Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Rex
“You’re glued to that phone,” Athena said.
I looked up and gave her a smile. “Sorry. Not trying to be rude.”
Across the granite-topped island, the slightly vampish but somehow also matronly woman smiled and nodded. “You’re not being rude. And I’m not the detective in this conversation. But I deduce that you’re talking to a Little.”
Cocking my head, I said, “Deduce?”
“Don’t you detectives say stuff like that?”
“Not since Sherlock Holmes.”
Athena laughed. “Fair enough. But was my hunch correct?”
She had me dead to rights. Besides, I’d never lie to Athena. “Yeah. It was a rough one and for some reason, my loneliness is more intense on these types of days.”
Athena smiled. “Sorry it was rough. But I think that calls for a glass of wine.”
“Amen, sister.”
I watched as she moved to the mini wine fridge that was beneath one of the countertops, pulled out a bottle from a local vineyard, and then used an opener to pull the cork.
Once we both had our glasses, we clinked them together, took sips, and she moved back across the island from where I sat on the tall bar stool.
“So, tell me about this woman you’re chatting up.”
“No judgement?”
“Never.”
“She’s younger. Mid-twenties, so about fifteen years younger.”
“That’s not crazy. Happens all the time.”
“Especially in this town.”
She laughed. “Yeah. But you’re not some hotshot producer who just wants a trophy on his arm.”
“Not interested in that. I want an actual relationship. One that means something.” I drank some more wine.
It was good, with just the right amount of sweetness.
People could say what they wanted about California, but I’d put our wine up against anyone else’s in the world.
“You know, when I first started chatting with this gal a few months ago, I thought she might be a little self-absorbed. But we still connected. Even though I’ll admit it was probably more from loneliness on my part than anything else.
But tonight, she really seems… different. It’s going well.”
“I’m glad.” Athena turned to look through the cased opening that occupied most of the wall that separated the kitchen from the den.
We couldn’t see any of the Littles that were in the other room, as most of them were on the other side.
But their giggles and the general commotion they caused reached our ears.
Looking back at me, Athena said, “I don’t know why there haven’t been any single Littles coming through here.
I mean, Scarlett has been running around. But she has one Daddy.”
Taking another drink of wine, I nodded. “Yeah. I’m glad the polyamory works for them. And you know me—I don’t judge. But it’s not my thing.”
“Perfectly understandable. I think it’s best for some but certainly isn’t for everyone,” Athena acknowledged.
I received another message and looked away long enough to check it and respond.
Oh boy. I really shouldn’t be doing this, I thought. This isn’t smart.
Yet no matter how much I told myself not to, I couldn’t stop. After tapping out another message, I looked back up and locked eyes with Athena. “So, I just?—”
I didn’t get a chance to confess my misdeeds right then because two Littles—Iris and Lana—ran in from the den and could barely stop in time before the collided with Athena.
“Auntie!” Iris said. “Come quick. We sort of accidentally launched water balloons in the house!”
I couldn’t help but smile. How does one accidentally toss water balloons?
Athena had the same burning question and she voiced it.
“Well, you see,” Iris replied, “we were sorta, kinda in a water fight in the backyard…”
“We took shelter inside and some of the other Littles started tossing balloons at us before we could shut the door,” Lana further explained. “And then we were holding balloons and when we tripped, well…”
Athena groaned. “I better go take a look at this.”
Nodding, I managed not to chuckle, given how I knew this couldn’t be fun for Athena. But I was sure finding the ladies cute.
Both of them were in their late twenties or early thirties. And both were as gorgeous as could be. They had Daddies though—the men part of the fabled Daddy Guard that protected Littles in Los Angeles.
“You need a hand?” I asked.
Athena was already walking with the ladies toward the den. Looking over her shoulder back at me, she said. “Not right now. Let me see what I’m facing, and if I need you, I’ll call.”
I toasted her with my wine. “Roger that.”
The Littles went ahead but Athena stopped in the big open doorway and stood to the side, so that she could see me better as she said, “You were about to tell me you invited that woman to visit you, weren’t you?”
Wincing, I asked, “Am I that predictable?”
Athena’s smile was full of empathy and void of all judgement, as was her tone. “No. But you’re that lonely.”
Nodding, I focused on my wine as Athena left.
Looking at the phone, I wondered what I’d done.
“Doesn’t matter. She probably won’t even come.”
Part of me sure hoped she would, though.