Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
“I’ll be good.” Joel’s definition of good included sighs and pouts and groaning like an old man when he had to sit up, but he eventually finished his water. Handing the empty bottle to Dean seemed like second nature to Joel and it made me wonder what else about this part of their relationship I’d missed. “I did it.”
Taking the trash and nodding, Dean reached over and ran a hand over Joel’s head. “Good boy.”
That was new because I wouldn’t have missed how cute it was, but I had a feeling they’d been working their way up to this point for a long time.
Did they realize it?
Joel was startlingly oblivious about nearly everything in life that related to other people, but Dean couldn’t have his head that far in the sand, right?
“Nap time.” The way Dean reached over and unbuckled Joel without being self-conscious of it at all said he could be just as oblivious.
I was starting to see how we’d ended up as just friends for so long.
They were both insane.
But since it was cute and I was tired, I didn’t point it out and played along like it was all perfectly vanilla.
“I need…I need a snack.” Joel frowned as he looked around at the parking lot, not seeming to realize what he was doing or why he was being a pain in the butt. “And a book.”
“You need to get out of the car first.” Dean aced Daddy training and didn’t make any promises. “Do you want me to help?”
It was fascinating.
“Yes.” Pouting, Joel sighed. “My legs don’t work.”
I wasn’t sure how Dean was going to handle that, but I should’ve known he’d figure out what to do. Instead of reacting to the ridiculous statement that was just meant to cause drama, he nodded and started to get out of the car. “Okay, I’m sorry you’re too broken to play later.”
Oh.
Joel’s brows pulled together as he watched Dean get out of the car. He was quiet for a few seconds before he turned to me, and I knew that was my cue to escape. I wasn’t sure what the best response for me to give would be and I wasn’t going to fuck it up.
I was out of the car before he’d managed to say anything, but he didn’t have time to pout before Dean was opening the door. “Let me have your toys.”
The reminder about what he wanted to play with later had Joel looking down at his bag. “Oh.”
The pieces were slowly being put together, and as he turned to hand Dean the bag of goodies, he shifted his legs. “I can do it. I’m not too broke.”
No, just too dramatic.
“That’s good.” Dean gave him a pleased smile without overdoing it, and after sliding the empty bottle in the bag, took his hand to finish helping our tired drama queen out of the car. By the time that I’d walked around to the passenger side, Joel was out and yawning again.
Daddy Dean was amazingly competent.
We even managed to make it up to the apartment before Joel’s drama kicked back into gear again, so I thought we’d done pretty good and didn’t react to his sigh right away. “I need—”
“To pick out which bed we’re going to nap in.” Dean smoothly interrupted and nodded like of course it’d been the rest of Joel’s sentence. “I think Tate’s bed is biggest, so let’s sleep there.”
“All of us?” Joel’s brain immediately switched gears. “We all should…I can…”
More yawns cut him off but they didn’t bother Dean. He simply nodded again and started leading Joel toward the back of the apartment, barely pausing to put the bag on the couch. “Yes. You’re right. You’ll be in the middle. We all need a nap.”
Amen.
Kicking off my shoes by the door, I followed like an obedient sub because I was glad Dean had found a part of their relationship that he was completely comfortable with. And I was glad his plan involved us all getting some down time.
I was way too old to have slept on the floor.
They looked like they’d agree with that sentiment too because they were both yawning by the time I got to my bedroom. It was cute, but the best part was the way Joel was sitting on the bed and Dean was crouching down to take his shoes off. “Socks on or off?”
“Do…do I need my socks?” Joel looked down, clearly very confused at the question.
“No.” Dean decided to take charge like a real Daddy Dom and slipped them off. “Do you need to go potty before you take a nap?”
Shaking his head, Joel sighed. “I…Target…you…”
That seemed to be a reminder that he’d gone while we’d waited for coffee and he obviously thought it was enough of an explanation because Joel rolled over and crawled to the middle of the queen-sized bed and lay down face first.