Chapter 10
Bastian
“This isn’t believable.” Orlando’s frown had me looking between us and wondering what he was talking about.
“What?” I was guessing it was something about our date, but I wasn’t sure what he was talking about specifically. “We both look good and we’re even holding hands.”
And our walk to the restaurant was long enough since we parked a couple blocks away that there was a good chance someone from the neighborhood would see us at the very least. I was betting his family would get a call before we finished dinner, but I might’ve been underestimating that timeline.
“You’re holding my hand like I’m in kindergarten.” Orlando’s rolled eyes said he thought I was stupid or fucking with him.
I was neither…I was, however, confused.
“I’m going to piss you off but I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Yeah, that didn’t help the situation any. “I’m not treating you like…like you’re little.”
Dropping my voice lower at the end, I did my best to make sure no one else on the street could hear my response.
Orlando didn’t seem to be worried about that, but he’d never had to hide kinks from his nosy-as-fuck family before. “It’s not little stuff. It’s worse. It’s like you’re my grandmother and you’re walking me to church.”
He was insane.
But was he wrong?
As I thought about what he said, he sighed again. “I need romance.”
A giggle coming from behind us said we were getting more attention than we needed for a variety of reasons, so I huffed and pulled him to the side where we could have more privacy against the building just down from the restaurant.
It got another dramatic sound from the brat, but he didn’t argue with me. “Still not romantic.”
Our audience thought he was hilarious and my glare seemed to egg them on too. “Brat.”
For some reason everyone seemed to think that was romantic judging by the sighs we got as the women who’d been behind us finally passed. Orlando was back to grinning and was thoroughly delighted with my manhandling or their reactions. “That’s much better. Thank you.”
Shaking my head, I did my best to keep up the stern glare. “No. You are not thanking me for this.”
“Why?” Head cocking, his frown seemed genuine. “It’s much nicer and you’re not looking at me like I’m your grandma anymore.”
I had not been thinking grandmotherly thoughts in his direction.
Not even grandfatherly thoughts.
“I was being polite.” Or at the very least I’d been a gentleman. Something nice. “You need to explain this to me better.”
“Just because or so you can pretend to date me better?” His question was cheeky but might’ve been genuine…it was hard to tell that time. Somewhere along the line he’d gotten better at being sneaky. “You need to remember that you can safeword.”
I still couldn’t decide if he was fucking with me or not.
Had I been walking with him like he was a relative?
Maybe.
Thinking about it, I tried to stop the immediate need to push back at what he was saying. Even if he was fucking with me, he might’ve had a point. “I’m not sure what I was doing that was technically wrong, but it’s possible I was being too careful.”
Maybe.
“Would you have done something different if this was a date with someone you’d met online or at the store?” Watching me closely, Orlando wasn’t frowning that time but he was more reserved than he had been just seconds before. “Is it me?”
Oh, that didn’t sound right and red flags were flying every which direction.
“I’ve known you for a very long time.” Was that a bad way to start? His expression hadn’t changed, so I couldn’t tell. “If you’re asking if this is weird for me and that’s why it feels wrong to you, no.”
At least, I didn’t think so.
This was Orlando.
“I don’t have any negative feelings about going out with you or having our time yesterday.
” Judging by the way his shoulders relaxed and his blank expression softened, he seemed to believe me about that.
“If I was thinking anything you might see as negative, it’s because your family is insane and I don’t know what I’m going to say to your mother yet. ”
I’d also spent a lot of energy making sure to see Orlando as just Orlando.
He shrugged and didn’t look bad about throwing me to the wolves. “I tried being honest and that didn’t work.”
Because his family was nuts.
“I’m glad you started there, but it doesn’t surprise me that you needed a different tactic.” Nothing they did surprised me. “And you’ll have to forgive me but I’ve spent a long time seeing you as a family friend. That’s not easy to change.”
The way his gaze narrowed made me think he was plotting chaos, but his words weren’t quite that dangerous. “Family friends don’t share binkies and bottles.”
I’d realized that…just a bit late…and that didn’t mean I understood anything else.
“That’s right.” I wasn’t going to even begin to guess what it meant, though. “However, habits are hard to break, so you’re going to have to be patient with me.”
While I did my best not to think about whatever we were doing.
“But I’m not just a family friend you’re taking to dinner.” He looked like he was barely holding back the urge to cross his arms over his chest and stomp his foot. “You’re not dragging your grandkid to church.”
For fuck’s sake.
“I’m not that old and if you keep insinuating otherwise, we’re going to talk about consequences.” Oh, no. That hadn’t been good. Neon danger lights would’ve been flashing all around us if we’d been in a cartoon…and there was a mischievous sparkle in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.
Shit.
“A spanking kind of consequence?” Somehow he’d shifted from pissed-off little to naughty and tempting in the flash of an eye. “Learning lessons is important.”
I wasn’t sure I was ready to ask what he was actually thinking, but I definitely wasn’t going to agree with him.
“I will not reward you for being dramatic.” The way he’d talked about spankings when he was little made me think they’d fall into the fun category no matter what headspace he was in. “I can, however, figure out lines you need to write or decide how long you need to stand in the corner.”
His dramatic sigh had me trying not to smile. “I’ve learned my lesson. Less drama. More communication. Got it.”
Brat.
“I’m so glad we’ve got that handled.” Tugging him just a bit closer, I thought about spanking him and let him see some of it in my eyes.
I wasn’t going to do anything or say anything until I’d figured a few things out, but if he wanted more Dom and less grandma, I could do that.
“I’d like to enjoy our date so I can show you off. ”
The shiver that raced through him said he was thinking naughty thoughts, but he kept them to himself. “To my family?”
