Chapter 13
ALLEN
After my last work trip, I sat down with my bosses and told them I was looking for a change.
They immediately assumed that I wanted to move up the ladder, but that wasn’t it.
I didn’t have any desire to be top management.
As it was, I was higher up than I wanted to be.
I was looking for something in a different department, something that was fewer meetings and more “doings.”
I was lucky and able to slide into a lateral position almost immediately.
It was exactly what I’d been looking for.
I went in, kept my head down, and did my work.
I had a few meetings to attend, because there was no escaping meetings, but for the most part, it was tedious, monotonous work.
And well, frankly, it was what I needed.
Things were going great with Patrick. We checked out the local club, we’d had Little time at both our places, and we even had Jeff over for a few play dates.
I hadn’t been sure how well that would work when the idea was first brought up.
Jeff was so very different from me, and very in-your-face about things that should sometimes be kept as inside thoughts.
I shouldn’t have worried. It all worked out.
Daddy was more amused by Jeff’s antics than anything else, which was good.
I wanted them to get along. They were both important parts of my life.
The only complaint I had about my current life, and it really wasn’t fair to complain about, was that we were going back and forth a lot between Daddy’s place and mine.
Some days I’d sleep at his house, some days he’d sleep at mine.
And it was great because we were together a lot, to the point where even though we weren’t living together, we might as well have been.
He was the first person I saw every day and the last one I saw at night, with rare exceptions. But it was getting to be a lot. We had to constantly be thinking if we had the right clothes at the right place and changing what time we had to leave based on whose house we were sleeping at.
I decided that we were going to have to make a decision on that, but I wasn’t sure how to bring it up without sounding like I was demanding we move in together. And even if I did say it that boldly, where would we stay? I had my bees. He had his bakery. We both had ties to our locations.
So even though every day I woke up saying I was going to bring it up that night, every night I chickened out and didn’t.
I hadn’t wanted to rock the boat. I didn’t think it was something that would break us, nothing like that, but one of us was going to have to give up something important, or we’d have to decide to keep things as they were.
That was some heavy lifting emotionally, and it could wait.
I was in the shower when Daddy came over and was surprised to see him coming in the bathroom, buck ass-naked. I shouldn’t have been. He always kept me on my toes, and it wasn’t like I didn’t prefer him naked.
“Room in there for me?” He didn’t wait for my answer and climbed in.
“What brings you here, sexy stranger?” I nipped at his bottom lip.
“Obviously I’m here. Where else would I be today, of all days, except in a bathroom with my Allen?”
“Huh?” I was so confused.
“One year ago today, we were in a very different bathroom, doing very different things,” he ran his finger down my chest. “Unless you want to, you know, do those things here.”
“Wait, it’s our anniversary?”
“It is.”
“I didn’t even remember. I didn’t get you a present. I’m the worst boyfriend ever.”
“Far from the worst.” He kissed my lips.
I opened my mouth, kissing him deeper. The water from the shower dripped inside, and I pulled back.
“Kissing later,” I said. “I didn’t plan anything special or get you anything. I’m really shitty with dates, but you’d think I’d remember one this important.”
“You don’t need to get me anything.” He reached for the shampoo bottle and pumped some in his hand and brought it to my head. “Here, let me take care of you.”
“Why are you so good to me?”
He stopped his fingers that had been massaging my scalp. “What do you think, Allen? Because I love you.”
I twirled around so fast I nearly fell.
“Did I not make that clear? I love you, sweetheart. You said I was your home once. Well, you’re my heart.”
I hugged him close, slamming my eyes shut to avoid the shampoo dripping in them. “I love you too, Daddy. I love you too.”
I wasn’t sure why neither of us had said it before.
The feelings had been there for a long time, at least on my side.
It wasn’t something I was specifically holding back or anything like that.
“Enough of that sentimental stuff. Let’s get your hair rinsed out before you end up with red eyes.
” I stood back enough to let him rinse me.
“I was thinking,” he said, “since it’s our anniversary, maybe I could move in here, huh?”
The night was getting wilder and wilder, and I hadn’t even put on my after-work clothes yet. “You want to move in here with me?”
“Yes, but it’s not about the place. I want to live with you. And your bees are here, and I know you can move hives and all that, but it’s best if you don’t. And my bakery is not that far.”
“Are you sure?” Commuting that early in the morning wasn’t fun.
“I’ve been sure for months, but I was waiting for the right day. When I saw the calendar today and remembered how we spent it last year, what better day is there than this?”
“You know most people don’t celebrate the anniversary of when they banged in a public restroom.”
“Good thing we aren’t most people then. Because I made us a cake.”
“Cake?”
“Yep. Let’s get you cleaned up, and we can start our dinner with our dessert first.”
“Please tell me it’s chocolate.”
“It’s your favorite…devil’s food.”
I had the best Daddy ever. I already knew that, but every once in a while, it just hit me how true it was. Today was one of those days.