2. Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Scott
“ W hat about him?”
I glanced up from my eggnog to see a bubbly, blond haired young man bounce into the main room of the club. He wore a pair of bright blue and green pajamas and carried a blue triceratops stuffy. His grin was as wide as the moon as he hopped into the booth at the very back of the club and gave the dinosaur a little kiss on its nose before placing it onto the table in front of him. He was adorable. Absolutely adorable. Sadly, I wasn’t necessarily in the market for adorable and he didn’t really catch much of my attention.
“Not for me.”
Silas, my best friend and company for the evening, rolled his eyes at me. “He’s cute.”
As if that were enough. “I’m not denying that, but he’s not for me.”
Silas shrugged, going back to his own glass of eggnog as he eyed the front door again. I caught him sliding his gaze towards the young man a couple of times though, lingering on him with a look on his face that told me this adorable little playing with his dino stuffy in the booth might actually be for him. His apparent interest in the boy was in turn interesting to me. I’d never seen my oldest friend play with a little before. Silas was gruff and mean looking, a permanent scowl marring what actually was a quite handsome face if you looked close enough. Not that many people got the opportunity to do that. Looking close enough at him would mean being close enough, and Silas kept people at arm’s length as much as he could. Even when he was in a scene, he maintained professional distance.
Still, he kept glancing at the blond haired boy across the room and there was something in there that intrigued me. If I was going to strike out this evening, maybe the real reason the universe brought me here was to play wingman for Silas.
“Maybe he’s for you,” I proposed, grinning. Maybe there was a softer side to my friend and this boy would be the one to find it.
“Perry?” Silas sputtered, giving me an incredulous look. “I’d damage him beyond repair.”
“You could learn.”
He snorted derisively, shaking his head and rolling his eyes at me. He kept looking over at the table like he wished he could be softer, watching in rapt attention as the boy dove beneath the table and emerged with a plastic tub. Perry dumped the contents on the table and clapped his hands in joy. I smiled as the colorful wooden blocks tumbled all around him.
“You sure he’s not for you?” Silas asked, gesturing at the table with a knowing grin.
I shook my head only to stop abruptly as another young man approached the table. This one wore a pair of simple blue jeans paired with a black v-neck t-shirt. On his feet were basic canvas running shoes and his face was covered in a scruff that was intriguing. I watched as he carefully slid into the seat beside Perry and started picking up blocks, stacking them into towers with a small smile on his lips.
Well, now.
That particular boy might be a different story entirely. I gestured at him so Silas would know who I was seeing and he smiled like he already knew the question before I even opened my mouth.
“That’s Morrison. Goes by Morrie. He’s not for you.”
“Not for me how?” Across the club, Morrie carefully stacked his blocks, the tiniest grin playing at his lips and the smallest laugh bursting forward when Perry took his triceratops stuffy and smashed it into the tower.
“He’s not for anyone, I don’t think. He broke up with his last Daddy a little while back and he hasn’t given another Daddy the time of day, even though some of them here have definitely tried to get his attention. He doesn’t come every week, but when he’s here he follows a clean cut routine that doesn’t involve anyone outside of Perry.”
Interesting. I leaned back in my seat and watched Morrie stack blocks again into towers, his lips curling into a tiny smile as he patterned them. Red. Blue. Yellow. Green. Red. Blue. Yellow. Green. A loud roar met my ears and I couldn’t help but smile as Perry slammed his triceratops down on the table again, knocking over the stacks of blocks Morrie had made, presumably for that purpose.
“Does anyone approach Perry?” I asked, wondering what Morrie did if he was ever left alone to play by himself. Would he still stack blocks or would he be interested in something else? Coloring maybe? Or perhaps trains? I wondered what manner of boy he actually was beneath the seemingly reserved exterior.
“Not many,” Silas responded. “We don’t have many Daddies that are looking for littles here.”
“So, you’re saying I’m in high demand.”
“Yep,” Silas laughed. “I told you it was a good move coming here.”
I was new to the city, just having purchased a large home just outside of the downtown core for myself and properties in the outskirts I intended to renovate and return to their former glory. They were a miserable set of buildings, all brick faced and weather beaten, but despite that, I could see potential. I only hoped I’d made the right call in purchasing what had been available at the time. It was a bit of a chance I was taking with these buildings. I had the money to cover all of the repairs and upgrades, but it was a departure from the norm. The rest of the buildings owned by my family under the banner of the Malcolm Property Group included hotels, casinos and high end condominiums across Canada. Places like the shabby apartments weren’t really on our collective radar and I supposed that was the whole point of me buying them. I wanted to see where our money could do some good and when Silas had floated the idea of relocating here to me, I uprooted my life in British Columbia and brought everything that meant something to me here to Alberta.
I wasn’t needed in Vancouver, I had known that my entire life. I was the youngest son among three and my older brothers were well entrenched in the business end of overseeing the holdings the property group owned with my father and our legal team at the helm. I was the spare, but there wasn’t malice or regret in that though. I wasn’t expendable or unloved, but I also wasn’t required and that made all the difference when it came to leaving Vancouver behind. Here, I felt like I could take my money and put it towards something good.
