Chapter Fourteen
Brax
Edwin texted me as soon as he agreed to our date, asking what to wear to the fancy place. Sweet Edwin. The place we were going wasn’t even that fancy.
He tried on some clothes the night before, texting both Cliff and I the pictures of himself in the mirror, a pile of clothes on the bed behind him. Cliff and I sat next to each other, looking at the pictures and agreeing on one of the outfits.
We agreed on how hot Edwin was. And how this might just all work out.
“What’s the matter?” Cliff gathered his wallet, phone, and keys as I leaned on the foyer wall.
Damn, I was one lucky little. Cliff took such good care of me.
He set up the date with Edwin. He never judged me for having feelings for someone else.
He supported me from my job to my hobbies and everything little.
“Nothing. Just watching you handle things. It’s sexy as hell.”
He chuckled and shook his head. The tips of his ears reddened. “Keep talking like that, and we’ll never get out of here. Edwin will be waiting for us.”
That threw a bucket of ice over me. I remembered Edwin’s face the other night when Cliff and I almost walked away from him. That would’ve shattered my heart.
“Let’s go, then.”
We got into the car. Cliff turned on classical music, knowing it soothed me. We pulled up to the Little House only a few minutes later, and butterflies fluttered in my tummy. I was nervous. We both liked Edwin, but this was a date. This could make or break our relationship.
Cliff got out to meet Edwin at the door, like the gentleman he was. Edwin smiled and waved at me as Cliff opened the back door for him.
“I’m so glad you decided to come out with us,” Cliff said, closing the door. Now that Edwin was in the car, my nerves were getting better.
“Me too,” Edwin said. “This music is nice.”
“It helps Brax. Sometimes he has anxiety.”
“Oh. Not about me, I hope. Not about tonight.”
I turned around in the seat and gave him my best smile. “About you, but in a good way. Okay?”
We arrived at the restaurant and this time, I opened Edwin’s door. Cliff winked at me and hugged me to him, telling me what a good boy I was.
“What do you recommend?” Edwin put his menu down. The waiter had told us the specials, but nothing jumped out at me.
“I always get the burger. Plain. Just cheese and ketchup to dip in. I like the sweet potato fries too.”
Cliff put his menu down as well. “I’m going to have the roasted chicken with ratatouille.”
Edwin scrunched his nose. The most adorable thing he’d done yet. “Lots of vegetables.”
Chuckling, Cliff patted Edwin’s thigh. “I like vegetables. They are good for you. Are there any you like?”
I listened while Edwin and Cliff went on a journey to find which things Edwin liked. It wasn’t limited to vegetables either. Cliff had a way of getting people to open up about things without being invasive.
Edwin told us stories of when he first became a little, or realized he was a little.
It started out as cozy hobbies, like coloring and puzzles.
He tried to take up knitting and cross-stitching but soon realized those things were more serious and took concentration he didn’t have after a long day of work.
Coloring and puzzles, easy ones, gave him a chance to release his stress without adding any new levels of frustration.
Then one night, he was looking for things online and stumbled on a little’s site.
He clicked with the lifestyle, and that was when he realized who he was.
A little. In need of care and love.
“And you still color now,” I said once he was done telling his story.
“I do. It’s still one of my favorite things to do.”
Cliff put his hand over Edwin’s. “We have lots of coloring things at our home. If you ever come over to play with Edwin, we can get more if you don’t like the ones we have or prefer different books.”
“I’m pretty easy to please.”
Good to know.
“How about sundaes all around?” Cliff asked, already waving the waiter over.
Edwin had only finished half his burger but all of his fries.
He even let Cliff feed him a bite of his ratatouille.
Edwin didn’t like it, but he received some well-earned praise for taking a bite.
I could see it in my daddy’s eyes. Cliff was going to make Edwin love veggies one way or another.
Broccoli-cheese tots were my favorite.
“I’m not sure if I can eat anything else.
” Edwin soon proved himself wrong. Cliff ordered us all salted-caramel sundaes with extra cherries on top.
My new little friend and date moaned in appreciation, and I wasn’t the only one affected by the sound.
Cliff took my hand in his and squeezed it tightly.
Cliff paid the bill, of course, and on the way back to drop Edwin off, I already missed him. I wanted to ask him to stay, but that was something Cliff and I would have to talk about.
In the meantime, I put my hand behind the front seat. Edwin took it. For a few minutes more, I was touching him, and that was almost enough.