Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
I was not as naïve as he seemed to think I was, but I nodded anyway. “I am fully prepared for an inebriated Charlie but you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
He sighed.
The dramatic sound was so cute I had to remind myself smiling would not be appropriate.
“What…what if I want to?” His nearly whispered words were the first time he’d admitted that he wanted to let go and throw himself into whatever stupid plan Austin had concocted. “Will you…will you be upset?”
As he peeked up at me, I frowned and aimed to look very serious. “I will only be upset if you break the rules. What were they?”
He had to think for a moment and as his head cocked, he seemed to get even more confused. “Um, no swimming because I might drown. No phones so we don’t end up on the news or buying countries. No leaving the property because that would be bad for a lot of reasons.”
“Exactly.” Keeping my stern expression, I nodded. “Are you planning on breaking any of those rules?”
He shook his head. “No, Daddy…but…”
As his voice trailed off, I shrugged. “Then I don’t see any problems.”
Charlie could see the mile-wide holes in that logic and he couldn’t quite figure out how I was missing them. After a few seconds of silence, he whispered again. “Daddy, there’s more things that I could do naughty.”
Duh.
Leaning down, I whispered in his ear. “I hope so because I’ll be very sad if we don’t walk away from this without at least a few stories that I can tease you about for years to come.”
He blushed bright red and hid his face against my chest. “Daddy. That’s…”
Kissing his head again, I squeezed his hand before setting the overnight bag down on the ground so I could hug him properly. “There is nothing you can do that would upset me, naughty boy. We met at a BDSM club and your best friend wanders around in a cock cage.”
His laugh that time was filled with mischief. “But I’m your good boy, Daddy.”
We’d see about that.
****
“He’s taking this entirely too nonchalantly.” I couldn’t tell who was whispering in the dark, but that was because the explosions going off on the big screen in the private theater were so loud, we were all going to have hearing loss.
“Maybe he thinks the fact that it’s been so quiet is a good thing?” The voice that answered seemed to be Wade’s partner but I wasn’t sure.
A snort followed that couldn’t have been from anyone but Silas. “He’s one of Austin’s lawyers.”
“But contract law, right?” That was Shane, Tanner’s partner, and his logic made me smile.
“Have any of you ever gotten calls at two in the morning because you have a client who needs to buy a small foreign country to get access to sex toys? Have you ever gotten a call at 1:00 a.m. because they need a confidentiality agreement for a pizza delivery guy who saw a bit more than he should have?” My questions made the whispers stop and everyone went silent. “I rest my case.”
Really, how naïve were they?
Austin could find a way to make anything sexual or ridiculous…even contracts.
“What country did he buy? We’ve talked about that shit.” Silas’s voice boomed in the darkness, making me laugh. “He doesn’t have time for any more neighborhoods right now, much less a whole fucking country.”
“I handled that problem and it was before you got together. So he doesn’t own a dictatorship.” Or the weird Caribbean island that seemed to be some kind of deviant sex haven.
They really shouldn’t be allowed internet access once they were drunk.
“That’s good. I thought he was going to spend the next month in a cage.” Silas’s response was so perfect for their relationship I had to fight not to laugh again.
As the movie became less interesting than my curious relationship with Austin, someone turned the volume down and the lights came up just enough for me to see the faces staring back at me. “I’m not an idiot. There is no way the shenanigans could’ve started any sooner than this because they have to figure out what they’re going to do with Charlie.”
It wasn’t rocket science.
“He looks too innocent and he’s probably hidden behind at least one chair at this point. Austin probably spent twenty minutes talking him down and then they had to start over.” Hopefully it hadn’t taken any longer than that.
“I think we’re probably at the point where he figures out that keeping Charlie sober is a stupid idea.” I’d walked through several scenarios and this had been the most logical every time…and depending on how frustrated Charlie was, he might be the one to reach for the alcohol first.
He was brave, so he’d get there eventually.
I didn’t like not being there when he worried but I kept reminding myself that he had Austin and I was close enough that he could come find me if he panicked. He needed friends and he needed to see that there were more people who would accept all the different sides of him. I just had to be calm and patient.