Chapter 8 #2
With that, Drew shoved himself off the stool and wandered into the kitchen. If he planned to finagle a snack from the chef, that would take him a while. I finished the butter cups and put away the silverware he left behind. I’d just finished the last of it when my phone vibrated in my back pocket.
Travis
Hey, you.
Casey
My favorite hockey player.
Uhh, am I actually your favorite, or the only one you know?
Why not both?
Convenient, but I’ll take it anyway.
I actually had a point to the texting you though.
And that was?
To see when you got off work and your plans.
2 p.m., then gym, and then home, I guess.
Want some company for the gym and a surprise after?
Good surprise?
I think so. Hope so anyway.
I’m in.
Whoop, whoop! Can I pick you up?
I drove to work, but meet me at my apartment?
Is this a date?
I hope so ’cause I want it to be a date.
Date it is.
See you then.
“I kinda regret going for leg day. The trainers don’t have anything on you,” Travis said when he collapsed next to me on the bench. His panting breaths came out short and fast, reminding me of a similar sound from over the weekend. “Holy shit.”
“C’mon, it’s not that bad. Maybe you just haven’t pushed yourself in a while,” I offered with a grin. Travis playfully pushed me toward the locker room. I danced away. He tried to follow but groaned low instead. “Maybe it’s an age thing?”
“We are practically the same age!”
“Pretty sure you’re older. How old are you anyway?”
“Thirty-four. You?”
“Thirty-two. Clearly, the old man here.” Travis’s laugh was deep and rich like dark chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles. “But we do have to take the hockey into account. By my last season, some days it hurt to get out of bed days after a rough game. I don’t think I had another season in me.”
We’d stopped to grab some towels to shower before heading off for what Travis called an adventure, though he wouldn’t share the details.
“Do you miss it?” I asked as we waited our turn in line. “Playing all the time?”
Travis hesitated before he answered. “I miss the excitement of it, but I don’t miss the loneliness of being gone all the time and being alone.”
“I thought I read you were divorced.”
“Yeah, she traveled all the time for her job, and I did the same, and we weren’t ready for the work it took to make it work. We split, no hard feelings from either side, and moved on.”
“You were married to a woman?”
“Yeah, I never hid that I was bi, but I didn’t advertise it either. She didn’t care about that part. She’s pan. She’s married to a sweet farmer now, and they grow organic herbs and make soaps.”
“Any chance that’s the stuff in your shower? Because damn.”
“Yep, that’s them,” he answered proudly. “When she and her partner started, I was happily their first customer. Their bubble bath is next level.”
“I’ll have to order some.”
“Or, and hear me out, you just use mine.”
Travis’s sidelong look was subtle, and the hope was clear on his face. I nodded, he smiled, and we both headed back to the showers.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t that kind of gym, so we headed into different stalls rather than save water and share one.
When I ducked my head under the water, my mind wandered to how much I enjoyed Travis’s company.
He was such a sweet Daddy, and I wanted more.
He’d stepped in for the night, we’d had a great time, and then we’d retreated to our separate corners.
I knew it was because we both had work obligations, but that didn’t make it any less difficult.
I wanted more.
“You about finished?” Travis called from the other side of the plastic curtain.
“Uh, yeah, almost done.” Lies. I was nowhere close to being dressed and ready to go, but since I’d said it, I got myself in gear, finished drying off, and pulled on my clothes as fast as I could. When I pulled the curtain back, Travis was sitting on the bench outside the shower, waiting for me.
If I’d thought he was sexy in his gym clothes—with that muscle-hugging shirt and those shorts—it was nothing compared to seeing him fully dressed. His biceps strained against a tight T-shirt, and his jeans hugged his thighs in all the right ways. He wasn’t just a snack. He was the whole buffet.
“I’m not trying to rush you. I just wanna make sure we’re there on time,” Travis said as I sat next to him to pull on my socks and shoes.
He tapped my leg and motioned for me to put my foot on the bench, then reached over to tie one shoe, and then the other. I didn’t know what to think.
No one else was in the locker room, so it wasn’t like anyone could see us.
Still, the simple gesture caught me off guard.
It wasn’t unwelcome though. I liked how it seemed second nature for him to take care of things—tying my shoes, carrying my towel earlier, turning on the water for my shower.
I could’ve done all of it myself and would have if he hadn’t been there. But he was, and he did, and I liked it.
The conversation I’d had with Drew earlier echoed in my mind while I watched Travis finish up with my shoes.
Was I searching for something more permanent?
I didn’t know. But I did know that whatever this was with Travis, I wanted to keep doing it.
And truthfully, I wanted more. That little taste I’d had in the club—of what it might be like for Travis to be my Daddy—hadn’t been nearly enough.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” I asked as Travis gently pushed my feet back to the floor, took my hand, and pulled me up from the bench.
He grabbed our duffel bags, slung them over one shoulder, and kept hold of my hand as we walked out of the locker room.
We lived in a pretty progressive area, but it still wasn’t common to see two men holding hands in public. Travis didn’t seem to care, though, and I liked that about him too. At the car, he opened the door and even buckled me in. I couldn’t help noticing the giddy spark of excitement on his face.
