Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Shea
"So… are you ready to introduce me to the reason why I haven't heard from you all week?"
Oh, Sophie. My fierce, fiery, and bossy best friend who clearly had a death wish. She was all of five feet tall—on a good day—but would square up to the Hulk himself with a smile on her face.
If the Hulk were smart, he'd give her an iced latte and back away slowly… exactly like I just did. Sophie's eyes brightened, but only slightly.
I sighed. “Let’s go.”
The Saturday before the end of the camp served as sort of a "family day.
" Friends and even partners of the other campers could visit and see how the age play scene worked, to get the chance to fully understand this aspect of their loved one’s life.
Sophie snatched up that opportunity like her life depended on it.
After all, she was the one who found the camp and encouraged me to go.
Well, more like submitting the forms in my place and threatening me with bodily harm. Then driving me, shoving me out of the car…
It all worked out. I'd thank her for the abuse later.
"So…" Sophie began. "I take it the week went well?"
Sophie's curly black hair battled against the Georgia humidity, challenging the hair tie that barely contained them like a piece of yarn around an overstuffed suitcase.
She'd dressed in a red tank top and denim cut-offs, with chunky sandals that kicked up gravel with each step.
She sipped at her drink, eyeing me expectantly and waiting for me to start talking.
The smile that tugged at my face then was entirely involuntary. "You’re not going to believe it.”
In spite of Sophie's constant pestering, I didn't say another word, silently leading her to the welcome building.
My heart raced more and more with each foot closed between us.
Theo was there, overseeing visitor consent forms and…
I'll be honest, I spaced out when they were talking about it.
The words were too big for my Little brain.
Campers and their loved ones bustled in and out of the welcome center. Like a beacon, Theo stuck out to me the moment I stepped into the building. Maybe the sun wasn't reflecting off their rosy hair like a prince in a Disney movie, but it sure looked that way. I chose to believe that it was.
"Who are… they?" Sophie asked, squinting to see the pronoun badge on Theo's lanyard.
Heart pounding against my ribcage, I took a step forward. I could practically feel Sophie's eyes boring holes into the back of my head, but the sound of her shoes scuffing against the floor followed me.
As I approached, Theo seemed to sense my presence. "Hey, sweetheart," they cooed, opening their right arm without even lifting their head from their clipboard.
Sophie's silence was deafening.
"Hi, Da."
"Da?" Now she had something to say.
I nuzzled into Theo's neck, distracting them while my hands tugged at the hem of their tie-dyed T-shirt. They giggled and squirmed, my fingers tickling their exposed stomach. "What are you doing, silly boy?"
Theo finally looked up, their attention flickering from me to Sophie. Most people wouldn't have noticed the glimmer of apprehension that flickered across their eyes then, but I did. "Trust me," I whispered.
"With my life…"
They didn't have to say the words out loud. Their expression did it for them. They set their paperwork aside and shoved one hand into their back pocket, the other helping me raise their shirt to expose their ribcage.
Recognition flashed across Sophie's face, and a slow, devious—familiar smile curled her lips.
My jaw hit the floor. "You knew?"
Sophie's silence told me everything. Theo squirmed next to me. "Alright, little love; I'm getting cold."
"Sorry." I let their shirt drop.
Sophie just stood there with her shit-eating grin, sipping at her coffee like she was innocent this whole matter.
Again, I'd thank her for the—loving--abuse and manipulation later.
"Why do you think I was so hard on you about coming here?" She turned to my partner.
Partner. I smiled to myself, taking a brief moment to bask in the knowledge that Theo was mine again.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Theo."
They extended a hand, accepting the one Sophie offered them. "Likewise. Looks like I'm going to have my hands full with the two of you."
"Well, I didn't entirely plot this whole thing. I did my research and I hoped, but I'm glad that it paid off. You are a very hard person to find."
Theo snickered. "And you still did it. I don't know if I should be scared or impressed."
"Both," I murmured.
Laughing, Theo glanced from Sophie's coffee to my empty hands. "Should I grab you a drink?"
After glancing at the stack of paperwork Theo still had to handle, I shook my head. Maybe I could peel myself away from their side for a few minutes… but I didn't have to be happy about it. I needed to tell Sophie that I was leaving Tennessee—for good.
