Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Hope
Perry’s hand in mine felt like a tether that kept me glued to the ground.
My—wow, wasn’t that a trip to say—Daddies insisted that I needed to have a decent meal before they would take me back to my room for the evening.
Perry had then advised that we should maybe go to the main cafeteria for dinner, because all the Rawhide residents had been given the okay to mingle with the guests for the event.
And apparently this would be the perfect environment for me to mingle with other Littles and see how I liked it.
This was not something that I was ready for.
But his smile had been so big, and both Daddy Lee and Daddy Tyrell had given me big encouraging smiles, so I’d agreed.
Though I’d eaten in the room before, that had been when it was way early in the morning and practically deserted. Now, however, the closer we got to the cafeteria, the louder it became.
Laughter. Clinking silverware. Someone squealing in delight over something. The low rumble of deeper voices layered underneath it all.
My footsteps slowed, until I stopped completely. I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t brave or strong enough to do this.
Perry didn’t tug. He just tightened his grip on my hand and glanced back at me. “I know it’s scary, Hope. I’m scared too,” he whispered to me, his voice trembling slightly.
What did he mean he was scared, too?
He turned toward me, and stepped up so he was almost right against me. “I don’t make friends real good,” he whispered again.
My mouth fell open in shock. “But you made friends with me in like five seconds.”
As I said this, Daddy Tyrell stepped up behind his Little and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, which meant when he pulled Perry against his chest he pulled me in on their hug too.
Perry put his arms around my waist and rested his head on my shoulder.
“That’s only because you’re special, sweetheart,” Daddy Lee said from behind me, before he folded himself around my back.
Perry looked up at me, a shimmer of tears in his eyes that hit me straight in the heart. “He’s not wrong,” he murmured. “You are special. I’ve never, ever, ever connected with anyone like I did you. Other than Daddy, of course, but even then he had to convince me to open up to him.”
Oh boy. What on earth was I supposed to do with that?
“So,” he said to me, squeezing his arms tight around me. “What do you say, we both go in there together and show them how brave we are, and make some new friends?”
His lip trembled as he said it, and I almost wanted to look at Daddy Tyrell and beg him to take Perry back to their room and keep him safe from the big bad world out there. But if he could do this, if he could put his fears and anxieties aside, then I could do it too.
For him.
“Okay,” I said before leaning over and quickly giving him a kiss. “Let’s do this.”
Daddy Lee bent over and gently placed his lips against the sensitive skin in my neck before Daddy Tyrell placed a kiss on Perry’s head. “I’m proud of you two,” Daddy Tyrell murmured before taking a step back.
Daddy Lee quickly followed him and Perry again took my hand and together we walked into the cafeteria.
Perry didn’t slow once we were inside. He kept talking softly, pointing out obvious landmarks like we were crossing a battlefield instead of a cafeteria.
“See, there’s the juice table. And over there is where we can try and sneak some pudding cups without the Daddies noticing. And that’s Sadie.”
I followed his finger.
The bright, bubbly woman with long brown hair and a grin that could light up half of the state stood at a dining table, arms waving in the air as she entertained the occupants at the table. I recognized her from somewhere.
“You know her?” I asked, incredulously.
He shook his head. “Nuh-uh. I know of her. Her Daddy owns the whole Ranch. She’s like... like... like... the queen! Well, you know what I mean,” he muttered as he shrugged.
Oh, wow. That’s where I knew her from. Our first night here she’d stood proudly next to her Daddy. How was I supposed to go sit there now?
Before I could tug on Perry’s hand again and pull him, and our Daddies out of the room, the girl in question looked our way. As she made eye contact—eye contact!—with me, her grin spread into a huge welcoming smile.
“Hi! Welcome.” She skipped over to us and stopped just short of our personal bubbles. “My name is Sadie. Who are you?”
We both kind of just stared at her, speechless.
Then I dug deep for the girl in me who made the connections easily. I could do this. For Perry.
“Hi,” I responded, my smile faint. “My name is Hope, and this here is Perry,” I kept hold of his hand but gave it a slight squeeze of encouragement.
“Hi,” he whispered.
I didn’t like this. I didn’t like how uncomfortable he looked, and that I was the reason he was in this situation. He only came here so I could become more at one with my Little side.
Something came over me. Something I’ve never experienced before, but it was rumbling up so strong and ferocious I couldn’t keep hold of it. So I just let it out.
“I’m auditioning to be his little sister,” I told Sadie. “But I think we both know that I’m more of a big sister, and I’ll end up being the boss of him.” I winked as I said this before nudging Perry with an elbow. “Isn’t that right, little brother.”
An immense amount of pride filled my chest as Perry squinted at me, all his previous shyness forgotten. “Not a chance,” he told me, sticking out his bottom lip in a sexy pout. “I came first. That automatically makes me the older brother.”
Sadie giggled at our bickering. “Well, I can tell you both, you’re already fighting like brother and sister, so I think you make a fine pair.”
That had Perry grinning at her, and I felt my heart warm... and other parts of me react to how stunning he looked like that.
“You think?” he asked. “Because I really like her, and it would suck if at the end of all of this I didn’t go home with the best little sister in the whole world.”
“Uh huh,” Sadie replied before gesturing to the table behind her. “So, you two wanna come join us for dinner? I’ll introduce you to some new friends, and maybe, if you’re really good, I’ll let you in on the prank we have planned for the Bigs.”
Perry’s eyes went wide. “There’s a prank?”
Sadie leaned in conspiratorially. “Oh yes. Operation Bomb the Bigs.”
His entire face lit up like Christmas.
I laughed before I could stop myself. The tension that had been coiled tight in my stomach since we reached the cafeteria loosened just a little.
“Okay,” I said. “We’re in.”
Sadie beamed and spun on her heel. “Come on then!”
Perry tugged me along, and this time I followed willingly.
The table was a happy chaos of plates and crayons and half-finished drinks. A Little with pink braids waved at us around a mouthful of fries. Another offered Perry a sticker without hesitation, like this was just what you did when new people showed up.
“Guys, this is Hope and Perry,” Sadie announced grandly. “They’re brother and sister.”
“We are not—” I started.
“We absolutely are,” Perry cut in sweetly.
The pink-braided girl giggled. “You sound like brother and sister.”
Two chairs were quickly cleared for us, bodies scooting to make room without complaint. I hesitated only a second before sitting, Perry dropping into the seat beside me.
Daddies Lee and Tyrell had taken a table with some other Bigs, giving us space. But their attention never wavered. I could practically feel their eyes on us the entire time.
“So,” the girl with the pink braids leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “Are both the Masters who came in with you, yours?”
Perry and I both looked to the table where Daddies Tyrell and Lee were sitting and then turned to each other, smiling big.
“I’d like them to be,” I said, half like a prayer.
“Do you know what always works to get a Daddy on board with claiming a Little?” Sadie asked, a mischievous smile on her face.
Perry held up his hand like he was waiting for a teacher to call on him. “Uh... I don’t think we need to encourage the Daddies to claim her. They—”
Sadie didn’t give him a chance to complete his sentence because she leaned across the table toward us. “A prank! There’s nothing like a Little getting in trouble and earning a punishment to give a Daddy the boot in the butt he needs to make a Little his.”
Uh oh.
Perry had already sounded interested in the prank to start off with.
But I didn’t know if it would be such a good idea after all.