Chapter 6 Allen
ALLEN
“Call me when you get back.” Jeff spent the last half-hour giving me gobs of advice about my date tonight that I neither wanted or needed. “And that call better be tomorrow, not tonight.”
“Jeff, find your own date and quit messing with mine.”
“Nope, not gonna happen. Living vicariously through you is much more entertaining.”
“I’m gonna go now.” I was glad he called, despite the topic, because it kept me from worrying too much about my date. But I needed to focus. Patrick was gonna be here soon.
“Not till you send me a selfie.”
I rolled my eyes. “I am not sending you a selfie.”
“Then you’re not going, and I’m gonna stay on this phone the entire time you’re on your date.”
I didn’t bother to go through all the ways that wasn’t gonna happen and instead snapped the selfie, just like I always did, and sent it to him.
“I like the hair.” That was how he always started when he didn’t like something I was wearing. We didn’t have the same sense of fashion, so I didn’t know why he thought I cared about his opinion, except sometimes I kinda did. “Undo one more button on that shirt.”
It was an easy enough request, and the second I did, I realized how tight it had been. “Good call.”
“I know. What would you do without me?”
“I’m about to find out because my date’s gonna be here soon, and I don’t wanna be on the phone with you when he shows up. I don’t need the hot Daddy to think I’m gossiping about him.” Even though I totally was.
“The hot Daddy or your hot Daddy?” Jeff teased.
“He’s not mine.” Yet.
“Not sure I believe that, but fine. I’ll play your game.”
“I don’t even have to look at you to know you’re giving side-eye. So maybe, I don’t know, wipe that smug look off your face.”
“Guilty as charged. Call me though. Promise?”
“I promise.” I’d told him a lot about Patrick including the whole honey mix-up and his delicious cookies.
One thing I didn’t tell Jeff about was the milk, not because there was anything weird with it or because I thought Jeff would judge.
But that wasn’t my secret to tell. Until I knew if Patrick was okay with people knowing, it was best to leave that private.
Patrick knocked on my door exactly on time, and I half-wondered if he had been waiting there and watching his phone. Maybe he didn’t want to show up early, or maybe he was just the kind of guy who was always punctual. I hoped to find out, and not by asking but by experience.
“You look handsome tonight, sweet boy.” He raked his eyes up and down my body.
I liked that.
“You do too.” He was wearing jeans that were begging for me to remove them. They hung on his hips just right. Damn, if we didn’t get out of there soon, we weren’t gonna get out at all.
“Where’re we going?”
“Someplace I think you’ll enjoy.” He handed me a small gift bag. “Just something sweet for a sweetheart.”
I opened it up and inside was a bakery box.
“Cookies! You really do like me.” I kissed his cheek and put them on the counter for later.
He drove us to a restaurant I hadn’t been to before. It looked like it might be a family restaurant at first glance, but when we went inside, it was definitely a date spot. There were small booths and tables. Nothing really matched but all the spaces were situated to provide a bit of privacy.
Patrick gave his name, and the host brought us to a circular booth in the back corner where it felt like we were alone, which was good because there were things that I wanted to talk to him about, especially now that we’d gone from a one-time bathroom hookup to possibly more.
At first, it was like any other date. We ordered our food, waited for our bread to come, and then our salads and our dinners. But once everything was settled and the waiter asked us if everything was fine, the conversation got a little more serious, in a good way.
Patrick spoke quietly so no one around us could hear. “I know we talked about the fact that you’re Little, but when you’re looking for someone to be in your life who is a Daddy, what are you looking for?”
It was such a loaded question, and I wanted to shout, You! I’m looking for you! But when having these discussions, platitudes and raw emotions weren’t what were needed. Honesty and openness were.
“Ideally, I like being Little when I’m stressed and sometimes just for fun, but I’ve never been interested in a relationship where as soon as I walk in the door, Daddy takes over and I’m Little. How about you?” I hadn’t considered that might be exactly what he was looking for.
“I’m the same. I’m willing to be and love being in full-on Daddy mode when my partner needs me, but at the end of the day, we’re partners. And sometimes, I just wanna watch a movie or go out to dinner like this or vent about our days at work.”
I was glad we agreed on that.
“Do you like being called Daddy?” Oops. I hadn’t meant to just blurt it out.
He let out a soft chuckle. “If you had texted me that question, I would have said, ‘Yeah, it’s fine.’ But hearing you say that in reference to me, it isn’t that I’d be okay with it.
I love it. It’s just one word, and it shouldn’t feel so powerful right now, but…
you can call me that whenever you like.”
For a split second, I’d mistaken his chuckle as him finding my question amusing or cute or funny, but he’d been embarrassed and maybe a little shocked, and that was so endearing.
“And one last thing…about the milk.” Part of me didn’t wanna ask.
It was embarrassing to admit what I was thinking about in public, but so be it.
While we were being honest with each other, I wasn’t gonna stop now.
“I’ve always had milk from a bottle or a glass or a little cup, like a sippy.
But is it something you would consider, if things went well and we were comfortable with each other, could I maybe… ”
He placed his hand on mine. “If you want to drink directly from me, it would be my honor.”
It was all I could do not to beg him to ask for the check so we could go back to his house and I could take him up on that offer. But this wasn’t a little date. We were having a lovely dinner, and once I bothered to take a bite of the food, it was delicious.
As soon as we stepped outside the restaurant, he asked me if it was time to go home or if I wanted to do something else. I didn’t pretend to be thinking about it. Instead, I looked him straight in the eye. “I want you to come to my place.”
Because if you can’t ask Daddy for what you want, who can you ask?