Chapter 7
Paxton
My hopes of meeting Grizzly were quickly dashed when I arrived at the office.
I was buzzed inside the door where a young woman with long blonde hair, umber skin, and a bright smile greeted me.
"Hi, how can I help you?"
Before I could answer her, an even younger man with short wavy brown hair, a pair of thick glasses, sporting a button-down and slacks, strode into the room and froze.
"Oh my God, you're Paxton Wells," he said.
I was used to people recognizing me. It came with the territory of being as skilled as I was in the profession. I smiled at him, dipping my head in confirmation.
"I am. Nice to meet you." I held out my hand.
"Moseley, sir, I'm Moseley. This is so cool. I'm glad you're here, but Grizzly didn't say anything."
"Actually, he didn't know I was coming. My pops booked us tickets down here to get a feel of the place. He’s an eternal optimist. I think he's manifesting my getting drafted to Bellport’s team."
Moseley nodded in understanding as Cheyenne frowned.
"If he doesn't know you're here, then I'm guessing this was a surprise pop-up. Good in theory, but Grizzly's been out of the office. I don't really know when he's coming back," she admitted.
That brought my mood down. "Is he ill? Has anyone checked on him?"
The pair across from me gave each other a look. I didn't want to wait on them to have whatever quiet conversation they were having, so I interrupted.
"Look, I get that this might be weird. But he and I hit it off pretty well when we talked. I don't feel right about knowing he's sick and not doing anything. Can I take him some soup, or you know, DoorDash him food? What's the best option?"
Cheyenne chuckled. "It might be a good idea, but also when Grizzly shuts down like this, it's usually not like sickness, sickness. It's very rare, but in all the years I've known him and worked for him, it's happened two other times. Both took him about two weeks, and then he was back at it."
I hummed. "What happens to the workload during that time?
" I held up my hands to make sure I was being crystal clear this wasn't a jab at the man.
I liked him a lot, and quite frankly, I didn't want to make myself seem like an ass to the people closest to him.
"Not to say he's slacking or anything like that. "
Moseley shook his head. "I didn't think you were being a jerk.
I get what you mean. The workload is fine because Grizzly has so much lined up and organized that handling it gets easy.
Plus he checks in from home. He doesn't take calls or do any video conferencing, which is how we know that he just wants to be alone for a bit. "
The words felt wrong. Why would he want to be alone? Someone so charismatic and handsome, even in his soft, quiet way, should be surrounded by people. He should be doted on endlessly.
I sensed they weren't going to tell me anything further, much less give me the man's address to show up at his door.
While it frustrated me, I also appreciated that they were smart enough not to give a stranger something like that, even if the stranger was someone who would potentially become a client.
Grizzly's safety was a priority and would continue to be as long as I was around.
"I guess I'll head out then. If you could let him know I stopped by, that would be great.
I'll be in town for five, six more days—I'm not quite sure. It's technically spring break at the college, and Pops surprised me with this. I’ve had to verify we actually have return flights home since he’s so in love with Bellport. "
Moseley's smile grew with the change of subject. "That's pretty cool. You and your dad are tight."
"Yeah." My smile matched his now. "He's my rock. The most supportive person in my life, and he'd do anything to help me reach my dreams."
"Cool," Cheyenne said, her tone as if she was in awe of the fact.
I told them goodbye, then headed out. Only once I was outside of the building and looking around Bellport did I realize I didn't want to do anything else. My morning had been carved out for meeting Grizzly. For getting to know him in person. I’d told Pops to wander about on his own.
He wouldn't care if I called him and asked to join.
It's just that… I didn't really want to.
I would figure out the town on my own or with his help later.
All I could think about was Grizzly, home alone. He needed support. Needed someone to step into his life and take charge. The Daddy in me wanted to rush in and take over, but I didn't have the resources to get the information I needed to do so.
As I was standing there, my phone rang in my pocket. I answered after noticing it was Doyle. I was thousands of miles away and the man could still hunt me down.
"Hey, whatcha’ doing?" he said when I answered.
