Chapter 25
Jesse
The trip to the donut shop—and deep into her Little space—helped calm her nerves considerably. Up until Daddy announced they were on their way back to Edie’s house.
“Maybe we should give them more time. Oh, look, a park!” Hoping to distract him, Jesse tugged on his sleeve and pointed out the window as they passed a nearly empty playground. “Can we go play, Daddy, please?”
“Why don’t we come back later with Edie? I’m sure she’d be sad if we went to the park without her.”
Jesse didn’t actually think Edie would be all that sad. It wasn’t like she was ready for them to be seen in public together anyway, and she certainly wasn’t ready to be seen in public with ‘Little’ Jesse.
Which, if she was being honest, Jesse wasn’t really ready for, either. It was different back in California, where everyone was just living their best life and—mostly—not judging anyone for living theirs. Where nobody looked at her tutu weird, the way the lady in the donut shop had.
If Edie insisted on staying in South Carolina, it was going to be a pretty big adjustment. For all of them.
Slouching in her seat, Jesse crossed her arms and glared out the window. She could feel Daddy’s gaze on her cheek, a moment before she heard him sigh.
“Talk to me, little outlaw. Tell Daddy what’s bothering you.”
“Nothin’.”
“Oh. Huh. Must be some other Little girl pouting in my passenger seat. My bad.”
Jesse scrunched her nose up to keep her lips from twitching with laughter. “Must be. Cuz I’m fine.”
“Well, maybe that other Little girl could talk to me. It might make her feel better to tell someone what’s making her so sad.”
It was silly, and it made her feel slightly ridiculous, but talking about her problems as though they belonged to someone else was always a little easier. “She’s just worried.”
“What’s she worried about?”
Even with the third person trick, Jesse had to force the words out. “She’s worried that her friend’s friends won’t like her. And if they don’t like her, then maybe her friend will decide she doesn’t wanna be her friend anymore, either.”
“That’s a big worry. I guess that friend must be kind of a pushover, if she lets her friends tell her who she should be friends with.”
Outrage had Jesse sitting up straight and glaring at him. “She’s not a pushover! She’s strong and bossy and perfect.”
“Well, a strong, bossy, perfect friend shouldn’t have any problem telling people that it’s her business who she wants to be friends with and if they have a problem with it maybe they aren’t really her friends after all.”
“Oh. I—I mean, the other Little—didn’t think of it that way.”
“Mmhmm.” Reaching over, he ran his hand over her hair. “Sometimes we have to remember our friends are stronger than we give them credit for. Do you think that other Little is ready to go see her friend now?”
There were more layers to it than that. Messy, complicated layers. But at the end of the day, it really did boil down to trusting Edie to take care of her, the way she trusted her Daddy to take care of her.
“Yeah. I think she’s ready.”
Jesse
Laughter greeted them the moment they walked in the door, unraveling a few more of the knots in Jesse’s tummy. Still, she hesitated just outside the living room.
Maybe she should just go upstairs. Even if Edie’s friends didn’t hate her anymore, it didn’t mean they wanted her crashing their party.
But then Edie looked up, a wide smile spreading across her face, and crooked a finger in that ‘Come here, Little girl’ motion that never failed to make Jesse’s knees weak.
The gesture had four other heads swiveling her direction. Dragging in a deep breath, she gathered her courage and stepped into the living room.
After that first step, the rest came a little easier, until she was standing in front of the giant armchair Edie was seated in, painfully aware of all the eyes watching and waiting to see what she would do next.
Luckily for her, she didn’t have to actually decide what to do. Edie simply reached up and grabbed her arm, pulling her down into the chair with her. It was a tight fit, and she ended up halfway in Edie’s lap, but in that moment, there was nowhere else she’d rather be.
“We brought donuts!” Daddy announced, holding up three pink and white boxes as he carried them into the room and placed them on the coffee table. “I wasn’t really sure what everyone would want so we got one or two of everything.”
Edie shook her head. “When their Daddies call me to ask why I sent them home all hopped up on sugar, I’m handing you the phone.”
“I can handle it,” Daddy said with a wink. “I’ve got some work to get done, but I’ll just be upstairs if you need me.”
Which was his way of giving them space for some girl time, while staying close enough to be right there if something went wrong.
Was it any wonder she loved that man to distraction?
“You okay, babygirl?” Edie asked softly as Daddy made himself scarce.
