…and then be disappointed.” I huffed out my frustration. “I don’t know what to try first.”
Brayden reached and put his hand on my forearm, giving me a squeeze. “From what you’ve told me about James, and from what I witnessed when he was with you at the hospital, you don’t have to be afraid to talk to him. Try things out. Some things will be fun and other things won’t be. Ya know, I actually don’t like wearing diapers either, but in the past, I’ve actually gotten off on the humiliation aspect of it. It’s hard to explain, and today, I’m not sure if that’s what I would want, but with the right partner, maybe I would. It’s all about evolving and doing things that fulfill certain needs within you…when you need them. Not everything is for every time.”
I nodded as I considered his words. I’d only slightly regressed with James and maybe that was all it ever would be. Or maybe it would only happen under specific circumstances. It wasn’t something I expected to happen every time we were together…or even often. “I don’t think he needs me to be Little, but he does seem to enjoy it when I need extra care and attention sometimes.”
“Exactly. If he just wants to take care of you, that probably means he’ll be there in whatever capacity you need. Don’t worry about labels or expectations. Just roll with your urges when they happen. If you’re uncomfortable with something, tell him. And he’ll probably tell you he wants you to be forthcoming if something isn’t working.”
“Oh, he has. That’s one of our rules.” I chuckled at the irony. “I’m supposed to be completely open and honest with him.”
Brayden cocked his head and raised his eyebrow at me. “So you’ve already broken a rule?”
“Shit. I guess I have.” I hadn’t really thought of it that way.
“Eat your food and think about what you’re gonna tell him tonight, because if this thing between you guys is as good as you keep saying it is, you don’t wanna fuck it up by keeping things from him this early on.”
I definitely didn’t. Things with James were too good, and if all I needed to do was be honest, I would do that.
I would do anything to make my Daddy happy.
17
JAMES
“Change of plans, Jay.” Benny, the owner of the company I worked for, patted my arm as he stood beside me. “Our primary needs twenty-four-hour support. Apparently, there have been some threats he forgot to mention until this morning.”
“Got it. What do you need from me?”
“Can you and Roy rotate twelve-hour shifts? I can get him here at nine tonight if you can be back in the morning at nine. That way, you can do dinner and get the primary back to his hotel, and then Roy will handle transport to morning meetings and you can meet up for smooth shift changes.”
That would work. It still left me time to talk to Max before and after work each day. “No problem, boss. Roy and I will coordinate.”
