Chapter 13
Chapter thirteen
Cody – Panic Switch
I refused to fall asleep in the car before I reached the campground in Key West. I hadn’t slept all that well the night before, but I was also extremely determined.
I was ready for dinner by the time I finally pulled onto the property.
Maybe it was my growly stomach that kept me awake.
At least I made it, but now I had to find my Daddy, and that filled my tummy with nervous, anxious swirlies.
I hoped he wasn’t too mad. I’d brought this all on myself though, hadn’t I?
Wow. The campsite was right on the water, so close we could literally roll out of the tent and into the wet. We could put our paddleboards in right there. That sure woke me up in a hurry. I couldn’t wait to get in the water. Of course, I had to make up with Daddy first.
I rubbed my face and got out of the car.
Daddy and Vince were messing around with stuff at Daddy’s car.
It looked like they were unpacking and packing back all the stuff.
The camping-type stuff was coming out, and smaller stuff was going back in the trunk, probably whatever we were going to need for the parade the next day.
The smell of bacon wafted through the air, so hopefully someone nearby was making BLTs for dinner, and I couldn’t wait for that yummy goodness if it was our people. My tummy growled as I peeked at what else Warner was pulling out of the trunk. “Uh…Hi, Daddy. I came back.”
He bumped his head on the open part of the trunk and cursed as he turned to face me, rubbing the spot. “Cody!” He sounded way more happy than mad, and those crazy, nervous butterflies started settling down.
“Are you mad?”
“No. Of course not. I just want you to be safe.” He pulled me into his arms and kissed the top of my head, which was so sweet when he did that. “I didn’t hear you pull up.”
“You were really focused on all the stuff.” I glanced around at everything. I’d only been playing around when we were packing at home, but now I wondered if we did indeed pack too much. But it was stuff for four people, not only me and Daddy.
“We can talk later. There’s a lot to do to get ready for tomorrow.
” He gave me the Daddy-eye, which was the look he had when he wanted me to move out of the way and let him do his thing without interrupting.
I got that a lot when he was on the phone with clients, making food for us, or cleaning up.
“Dinner is about to start. Can you and Joey go fix some plates for all of us?” Hopefully, we could get in the water the next day, but also the PRIDE parade through downtown Key West was happening. First, everyone needed a good dinner.
“Sure, Daddy.” I grabbed Joey by the shoulders and turned him around. “Come on, Joey. It’s food time.”
My tummy growled again and Joey giggled. “We better feed that monster soon.”
“Shut up.” I bumped into him and chuckled a bit, but I didn’t feel much like laughing, which had nothing to do with being tired. Nope, I was still anxious about what was coming soon…the big talk.
He gave me a sideways half-hug. “Glad you came back. It was kinda boring here without you.”
“I’m always the life of the party,” I teased, but then, with a sigh, we followed our noses to where Crow and Drew were making dinner and other people were helping.
They were making bacon and eggs on one of those big flat-top grills.
I never thought to put an egg on a BLT but some people were doing it.
We fixed our plates, and I put an egg on the side for Daddy in case he wanted it on his sandwich.
Then we sat at a table with Jax, Todd, and Royce—the pups.
Royce jumped up and hugged me before I could even sit down. “I’m glad you’re back. Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry about that. Guess I needed a little more space than I thought. Oh, here’s your keys.” I handed them back, and thankfully, they started talking about the cruise instead of focusing on my disappearance.
“Will we stop and get in the water?” Joey asked.
“Yeah, for sure.” Jax nodded. “That’s always so much fun.”
“Great. I can’t wait to go paddleboarding. I’ve never been before. I’ve never been on a cruise either.”
Todd gave him a big smile. “You’ll love it, I’m sure. Nothing better in Florida than being in and around the water.” He stretched his arm out to the side in the direction of exactly that—the water. It sparkled in the last of the early evening sunlight, and I couldn’t wait to get in.
“For sure. We’ll be doing that even more when we stop on the way home in Fort Myers,” Jax added. “Tomorrow we only get a half day, so we can see the parade. But the next day we’ll be able to go all day long, since the ship won’t dock until late that night.”
Joey cheered, and a part of me did too. I loved being in the water, but the parade was at five the next day, so we wouldn’t have as much time to get in.
For the rest of the evening, everyone had time to get settled and enjoy free time, but not really enough to get in the water at all. I could wait another day.
Royce tapped on the table in front of my plate. “Hey, what was going on with you? And why were you gone so long with my car?”
“Sorry, Royce. I-I panicked. That’s a long story, but I love your car.” I perked up, hoping to change the subject, but Royce wasn’t having it.
“I’m more concerned about the panicking part of that sentence. You had us all so worried. Are you really okay?”
“Yeah…” He deserved to hear some of this anyway, and maybe it would keep the others from asking. I wiped my face with my paper towel and sighed. “I was running away from my daddy because he was talking ‘bout family, and he told everyone I was a little.” I wanted to hide behind that paper towel.
Royce grunted. “Everyone here is something. Little, middle, pup.” He nodded to his friends, the other pups. “Or just into kinky shit like Drew and Justin. This is family. Where you can feel safe just being you.”
“Yeah,” Todd added. “I had to learn that the hard way when I had issues. I kept things bottled up too long. Don’t do it like that. Let us help you. That’s what we’re here for.”
“I guess I knew that but…it was more about how fast he’s moving, and I’m not sure I’m ready to even move in with him, let alone have a family.” I reached for my drink. Would that juice box be big enough to hide behind? Probably not.
“I think he’s dreaming about someday. Don’t you do that?” Jax asked.
“Sure. But I don’t think my someday and his match. He sees kids and a normal life. But I want to be the kid. I want to be spoiled and taken care of and…” I shrugged, not knowing if any of this made sense. “I want a career. Staying home, wiping snotty noses all day? No, thank you, sir.”
“You don’t have to have babies—hell, I think you need to talk to Warner about this.” Joey shoved me a little. “I don’t think it’s time for making those decisions.”
“But I don’t want to move in, and then he’ll be asking me to marry him, then boom—kids. And I’m still wondering what the heck I’m doing with my life. And seriously, right now, I just want to have fun.” The words spilled out like a waterfall.
“That settles it,” Todd said, slapping the table in front of him. “Don’t think about it during this trip. Have fun, relax. And when you get home, take time to really think about what you want. Then talk to Daddy Warner after that.”
“That sounds like the best plan I’ve heard so far.” Which was exactly what I had planned to start with until I overheard Daddy blurting out all our secret private stuff and lost my shit.
“Good.” Joey nudged me again. “Cuz here come the daddies.”