Theo tightened their arm around my waist and leaned down, planting a passionate kiss on my lips. "I'll see you at dinner, right?"
"Wouldn't miss it."
. It didn't matter how many years passed, or how many times I was lucky enough to feel Theo's lips on mine.
Every kiss was just like the first. Their hand wrapped so tightly around my waist that their hand rested on the opposite hip; the way they held on for a millisecond longer than they probably should, as if they couldn't get enough.
The small peck they delivered when they finally pulled away, like they were fighting an invisible battle to end the kiss.
My stomach flipped, warring with the nausea churning my gut at the thought of having this conversation with Sophie.
Fanning my face, I led her to the small tables outside the built-in café
By the time I made my own iced coffee and took the seat in front of her, I had to sit on my hands to hide how much they trembled.
"Should I apologize?" Sophie asked, breaking the tense silence between us.
"What?" I said incredulously. "No, why would you think that?"
"Because you look like you're about to vomit all over the table."
"Because I'm moving back to Atlanta." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. It wasn't how I planned to tell her, but the news was out now.
To my surprise, Sophie let out a large breath and collapsed into her folded arms on the table. "Oh, thank fuck for that."
"What?" I laughed. "What's the matter with you?"
She raised her head and propped her chin in her hand. "I thought you were going to hate me."
"Oh, I do." I dodged the straw wrapper she threw in my direction. "But not enough to disown you for doing something I've spent years trying to get the balls to do myself."
"There's surgeons that could do th—ah!" She chose paper as her weapon, I chose ice. "I'll accept that as a thank-you," she said.
"It's the only one you'll get after that comment." I couldn't let her ego get too big, after all. "Does that mean you don't hate me for leaving?"
Sophie smiled sadly and shook her head. " The minute I decided to track down Theo, I knew it was a possibility." She swiped her finger through the condensation on the side of her plastic cup. "Will you finally tell me why you never tried to find them?"
For a long time, I couldn't even admit that to myself.
I turned my gaze down to my coffee, tracing shapes into the water droplets.
"Because I was scared of the outcome," I murmured so softly that I wasn't sure Sophie had even heard me.
But of course she did because you never got lucky enough for best friends not to know you inside and out.
"Did you really think that they'd forget about you?"
"Most people would have. I think I might have if I were in their position. Even as a teenager I was… a lot."
"Considering that make out session you two just had in front of me, I'd say that could handle it."
My cheeks were on fire. "It was a harmless kiss!"
"Seriously? I saw their tongue stud in your mouth!"
Unfortunately for me, Tyler chose that precise moment to plop down in the free chair at the table, dropping a pack of sour straws in front of us. "Don’t you know Shea loves an audience."
Sophie's jaw hit the floor. "You what?"
"We're not friends anymore," I said to Tyler, swiping a couple of his sour straws as penance.
He ignored me, instead describing in explicit detail what happened between us the other night.
Somehow, they both knew that I would have put an end to the conversation if I was truly uncomfortable.
We were attending a kink camp after all.
I relaxed in my chair and listened to Tyler's account of things while my face turned as red as his strawberry sour straws—I stole a couple more.
Then there was a pair of warm lips against my cheek, and a sandwich set in front of me. "If you're going to gorge yourself on sugar, you have to have real food. You know that."
"Yes, Da," I responded without thinking, leaning into the kiss.
They peered across the table at Sophie. "Did you bring a swimsuit?"
Sophie nodded, and Theo nuzzled into my neck. "Go get it. I've stared at paperwork for so long that words don't make sense anymore." Their laughter tickled, and I scrunched into their arms. "Why don't I take you guys swimming?"
"Me too?" Tyler asked, perking up. "Jordan's been busy all morning."
"Yeah, you too. Do you need help getting changed?"
“Nope!” Then he was out of his chair, nothing more than a bouncing bundle of curls down the hall.
Theo dropped their hand and smacked my padded butt. I found myself grateful that they made Sophie busy before doing so. Age play I could talk to her about. Diapers? That was a whole other ballgame. "Let's go, little one."