Rolling my eyes got a giggle from him. “To everyone.”
Letting my gaze scan down his body, I enjoyed the way his shirt showed off his chest and how the tight black pants he’d picked out showed off his legs. Somewhere over the last twenty-four hours I’d finally realized that he was a grown-up and not the kid I’d kept imagining him as. “Everyone.”
“Yes…I…” Sighing, he nodded. “Yes, Sir.”
There was no way I was going to ask a single clarifying question…he’d tell me what he was thinking.
“Good boy.” I was totally screwed. “Now, I’m ready for dinner and you’re going to behave.”
He nodded slowly, but his eyes had glazed over and I wasn’t sure he was completely with me any longer. “Yes, Sir. I’ll be a good boy.”
At least he was being polite?
“I’m glad.” For a variety of reasons. “If you can behave, we’ll talk about a reward later.”
I was a moron.
But I was a moron who had Orlando’s brain tuning back into reality. “What kind of reward?”
I shrugged, wrapping his arm around mine and getting a smile as I started the romantic portion of our date. “Maybe dessert. Maybe something else. I’ll have to think about it.”
Was I being deliberately vague?
Of course not.
I just hadn’t thought about what would come next and spelling it out didn’t seem like a good idea. The anticipation of what it might be would definitely get better behavior from him.
“Dessert is just part of the meal.” Orlando looked deviously innocent as I started us walking again. “Terrence said so. Dessert is only a treat when it’s unexpected.”
Bullshit.
“There’s no way Enzo agreed with that logic.” One glare at Orlando had him giving me a beaming smile. “Enzo didn’t. Terrence was just trying to convince his friend that was how dessert worked.”
He was a terrible influence.
“I like the logic.” Swinging my hand, Orlando stopped himself after a second and sighed. “You make it hard to stay big all the time.”
I thought that was a good thing, but since he didn’t, we needed to fix it. “Then we’ll talk about grown-up stuff and we won’t talk about Terrence or little stuff.”
It should’ve been simple but he glanced over at me like I’d said something confusing. “Like what? Like real-date stuff?”
Real date?
Real versus pretend?
Fuck it all.
“Yes.” What the fuck were we doing? “You can tell me about your week and I can tell you about mine. You could tell me what the family is doing and I can commiserate with you about the chaos they’ve caused.”
That finally got a laugh from him. “Lots. They’re still trying to break into Enzo’s house. He thinks the weather has been too mild lately and he’s hoping it drops in temperature so they get too cold to cause problems.”
“Does he know who he’s talking about?” They would not let a bit of bad weather or even a blizzard stop them. “There’s no way that will work.”
“I know.” Orlando’s shrug said we were on the same page with that. “But I’m enjoying the chaos and it’s keeping them out of my hair for the most part.”
Hmm…
“For the most part?” My question had him sighing, which was not a good sign. “What did they do?”
“Well, my mother called this morning at a truly insane hour and wanted to know if I’d like to make a trip to the library with her.
” Good grief. My wince made him smile for a moment but it faded quickly.
“And Uncle Marty texted me later asking what my thoughts were on a summer wedding. He said it was just to settle an argument but it was concerning.”
God.
“You have to be kidding me.” His immediate wince and the way he shook his head radiated sincerity.
“No. I might have fun with other things. It’s a family trait…we can’t help it. But not about this.” Crashing his head into my shoulder, he let out a long, dramatic exhale. “Don’t let my mother marry me off to the library lady.”
“I won’t.” How that woman thought it was a good idea I’d never know. “But we’re not getting married this summer just to stop her.”
Orlando’s response was to look over at me and give me wide eyes. “I want a Christmas wedding.”
For fuck’s sake.
“Don’t tell your mother that.” She’d have him married this Christmas. “But that would be pretty. Maybe up at that resort your family went to a few years ago? The one in the mountains? I saw the photos everyone posted online.”
That got a romantic sigh, not the dramatic kind.
“Oh, that had the biggest Christmas tree I’ve ever seen.” Orlando’s smile was beaming but I couldn’t decide if there was little in it or not. “It was all silver and red and it was perfect.”
Speaking of Christmas trees.
“Why don’t you have anything up?” He had stuff. His mother had bought it for him. “Do you need help putting it up?”
Had he just gotten distracted with work too?
He shrugged and stretched out thinking sounds until we’d made it to the restaurant, and I was smart enough to know that meant we had to come back to that topic.
I was a bit dense, but I wasn’t completely stupid.
I let him think he’d pulled one over on me as I opened the door to his cousin’s restaurant, though. “You ready for chaos? There’s at least a fifty percent chance that someone you know is in here.”
And at least that high that the person would be related in some way.
I’d always wanted more family growing up, but then I’d realized what that meant and I’d gotten smarter. By the time I graduated college I was thanking God that I was an only child and that my parents were only children as well.
Family meant chaos or trouble…and his always turned the crazy up to a thousand.
“I don’t want a summer wedding.” His response made me sigh that time, which actually got a smile out of him. “So yes. Are you ready?”
Really?
I rolled my eyes and gestured for him to go inside.
“I’ve been baptized by fire with your family. I was born for this.” No matter what, he wasn’t going to get married to the library lady and his family was going to learn some boundaries. “Are you ready?”
His adorably sweet smile had me fighting the urge to kiss him and I had to remind myself it would be inappropriate. “I’ve always been ready. You’re the pokey puppy here.”
The cheeky brat nearly pranced into the restaurant, reminding me a bit of his little side, and for once, I didn’t see young Orlando when I looked at him.
I just saw him…and that had me questioning everything…except what he wanted to read the next time he was little.
The Pokey Puppy.