Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
And since I wasn’t holding my breath on that one, I left out a few details.
But since I had been paying attention, I did my best to fix his problem.
“Alright, you’re going to self-edit the paper one more time and then go to the writing center and see if they can help you fix what that fucker is complaining about.” Some professors needed hobbies outside of driving students nuts. “If they can’t help, go take cookies to Professor Stanley over in the English department. She’s super pregnant and really likes cookies right now, but her husband is a dick and keeps telling her she’s getting fat.”
Asshole.
“She’ll help you edit anything for a chocolate-heavy cookie and she might even write it for you if you flirt with her.” That was a marriage that wouldn’t last, but one of the physics professors was head over heels for her and couldn’t have kids so I was rooting for him.
“How do you know all that?” His glare dropped away to utter confusion. “Just how?”
Professors liked me and liked to gossip.
“I listen to people.” I shrugged, not willing to throw the barista at the coffee shop or the math professor I’d had lunch with under the bus. “And you should get going. Don’t forget. She likes chocolate and say something nice about her.”
Hopefully cranky pants couldn’t screw that up.
As he wandered off shaking his head, I looked back at my phone and texted Russie a picture of a chicken nugget and some mac-n-cheese. He texted back a picture of balloons and something that looked like fireworks going off, so it seemed like he approved.
A quick glance at the time said it was definitely dinnertime, so I changed directions and headed toward Ruslan’s place. I’d been planning on productively killing time at the library but I was going to wholeheartedly embrace my change of plans.
Thankfully nothing on campus was that far away, so Russie didn’t have to be tortured and starving for long. He definitely appreciated it because he threw open the door before I’d even made it up onto the porch. “You’re here!”
Russie was technically in grown-up clothes but he was not grown-up.
“I am.” As I herded him inside before we could give the neighbors a show, he looked over my shoulder.
“Did you know the girls over there are weird?” He gave me a curious, wide-eyed look. “Jacki’s Daddy said so but I don’t want to know.”
He didn’t know they were…
“They’re very polite to you, though, aren’t they?” I knew the answer to that question already so I wasn’t surprised when he nodded. “Then that’s all that counts.”
Russie seemed to like that answer because his smile perked right up. “That’s what I told Jacki’s Daddy.”
And his expression morphed right into confusion again. “Daddy, they know you spent the weekend here…and they might know you’re my Daddy. She was giggling.”
She?
Guessing that was a student in one of his classes or someone he’d run into around campus, I glanced across the street as I shut the door and locked it. “I hadn’t really been thinking about them. They are…they notice things, though.”
Their gossip network was even better than mine, but I wasn’t sure Russie wanted to hear that.
“They’re smart.” Rocking side to side, he still was looking very thoughtful for a little as he shrugged. “Smart people learn stuff.”
This was not how I’d pictured our night going but I was curious to see where it would lead, so I nodded and gave him a quick cheek kiss. “They do, and we are not responsible for the things smart people figure out.”
Russie’s earnest nod said I was on the right track. “That’s right, Daddy. So we can’t worry.”
There was some logic I’d missed along the way, but agreeing with him seemed like the right plan. “I think that’s a very good way to look at things.”
But what were we talking about exactly?
Mentally walking through the conversation again as I took Russie’s hand and led my confusing cutie toward the kitchen, it took me longer than it should have to figure out what he was talking about.
We weren’t going to worry that they knew he was little and I was his Daddy.
That seemed like it would encompass everything from our dating to BDSM in general, but instead of panicking, Russie looked accepting but confused.
What had Malcolm said over lunch?
As Russie plopped himself down at the table where he’d already laid out coloring books and crayons in preparation for my arrival, he looked entirely too laid-back. “Your roommates are smart too. Can’t help that.”
Yes, Malcolm and I were going to have a chat about their lunch.
“They are smart but they also know how to mind their own business if they need to.” I tried to sound casual about that as I went over and picked out a box of macaroni and cheese. “Just because someone is smart doesn’t mean we have to talk about what they think they know.”