Their Little House Colter (Five Little Roommates #1)

Chapter Ten

Colter

When the knocking on the door began, I panicked. It was silly—why should I? Someone came to the house. People did that all the time, but not at night and not with such insistence.

I should’ve been brave and at least asked who it was. But did I? No. Instead, I found myself hiding around the corner where I could see what was happening but not be seen. I felt guilty, especially as I saw that it was Scottie who’d run into some trouble.

Dallas. Unlike me, he went straight to the door to take care of business. What a brave, strong little he was. He didn’t care that he was standing there in his adorable socks and his onesie, and wearing his beanie with a little ducky on it. Nope, he didn’t care at all. No one was gonna mess with his friend. I wouldn’t exactly say it was daddy-like because it wasn’t—but also, it was so protective.

And just like every other interaction I’d had with him since we met, I found myself liking him more, which was the exact opposite of what I was supposed to be doing. I was supposed to realize that it was attraction, that it meant nothing, and be done with it.

He was making that harder by the second. And I didn’t think he realized it.

The daddy who brought Scottie home was the same one I’d been looking at when I was at Chained with Bryan, the one I thought about going up to talk to, the opportunity I missed. Seeing him here caught me off guard. I had compartmentalized him as part of Chained, which was silly. Of course, he wasn’t exclusively there. Everybody at Chained had a life outside there, but still, that’s how my brain worked.

When Colton took Scottie upstairs, I was surprised he left the daddy there alone—and that he’d invited him in. Did he like him too? If so, the uncomfortable feeling I had in my middle—was it jealousy? And if it so, was it over the daddy or Dallas?

“I see you there,” Ari said. “You can come out. I don’t bite.”

I came around the corner. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to spy. It was just…just…”

“I made you nervous.”

I nodded.

Recognition crossed his face. “I know you.”

That caught me off guard. He must be thinking of someone else. Right? “I don’t think so, sir.” Great. Now I sounded like a cashier checking him out with his groceries.

“No, I do. You go to Chained. You have the light-up sneakers.”

He did recognize me. I had made enough of an impression that he remembered me. Or maybe my sneakers made the impression. But in any case, he remembered me.

“Yeah, that was me. You left early.”

He sat down, and I came closer. I couldn’t help but think he was sitting so as not to be physically taller than me—to give me comfort in my own home. Or maybe I was projecting what I wanted a daddy to do for me.

“So, tell me,” he said, “what is this place? Because I met Scottie when he was little, your protective friend was wearing a onesie, and the last time I saw you, you were little too. That’s a whole lot of littles. One big house.”

“Yeah.” I wasn’t sure how much else to say.

“Is this like a club?”

“No, it’s just…we live here. Kind of like a little family, I guess.”

It was the first time I said the words out loud, but it was so true. In the short time I’d been here, that’s what this place had become. We weren’t just random roommates. We weren’t even just friends. This was a family, and I was becoming one of them.

“That’s good. Sometimes littles need more than just a daddy.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes littles don’t have a daddy.” I wanted to suck the words back in the second I said them. He looked at me, gave a barely there nod, and left it at that.

“Did you want some gas money or something for bringing him home?” I was pretty sure I had some cash in my room. If not, I could send it to him via an app.

“No, I was happy to drop him by. But that was nice of you to offer.”

Why did I like the sound of his simple praise so much?

“Do you play at Chained a lot?” I couldn’t believe I asked him that. He was here to help Scottie, nothing more. And certainly not to be interrogated.

He shook his head. “I usually don’t play.”

“Oh.” Well that answered that.

“But I’d like to play with you. I was thinking of going on Thursday.”

I wanted to say I would be there too, but then Dallas called down the stairs, “Colton, can you come here a minute? I need your help.”

And with him helping Scottie, I wasn’t going to risk telling him to wait.

I told him I was on my way and then turned to Ari. “I’ll be right back.”

“You know what?” Ari stood up. “I really should be leaving. Tell Dallas thank you for the offer, but I need to go. I will be at Chained, though, if you guys want to play.”

Then, as I ran up the stairs, what he said clicked for the first time. “If you guys want to play.” Meaning, both Dallas and I, the two of us.

That sounded pretty good to me. Now all I had to do was convince Dallas that it was a good idea. After what happened with Scottie tonight, he might not be up for an outing at the club, and I wouldn’t blame him. Chained was safe, but that didn’t mean assholes didn’t get in once in a while, and the daddy who was with Scottie was definitely one of those.