Jesse rolled her eyes in return, exaggerating the movement for extra sass. “I’m fine, worrywart.”
A quick sharp pain in her thigh had Jesse smothering a yelp as a sadistic sort of glee shimmered in Edie’s dark eyes. “Watch yourself, little girl.”
Excitement sent Jesse’s heart racing. “Or what?”
“Brave little brat,” Edie answered with a quiet chuckle. “You think just because my friends are here, I won’t punish you? I can promise you, they won’t think twice about me bending you over my knee and spanking that naughty little bottom of yours if you need it.”
Sweet baby Jesus, that was hot. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Fuck around and find out, babygirl. Ball’s in your court.”
It was tempting. Oh man, was it tempting. But she still wasn’t sure where she stood with Edie’s friends, and the last thing she wanted was to alienate them by acting like a total brat.
So she settled for huffing quietly and shifting in her seat so she was facing the group. As soon as she did, she realized she didn’t need to worry about how they’d react to her bratting—they were way too occupied with the donuts. All three boxes were now open, Carly held a donut in each hand with a maniacal gleam in her eye, Noelle had chocolate ringing her mouth from whatever donut she’d already scarfed down and was searching the boxes for a second, Taylor was happily munching on a jelly-filled donut that was in danger of spilling down the front of her clothes, and Ginny was primly picking at a simple cake donut with sprinkles.
“Grab me a custard donut, would you, babygirl? I’m starving.” Another of those low, wicked laughs rumbled in Jesse’s ear. “I worked up quite an appetite last night.”
Embarrassed heat flooded Jesse’s face as she wiggled out of the chair and inched closer to the coffee table. Just as she was trying to decide how to get to the table without getting in anyone’s way, Carly looked up and smiled. “Hi! Noelle, stop crowding the table,” she added, elbowing her friend out of the way.
Noelle scowled but shifted to the side as Jesse knelt between them, her heart pounding now for an entirely different reason. “Thanks, Carly. Noelle.”
To her left, Noelle grunted, but it somehow managed to sound almost welcoming. “Ah, Edie wants a custard donut. Have y’all seen any?”
“Umm.” Rising up higher on her knees, Carly scanned the offerings. “There!” She pointed to the box in the middle. “Top right corner, I think.”
Picking it up, Jesse examined it. “Perfect. Thank you!”
“Thanks, babygirl,” Edie said when Jesse handed her the donut on a napkin and climbed back into the chair with her. “And you made it back in one piece, I see.”
Jesse narrowed her eyes. “Did you make me get you a donut just so I’d have to talk to your friends?”
“No. I asked you to get me a donut because I wanted one. Forcing you to interact with my friends was just an added bonus.”
“That was a dirty trick!” But Jesse leaned in and brushed a kiss over Edie’s cheek. “Thank you.”
“Any time, babygirl.” After flashing a quick grin in Jesse’s direction, Edie turned her attention toward the rest of the group, raising her voice a bit to be heard. “So, Carly-girl. Are you going to tell us how you convinced your Daddy to postpone your honeymoon two whole days?”
Carly, who had returned to the couch, wrinkled her nose. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”
“Oh, well now I wanna know, too,” Taylor said with a giggle, shifting around to face her friend. “How sore is your butt?”
“It’s not! Well.” A red flush was creeping up Carly’s neck to her cheeks. “Not like that, anyway.”
Tossing her head back, Noelle let out a cackle. “Should have just gone to Nebraska, babe.”
“I couldn’t! Not until we knew if Edie was okay!”
Guilt coated Jesse’s tummy. Carly had gotten in trouble because Edie had been too wrapped up in her to talk to her friends.
One more reason for them to hate her.
“And besides,” Carly continued, her expression turning to an obvious sulk. “The butt stuff was the easy part. It’s the fact that he didn’t let me you know while he did it. And he’s making me wait until we actually get to Nebraska!”
Oh, man. Poor Carly. “I’m sorry,” Jesse blurted out, unable to hold the words back any longer.
Once again, four heads swiveled her way. Beside her, Edie tensed, and she would swear she could feel her glare drilling into the back of her head.
The corners of Carly’s lips dipped down, her brow drawing together in clear confusion. “Why are you sorry?”
“Um, well, you got in trouble because of me.” Jesse risked a glance around the room, only to find the other women wearing equally confused expressions. “Because Edie was… busy.”