"Nothing much. I tried to meet up with Grizzly, and it fell through. Hopefully I'll get to see him before we leave though."
Doyle made a sound as if he was agreeing with me. But then the line went quiet, and I knew there was more to why he called.
"What did you do now?" I asked.
"Me?" he said, voice going higher with each word. "I didn't do anything. I was merely informed that there might be a certain party happening today, and it might have some local Daddies who you could connect with."
The idea held some merit. At least I could meet others in the lifestyle here.
It would give me some type of foundation to build upon over time.
Hopefully they were nice. With Doyle recommending them, they had to be.
He didn't take kindly to people who were assholes. He made his dislike of them very clear.
"And how did you hear about this party? Why do you think they would be a good fit for me?"
I paced the sidewalk. Pops had dropped me off and taken the car with him, so I was left to public transportation or hoofing it. For now, I just needed to think straight, which meant moving.
Doyle spoke up, telling me it was actually Princess Aster who found out, because he had been texting with the friends he met on the train that one time at Christmas.
They were talking about how they also had Daddy parties, because Aster had been sharing about the one we’d had before I left.
Yada, yada. "Point being, these guys are good people.
I met them, and they were awesome. Plus—and this is the best part—the Daddies are athletes. "
His words hit me like a ton of bricks. "Are you serious?"
"Yep. Bet you even know a few."
I racked my brain to think of all the athletes I had spoken with him about over the years who came out of Bellport. He wasn't a big fan of sports, so I always tried to make sure it was someone that would interest him. I could have never guessed any of them were Daddies.
"My brain is going a mile a minute right now. I don't think I could actually figure out who it would be."
"That’s fair," Doyle replied. "But I'll make it easy on you.
I'll text you the address. You have a blanket invitation to show up.
Why don't you go mingle? Hang out with everyone.
See how it goes. If it's a hit, great. You've got people for when you move there.
If it's not, then we'll try again with different people. "
"You really want to help place me with a new friend group? Like I’m being rehomed?"
He scoffed. "As if they’ll be a replacement for us. The Princess Pack is legendary. But yes, you do need people close to you who you can spend time with as well. It's not like we can uproot all of our lives to move down there with you."
"No, and I wouldn't ask you to," I told him, voice holding firm. Because I knew Doyle, and if he got an idea like that in his head, he might even try to convince the others. New Roughoak was their home. I would not uproot them simply because I would be lonely. He’d been right before.
We could get on flights or trains or drive to each other.
There were always video calls and texting too.
It didn't have to be the end of our friendship.
"Send me the info. I'll go take a look."
"And give me a report after, of course," he demanded.
I laughed. "Yes, I’ll give you a report afterwards."
We hung up, and sure enough, a text came right away. I searched up the address, noting it wasn't close, though it wasn't so far that I couldn't just call for a rideshare. Within a few minutes, I was in a backseat riding to my destination.
When we got there, there was a large gated fence with a code. I was a bit surprised at the luxury of it all. Then again, a professional athlete was probably hosting based on Doyle’s hints. The driver told me they couldn't go all the way up and let me out instead.
I pressed the buzzer.
"Hello," an older gentleman answered.
"Hi, my name is Paxton. I was told that there's a party here for a certain group of people." I didn't know how to say it without using the word Daddy or kink or anything else that might put me in an awkward position, especially if I somehow ended up at the wrong place.
"Ah, yes. I am sure Mr. Bellport is aware of your arrival. Come on up. Just follow the drive."
Mr. Bellport? Did he mean who I thought he did?
I heard the buzzing noise and then the gate slid open. I strolled up the drive, like he said. Thankfully it wasn't miles and miles long. When I reached the door, a man stood in the open entry, a smile on his face.
"Hi, lovely to meet you. Come on in. I'll lead you to the playroom."
My eyes widened at the use of the word. This man definitely knew what was happening. If as many people were here as I suspected from the noise coming down the hall, then he probably couldn't ignore it.
It made me feel better to not have to hide or suppress who I was.