Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Both of them? it read, and I couldn’t help smiling. It didn’t surprise me that Ian had told Finley when they met today and that Fin would tell his Sir.
I’m in high demand.
You’re full of yourself.
With good reason. I hit Send, then added, I want them both. Dinner soon? It was fun to torture Aidan with actually speaking about your feelings. I’d been doing it to him for years now, and while he was getting better, it would never be something he was good at, unless it was with Finley.
My phone rang on my way downstairs. I hadn’t expected Aidan to call, but when I looked at the screen, I saw it wasn’t him.
“Hey, Tony. How’s it going?”
“Good, man, and you?”
We chatted for a few minutes while I went to the kitchen for a drink. Someone had eaten a piece of cake, yet I doubted they’d had dinner yet. No question about which boy it was. The thought made warmth spread through me.
“Hello? David, are you listening to me?”
Shit. I hadn’t noticed I’d been spacing off. “Sorry, Tony. I’m seeing these two guys, and I just realized one of them had cake before dinner, which I’ve told him not to do.”
“Two men? And you tell them what to eat and they don’t mind?”
I sighed. “It’s not like that. Of course if he wants to eat cake, he can eat cake. He’s chosen to give me control over things like that, but he sneaks it—partly because he’s a sugar fiend and partly because he likes to be punished.” Did we really have to do this again? I knew it was hard for him, and he did try to understand, but sometimes it was exhausting.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I try not to judge. You’re my best friend, and I love you.”
“I love you too. And yes, two men. Ian and Jordan. I like them…quite a lot, to be honest.”
“Wow…this sounds serious.”
I wanted it to be. “Maybe. Ian, he struggles with it more. Not like you. He’s new to the lifestyle, and while he doubts himself, he wants it in ways you didn’t. You only tried for me.” And he hadn’t had to do that. It would always mean the world to me that he had, that he’d loved me that much. We’d loved each other, but ultimately, probably for even more reasons, we were better off as friends.
“That’s because I love you,” he iterated. Tony did love me, and I loved him, though I wasn’t in love with him any longer. I’d been angry for a long time, with myself most of all for needing the things I did, but again, now I saw that maybe it was for the best. “I miss you,” he added.
“Are you okay?” This wasn’t like Tony. Not that we didn’t often say we loved each other, because we did, but something was off about his voice, and then him saying he missed me.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just feeling nostalgic lately. Listen, I wanted to let you know I applied for a few positions in LA. If all goes well and I get one of them, I’ll be moving back.”
My stomach pinched in an unfamiliar way. Tony had been gone for a long time. Not that we never saw each other—he visited sometimes, and I went to see him—but… “Wow…that’s a surprise. I didn’t think you had any interest in coming back to LA.”
“I didn’t either, but turns out I do.”
“That’s great. It’ll be good to have you back.”
“It’ll be a while yet, I’m sure. You know how the process goes.”
I did. He could get an answer next week or in three months. “Keep me posted, okay?”
There was a noise behind me just as I heard, “Daddy! Guess what we did today!”
“Daddy?” Tony asked, then, “Shit. Sorry. Not judging. Listen, I’ll let you go.”
“Did you need to talk?” He was my oldest friend, and if he needed me to be there for him, I would.
“No, it’s fine. We’ll touch base soon.”
“Okay, talk soon.” I ended the call, crossed my arms, and leaned against the counter. “What did you do today? Eat cake? Because there’s a piece missing, and we haven’t had dinner yet.”
“That was Ian,” Jordan replied.
“Wait. What?” Ian answered.
“Okay, well, I got it out, but I’d only had like, a bite or two, and then he made me feed it to him. After that he spanked my ass and made me come, so he already punished me even though…wait, Ian didn’t get punished.”
I couldn’t stop the slow grin from spreading over my face. Christ, they were fun. “Apparently I missed out on quite the afternoon. First, details about where you went. Then we’ll figure out the whole punishment thing before dinner.” It would be a late meal, but it was clear we had a lot to talk about.