To Jesse’s surprise, Noelle snorted and rolled her eyes. “Please. Carly got in trouble because she likes being in trouble and her Daddy likes it when she gets herself in trouble. If Matt was really pissed about it, I can guarantee she would be eating these donuts standing up.”
“That’s true.” Carly nodded enthusiastically. “I mean, I really was worried about Edie, and Matt understood that. He wasn’t actually mad about it. He’s just a sadistic jerk.”
“There you go, babygirl.” Wrapping her arm around Jesse’s waist, Edie pulled her more snugly against her. “Nothing for you to be sorry about.”
It still felt like she should be sorry, but even with all those years apart she knew her woman well enough to understand pushing the issue would only end with a red bottom for her. And since Edie had made it clear she had no problem spanking Jesse in front of her friends, that wasn’t really a risk she was willing to take.
“Yes, Ma’am,” she muttered, doing her best not to sulk.
“Good girl.”
Edie’s quiet praise had butterflies dancing in Jesse’s tummy.
“Wish some of that sadist energy would rub off on Ian.” Eyes fixed on the donut she was slowly picking apart, Taylor pushed her bottom lip out in a pout that had Jesse swallowing a giggle.
Laughing at her potential new friends was probably not the best way to make them actual friends.
“Aw, honey.” Reaching over, Carly gave Taylor’s knee a sympathetic pat. “Do you want me to talk to Matt? I know he’s mentored Ian a bit before, he’d probably be more than happy to give him some sadist lessons.”
“It’s fine. I’m just feeling sulky because he keeps threatening me with stuff but then he never actually follows through. He spanks me plenty, but the other stuff seems to be off the table.”
“Like butt stuff?” Jesse asked, momentarily forgetting she wasn’t ‘one of the girls’.
But Taylor only nodded, her cheeks slowly turning red. “That and I told him I wanted to experiment with like clamps and stuff. Maybe some denial. But he loves giving me orgasms, so I don’t think that one’s ever going to happen.”
“Yup, nope, I’m out of this part of the conversation.” Grabbing yet another donut, Noelle pushed to her feet. “I love you, Taylor, but that’s my brother.”
“Sorry,” Taylor said with a little giggle that said she wasn’t really sorry.
After Noelle made herself scarce, Edie spoke up. “Have you talked to him about how you’re feeling, Taylor?”
Still picking at her donut, Taylor jerked a shoulder in a noncommittal shrug. “I dunno. I’ve told him I wanted to try stuff but… he’s the Daddy. Shouldn’t he take the lead from there?”
“You mean, shouldn’t he be able to read your mind and automatically know how important this is to you even though you’ve never actually told him that?”
Jesse swallowed another laugh at Edie’s dry tone, even as her heart swelled with sympathy for Taylor, who had looked up from her donut long enough to glare at Edie. “I hate it when you do that.”
“I know. That’s part of why I do it.”
A million thoughts were tumbling around in Jesse’s head, but she wasn’t sure if she should actually give voice to them. It was entirely possible Taylor had no desire to hear what she had to say.
But she just looked so sad, and Jesse never had been able to stand anyone being sad in her presence. “I have a bit of advice, if you’d like it.”
Taylor hesitated, looking behind Jesse, presumably for confirmation from Edie before she nodded. “Please.”
“Okay, so.” Taking a deep breath, Jesse launched into her explanation. “I’ve been in the lifestyle a long time. Since before I even had a name for half of the things I enjoy. And the one thing I’ve learned, that is universal across every relationship I’ve ever had or observed, is that ‘Comparison is the thief of joy’. I don’t remember where I heard that quote from, originally, but it applies to literally every single relationship I know of. You can’t compare Ian to Matt, because he’s not Matt.”
“So what do I do about wanting more?” The frustration was clear in Taylor’s voice. “Do I just drop it and try to be happy with what I have?”
“No, not at all. Communicate, tell him what you want, but also be willing to listen to what he wants. What he’s comfortable with. It’s easy to forget that our bossy types also have limits and needs because they spend so much time focused on our limits and our needs.”
“Okay.” Taylor’s sigh didn’t sound entirely convinced. “I’ll try.”
Figuring she’d done as much as she could, Jesse settled back in the chair. Edie pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her temple. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For putting everything you must be feeling aside to help my friend. That means a lot to me.”
Warmth blossomed in Jesse’s chest, and she turned to grin at Edie. “Does that mean I get a reward?”
“That absolutely means you get a reward, babygirl. As soon as we get all these damn people out of my house.”