“Are you ignoring my question?” I tried again, hoping for at least a little hint.
“I am, but for a good reason.”
“What reason?”
“I don’t want to give it away and ruin the surprise. But I promise you’re going to like it. It’s fun. At least I hope it’s fun. The ad said it was, and they wouldn’t lie on the internet, right?”
“I don’t think you’re allowed to lie on the internet. There’s a law about that or something.”
“In that case, we’re good to go. It’ll absolutely be a good time.”
I gave up trying to get information out of Travis and settled into the heated seat, deciding to just enjoy the ride. He switched the station to Christmas music, and soon, the car was filled with songs about Santa coming to town and reindeer who needed to learn to play nice.
He headed toward Seattle but turned off the main interstate before we got into downtown. The road wound through suburban streets and then into a more wooded area. It had been dark for a while, but out here, it felt even darker. In the distance, I could see a faint glow of lights.
“Is that where we’re going?” So much for my promise not to ask any more questions. Traffic had slowed to a crawl, everyone inching forward like snails.
“Maybe,” Travis said with a laugh. He grabbed my hand where it rested on my leg and raised it to his lips for a quick kiss. “I’m not gonna tell you where we’re going, but I will say we’re almost there.”
“Well, then I’m just gonna sit back and enjoy it.”
For the next few minutes, we rode in comfortable silence. Travis kept my hand in his, and I made no effort to move it. My hands weren’t small, but compared to his, they felt tiny, and I liked the way his palm covered mine completely as we crept forward.
When we got closer, I realized the lights I’d seen in the distance were part of a massive display—bright-colored Christmas lights flashing in perfect rhythm.
“Oh, is this one of those synchronized light shows?” I asked, practically bouncing in my seat.
I’d seen them advertised on TV and always thought they looked amazing, driving through while the lights danced to the music.
“It sure is,” Travis said with a squeeze of my fingers. “I thought it looked pretty cool, and I was hoping you’d like it.”
Travis turned his attention to the attendant, paid for our tickets, and tuned the radio to the station they’d told us to use.
With all the lights and colors, it felt like we’d been transported to another world.
Christmas music played while thousands of lights danced along the route—candy canes, snowmen, reindeer, even a few dancing marshmallows.
Travis kept his speed slow, so I could take it all in.
I had no idea how many lights they’d used, but it felt like driving straight into Santa’s workshop.
Between the music and Travis’s silent encouragement to enjoy myself, I found my mind wandering closer and closer to my little headspace.
Normally, I kept my big self and little self fully separated, but when Travis was around, it was much harder to do.
And truthfully, I didn’t want to keep them apart when he was close.
He made being little exactly where I wanted to be.
“Travvy, look at the lights!” I said and pointed to a rainbow explosion in the shape of a snowflake that was directly in front of us. I waved my hand excitedly in front of him, then bounced up and down in my seat. “They are the prettiest ever.”
“Hmmm, prettiest ever covers a lot of ground.” I narrowed my eyes at him while I tried to figure out if he was joking. “Are you sure?”
“I’m super, duper, extra sure with a double scoop of ice cream and sprinkles.”
Travis gave me a quick glance and a smile lit up his face. He turned away before I could give him one of my own.
“Can I ask you to do something for me? But I want to say up front that if you’re not comfortable with it, I totally understand. No hard feelings.”
“What is it?”
“I like when you call me Travvy, but I like it even more when you call me Daddy. Do you think we could try that tonight?”
The quiet sincerity in his voice took me by surprise. When we were at the club, I’d called him that, but that was as far as it went. Afterward, I went back to Travis—or Travvy if I was feeling closer to being little.
His quiet tone wrapped around me like a warm shirt I wanted to pull over my head and hide in, and the little part of me stirred again, reaching for him without my permission.
“That’s what you want?”
“Yeah. I really like it,” Travis—no, Daddy—said after clearing his throat.
“Then it’s set. Daddy it is.”
The smile that Daddy gave me rivaled the Christmas lights in the drive-through.
Butterflies exploded through my chest, tumbling and spinning until my stomach was doing somersaults.
A giggle slipped out before I could stop it.
I clamped my hand over my mouth, but the laughter kept bubbling up until I couldn’t hold it back anymore.
Soon, I was giggling in the seat next to him, and my laughter set Daddy off too.
My giggles went away when more lights distracted me.
“Daddy, I might have spoken too soon because I think I was wrong about something,” I said, staring at the tunnel walls, the last part of the drive-through.
There were maybe a million lights, give or take a few thousand, and each one twinkled and sparkled in the pitch-black night. “This might be better.”
“You might be onto something. It was gorgeous,” Daddy said as we pulled out the other side.
“I don’t think I’m ready to go home yet, Daddy.”
“That’s a good thing because we’ve got a little more to do.”
Daddy drove around to the back side of the exhibit. In front of us was a barn with open doors and the biggest wreath I’d ever seen, decked out with shiny red ornaments. Inside the barn, people milled about holding steaming cups of something warm.
“Ready to meet Santa?”