I didn’t have much of a feel for this city just yet, despite the many times I’d come to visit Silas over the years since he’d moved here. We’d been inseparable once, and I was looking forward to having that feeling again. Money could buy me practically whatever I wanted, but it was just my luck that a friendship like the one we’d once shared couldn’t be bought and sold on the open market.
“Silas,” a voice boomed from the end of the table and we both looked up to see a tall, well-built man standing there, a smile on his face. He wore a pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt emblazoned with the logo for the club, but the way Silas sat up straight told me this particular man wasn’t just a worker here.
“Ambrose,” he smiled, extending a hand for a handshake as things became clear to me. This was the owner of The Red Door and the man I needed to impress if I wanted a membership here.
Ambrose smiled at me warmly and extended his hand to me. “And you must be Scott. Silas mentioned you were moving to town.”
I nodded, shaking his hand. “I am, nice to meet you. Quite the club you have here.”
“Not sure how it stacks up to where you came from, but we’re trying,” Ambrose offered. “We’re working with a couple of the littles to turn one of the private rooms into a space for their needs. Silas has said that might be of interest to you.”
It definitely was, littles needed a space that wasn’t just a booth in the back of a crowded bar, but that information wasn’t quite as interesting as the young man across the way. “Tell me, is Morrie involved in this room?”
“He is.”
I smiled as I watched Morrie duck beneath the table and emerge with another bright plastic bin. Perry made quick work of shoving the blocks out of the way as Morrie opened the bin and pulled out coloring books and crayons. It made me smile to see them playing so well together, even though neither of them had anyone there to enforce rules and make sure they were playing nice. Ambrose smiled knowingly.
“That’s it? You’re not going to grill me for the details I know about the boy?”
I chuckled. “I think I could find those out on my own.”
“Good man,” Ambrose responded. “He’s a tough one, but worth it if someone would take the time to figure him out.”
“All boys are,” I replied, relieved I’d passed whatever test Ambrose had just thrown me into.
“Speaking of,” Ambrose grinned as a young man burst into the room carrying a battered guitar case in his hands. “I see a boy I need to discuss some things with. Pop by the office at some point if you’re interested in joining. We’d love to have you among our members. Have a great night gentlemen.”
He shook both of our hands again before heading for the boy lingering by the front door. I watched in amusement as Ambrose pulled the man into him, peppering his face with kisses as the boy alternated between preening like a satisfied cat and scowling at the continued attention.
“His boy?” I asked, tilting my glass at the pair.
“Yeah,” Silas said, with a resigned sigh. “Hobie’s his name. One of my failures.”
I turned my gaze across the table at my best friend, giving him a gentle smile. “Some day you’ll find what you’re looking for, Si. He’s out there.”
My old friend couldn’t help the glance that went from his eyes to the blond boy across the room and I grinned, choosing to not comment. If Silas was curious about littles, I’d be there to answer any questions he had, but until he told me that’s what he wanted, I’d stay silent. I had my own potential little to be interested in anyway, and he was starting to yawn and scowl at the picture he was coloring.
“I’m going to say hello,” I announced, sliding out of the booth and smoothing out the dark grey sweater I wore. “Care to join me?”
“Nah,” Silas responded, picking up his eggnog and finishing the cup. “Don’t want to scare ’em off. I might head back to the open play rooms and see who’s about.”
My heart went out to my friend but I genuinely did believe that there was someone somewhere out there for him. Perhaps Perry would be the one to look past the gruff exterior and see the kindness that was hidden within, even if I still didn’t know how Silas would cope with a little. That wasn’t up to me though and as I crossed the room I zeroed in on Perry’s sandy haired friend. When I moved closer to the pair coloring in the corner, I could see the scowl deepening on Morrie’s face. If I’d thought for a second that his frown was because of me coming closer I would have stopped moving, but I realized what was happening as I inched even closer to the table.
“Gimme blue,” Perry demanded, holding his hand open as he waited to have the crayon placed in it.
“Get it yourself,” Morrie mumbled back, coloring with his orange crayon.
Perry grumbled under his breath as he dove across the table, knocking Morrie’s hand with his elbow, causing Morrie to leave a thick, orange mark across his page. The perfect harmony I’d seen from across the room was falling apart as I approached them. Morrie’s face scrunched into a scowl and he ran a hand through his short beard, tugging at the hairs gently as he brushed his fingers over the thick orange mark. He glared at Perry, who’d gone back to happily coloring his own paper, oblivious to what his friend was feeling beside him. I thought for a moment that Morrie was going to say something, but he sighed and turned his head back down to his page, coloring around the orange mark and that wouldn’t do.
“Perry?” I asked, stepping closer. His eyes snapped up to my face and a slow, friendly grin broke on his lips.
“Hi, who are you?” he asked, tilting his head to the side as Morrie sank where he sat, pulling his arms around himself like protection.
