Chapter Seven
Colter
It was moving day, and between the nerves that always came with moving in general and the excitement of starting a new chapter of my life, I’d been up since three in the morning. My boxes were packed. My room was clean. All that was left was piling everything into Bryan’s brother’s truck and heading over.
Mike was still going to be in the apartment a few more days, his new place not quite ready. He was taking the majority of the furniture because I didn’t need any. The Little House, as I called it, had a furnished living room and kitchen supplies, so there was no need to take them with me if Mike could use them.
Basically, if it wasn’t going in my bedroom, I didn’t need it, which made the physical part of moving that much easier.
The adjusting to a new environment—I wasn’t quite sure of yet. It was going to be a drastic change, for sure.
Bryan and his brother, Nix, showed up at 9 a.m. with three cups of coffee and an egg sandwich for me.
“Here. You probably haven’t eaten.”
“Thank you. But, for the record, I ate when I got up.” I grabbed the sandwich anyway.
He rolled his eyes. “Let me guess. That was before the sun rose?”
“If you want to be all technical about it.” I opened the aluminum foil to see my favorite—bacon and all. “You’re the best. Thanks.”
Nix set his coffee on my counter. “How about you run me through what still needs doing here, and I can make a start on that while you eat.”
“It’s all ready.” I bit into the bacony goodness.
Phoenix was one of the few people not in the lifestyle who knew about Bryan. He didn’t understand it, not really, but he was accepting, and that was what counted. Having him help me move into the new place wasn’t going to be uncomfortable for him, nor for the people I was going to be living with. Plus—free truck.
There were rules at my new place, about who could come to the house, when, and what parts they could enter. It was both comfort and safety-based. Inviting a group of daddies over without letting people know ahead of time could easily make some littles pretty uncomfortable, including me.
I ate my sandwich and downed my coffee as we laid out the plan for the day and how we were going to organize the truck. Phoenix was a Tetris master, and we got everything in the first try. I was extra grateful I wasn’t taking any of the big furniture, because the elevator was down and I couldn’t imagine trying to navigate the stairs with my sofa.
When we arrived, Monroe was waiting for us. I’d already picked up my keys when I paid my deposits, but it was nice he took the time to greet me, offering to help us unload the truck. At first, I told him we were fine, but he insisted. His assistance made everything exponentially quicker. By midafternoon, I had my bed set up, my dresser in place, and my toiletries and clothes put away.
I didn’t think it was possible to get everything done that quickly, but with so much help, I managed. There were still some boxes to deal with, but, for the most part, I was at a good stopping point.
Bryan and Nix didn’t stay long. I told them I owed them dinner at the restaurant of their choice, which—if it was just Bryan—would have been the carnival-themed restaurant slash play area filled with more ticket-giving games than I’d seen elsewhere. But since his brother would be with us, it was probably going to be steak. That was fine. I liked steak, too.
The residents who were home stopped by my room, most offering help, but none stuck around too long. Scottie was on his phone making plans when he strolled by, barely giving me a wave. Elias asked if I needed anything at the store, which I thought was sweet. But none of them were the one I’d been longing to see—Dallas.
When he walked by, he took my breath away. He was even more gorgeous than I’d remembered. That first time he half waved, smiling, and blushing. The next time, he pretended he didn’t notice me at all, but his rosy cheeks gave him away. Or maybe he was hot and I was reading too much into it. It was probably that.
It wasn’t until after I was about to clean up that we had our first real conversation.
“All settled in?” He stood in my open doorway.
“Well, yeah…mostly. I’ve still got books and things, but for the most part, I’ve got everything put away.”
“You have a dragon!” His eyes went straight to the stuffie in the middle of the bed.
“Yeah. He’s my favorite, and I used to have to keep him in a drawer because my roommate was…not really—”
“Understanding?” He filled in for me.
“Um, aware, I think, is the better word.” I shoved my hands into my front pockets. I didn’t want Mike to look like a dick. He wasn’t one. But also, I didn’t want to lie to my new friend. “But I didn’t think he’d understand, and it would’ve made him uncomfortable, so that was on me, too.”
“You won’t have any of that here. We’re all little.” He bounced on the balls of his feet. “I was gonna play tonight. Did you want to play?”
“Do you mean in the playroom, or do you mean like, go out?” I’d have done either but was hoping he meant stay in.
“I was thinking the playroom, but we could go out. I just thought, maybe—”
“No, no, no. I’d love to do that. Are you going to dress the part?” I really wanted to wear my jammies.
He nodded, his lips pressed closed like he wanted to say more but was forcing himself not to.
“Great,” I said. “I think I’m just gonna do pajamas, though, because I’m kind of tired, and I need to take a shower first. Meet you in a half hour?”
“A half hour is perfect.”
He started to step away, stopping when I asked more out of curiosity than anything else. “Does everybody here have a daddy?” Fine, it wasn’t out of curiosity. I wanted to see if Dallas was single. Gods, I was begging to be hurt, wasn’t I?
“No. I mean, sometimes people do from time to time, but I don’t.” I thought he was done, but then he blurted out, “Do you?”
“No, I don’t. I’m not real good with having a daddy just for fun, and that kind of slows the whole process down.” Why was I telling him my life story?
Any worry I had of him being upset by my oversharing fell away as he skipped off—literally skipping.
I hit the shower, put on my dragon zipper jams, and brought my stuffie with me to the playroom.
Dallas was already there, working on a book. At first, I thought he was coloring, but as I got closer, I saw that it was a sticker-by-number.
“That’s so cool. I’ve never ever seen one of those.” I sat in front of him. “How do you do it?”
He explained how each page of stickers correlated with a certain color page and how to know which one went where.
We spent the next half hour putting stickers on there and talking about our favorite stuffies and which kind of chickie nuggies were best. It was something we both agreed on—Valentine nuggies were far superior. It was science.
And as much fun as we were having, I couldn’t help but catch myself looking at his lips and wondering what they would feel like against my own, what they would taste like, what his arms around me would—
Not now, Colter.
He’s not for us.
He’ll find a nice daddy who’ll take care of him, and we’ll be his friend. That’s all he can ever be.