Series: Paige Michaels
Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Grabbing the carefully washed dishes and the tray, Nicoya wrote a quick note and dashed them over to his front porch. It seemed like her feet had a mind of their own as she returned to her house. They didn’t want to go. Forcing herself to hurry, she caught the toe of her shoe on the grass and stumbled before catching herself. Finally, she made it into her house.
When her doorbell rang an hour later, Nicoya didn’t answer. She knew exactly who it was.
“Nicoya! We need to talk. Don’t do this,” Axel’s deep voice penetrated the wooden barrier easily.
Wrapping her arms around herself, Nicoya forced herself to stay on the couch. She listened intently, trying to hear anything else, but only silence reached her ears. After several minutes, she slumped back against the cushions. It was done. She pushed to standing. Being idle wasn’t going to help. She should go for an evening jog.
Axel returned to his house with the note in his hands. Picking up the tray and dishes, he carried them inside and dropped them with a clatter on the kitchen counter. Propping himself against cabinets, he read her note.
Axel,
I’m sorry for wasting your time. I’ve decided it’s too risky to be Little. Thank you for the meal and mowing my grass. My regular young man will return next week.
Your neighbor,
Nicoya
What in the hell is this? It sounds like she’s rejecting her Little side and me simultaneously. And she won’t answer the door for me to talk to her. What was he going to do?
Standing at his front window, Axel read and reread that note. Finally, he saw her jog past his house. Running outside in his work shoes, Axel fell into step with her. “Hi. I’ve missed you.”
“Yeah. Sorry. Work was crazy today,” she said, looking steadily in front of her. She quickened the pace as if hoping he’d drop out.
“We need to talk, Little girl.”
“I’m not that anymore. It’s too dangerous. You got my note, right?”
“I did. I also know that’s not the way it works. You can’t just decide to ignore part of yourself, Niki.”
“Oh, that part’s gone.” She brushed her hands together as if cleaning her hands of a mess.
“I’ll always be here when you change your mind, Little girl.” Axel forced himself to slow down and stop. It took everything he had to turn around and walk back to his house.
Nicoya stared at Axel’s retreating form before she dragged herself into the house. She didn’t remember ever being this tired. It took everything she had to survive this last shift after tossing and turning all night last night. She had to get some sleep tonight. Every time she almost drifted into sleep, Nicoya pictured Ruffles stuffed in a tub in the garage. Tears rolled down her face as she leaned against the wall.
“Fuck this!”
Nicoya headed for the garage, grabbed the storage bin, and popped off the top. Ruffles looked at her with big sad eyes. “I’m so sorry.” She picked up the dog gingerly and searched for any injuries before holding him tight to her chest. “Never again, Ruffles. I promise. You can bite me if it will make you feel better.”
He simply looked at her with the same sad eyes.
“I know. You’d never do that.”
Hugging him, she looked down at all the special things she’d tucked into the tub. How had she ever thought she could pack everything away and a part of her would disappear? Nicoya rolled her eyes at herself. She’d definitely overreacted when Axel hadn’t thought about her walking outside as a Little. He wasn’t used to having a Little with such a public position.
Leaving the tub open on the floor, Nicoya walked inside to think. What should she do now? She had to figure out how to undo this.
The next day was even worse. After two nights of fretting and another long day at work, she knew she needed to tuck her tail between her legs and face her Daddy. Because that’s exactly who he was to her. Her Daddy.
Peeking out the front window, she saw Axel’s truck in the driveway. A noise from the backyard drew her through the house to look at the door onto the deck. Her handsome neighbor stood on the side of her deck, loading beautiful, flowering potted plants from a battered wheelbarrow along the edge of the elevated platform.
She smiled. That was Axel. His love language was plants. He was showing her how much he cared about her.
Creating and dismissing a wild assortment of plans to fix this mess she’d caused, Nicoya dropped her forehead down to Ruffles. She felt so guilty. An idea blossomed in her head. Could it work? Her gaze immediately went to the deck. Axel had finished and left.
Before she could talk herself out of it, she walked outside and over to her neighbor’s house. Nicoya took a deep breath when her feet wanted to escape. Lifting a hand, she knocked on the door.