“My name is Scott.”
Perry thought for a second before smiling again. “Daddy Scott or Master Scott?”
I chuckled softly, eyes darting between the outgoing boy and his sinking friend. “Daddy Scott. I’m wondering if you would look at Morrie’s picture for a minute?”
“How do you know our names?” Perry asked, suddenly suspicious.
“My friend Silas. Do you know him?” Perry’s cheeks pinked up the tiniest bit as he nodded in response, glancing behind me like he anticipated Silas being there. He turned his eyes back to my face as he seemed to realize I was alone. “He didn’t come with you?”
“He went to the play rooms,” I offered, as Perry sighed softly like he was both disappointed and relieved. That was interesting as well, but not why I’d come over here. “I’m wondering if you could look at Morrie’s picture for me, like I’d asked?”
“Why?”
“Just take a look, okay?”
Perry’s face scrunched in confusion and he leaned across the table to see his friend’s picture. He reached out and touched the orange streak. “That’s not in the lines.” Morrie glanced up at him, then at me as his cheeks burned red and he nodded. Perry looked at his friend in confusion and concern. “Did you get mad?”
“You bumped me and I did it,” Morrie whispered, the words hardly audible over the din of noise.
Perry squawked a sound of dismay and made a move like he was going to throw his arms around his friend before he stopped himself, pulling up just short of a hug. I watched as Morrie tensed as Perry got close, only to relax as Perry moved away. Intrigue rushed through me as Morrie looked up and caught my eye, offering me confusion and gratitude at the same time.
“Sorry, Morrie.” Perry said, curling his hand into a fist and offering that instead.
Morrie carefully uncurled himself enough to offer the other boy a first bump before tucking his hands back into his shirt again. Perry looked between us, a grin forming on his lips. Without a second thought, he slid from the booth, leaving Morrie sitting there wide eyed and terrified.
“I’m going to get juice. I’ll bring you some. Don’t go anywhere.”
Morrie sputtered as his friend walked away and I felt a bit bad for the poor boy. It was clear that he didn’t want me here, but I didn’t want to abandon him now that I’d arrived and I couldn’t very well go grab Perry and make him come back. Instead, I slid carefully onto the seat at the very edge, offering a gentle smile to Morrie.
“What are you coloring?” I asked.
“A reindeer,” he whispered, not moving an inch.
“Can I see?”
I reached out and he flinched, taking a deep breath. As I pulled the coloring book over to me, he relaxed again and I frowned at the implication that he somehow thought I was there to hurt him.
“I’m new to town,” I started, looking at the coloring page with Santa and his reindeer on it. “This will be my first Christmas alone without my family.” Morrie was silent beside me, so I kept on talking. “Does the club have a Christmas party? I hope they do so that you can sit on Santa’s knee and tell him what you want for presents.”
Morrie mumbled something and I frowned, unable to make out the words. “What was that?”
He inhaled a deep breath. “I don’t get presents.”
“You don’t get presents?” I responded. “Santa doesn’t come visit?”
He shook his head and my heart sank a little bit. “Do you get to come to a party here though?”
“I work.”
My heart sank even more as I watched him, turning red where he sat, his eyes filled with some sort of longing I couldn’t quite place as he looked at the picture of Santa with a sack full of toys and his reindeer at the ready to deliver them. I lifted my hand and was about to place it on his shoulder in a gesture of comfort when his eyes snapped to mine.
“Please don’t touch me,” he said, louder than I’d heard him speak before. “I don’t cuddle and I don’t snuggle.”
Fair enough. I lowered my hand to my lap and nodded, though I wondered why he didn’t like touch. It could be a sensory thing, or it could be something else entirely. One thing I knew was that I wasn’t about to go against his wishes even though my heart was screaming at me to scoop him up, bring him home and give him Christmas.
“I don’t think I’m what you’re looking for, Daddy Scott,” he said, completely out of the blue. “I’m sure you’re a very nice Daddy, but maybe Perry is better for you.”
“Perry isn’t why I came over here,” I offered, cutting right to the chase. “I wanted to get to know you.”
Morrie’s eyes met mine again full of longing and remorse. “You say that now, but I’ve been down this road before. Trust me. I’m not the little Daddies are looking for. I’m not in little mode 24/7. I don’t snuggle. I don’t cuddle. I don’t have bath time and I don’t suck on binkies.”
I paused as I ran through the list of things I’d done with littles before. The exact list of things he’d just told me he didn’t do, but there was something unspoken in his words. “What do you do then, Morrie? You’ve just told me what you don’t do, but what is it that you like?”
He hesitated for a long moment, clearly thinking things over before he reached into the plastic tub of coloring books and pulled out one with ocean animals on the front. Carefully, he opened it, turning pages with his shaky fingers until he came across one that had been colored in brilliant shades of blues and greens, completely within the lines.
“This is a whale shark,” he whispered, touching the animal on the page. “They’re the biggest shark in the ocean. Everyone thinks it’s the great white shark, but it’s actually the whale shark.”