Chapter 12

(Dion)

Lakeside Surprise

"Holy…whoa…"

Dion knew he'd done good when he saw Angel's face light up at the sight of the lakeside cabin they pulled up beside. After a brief stop at a supercenter, where playing cards and two flavors of mini-cupcakes and been procured, they'd arrived at their weekend destination. Had he known about Angel's impending birthday, he might have attempted something more extravagant…and run the risk of overdoing it and potentially scaring Angel off.

Best that he keep it simple for now.

"Think you can sit here and behave while I go see to a few things."

"Do I look like I have any plans on running around misbehaving?" Angel asked as he cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, in fact, you do," Dion said, lightly booping him on the nose. "I can see it in your eyes and the way you're tapping your foot just itching to get out to try and look through the window."

"Now, would I really do that?"

"Yes."

Grumbling, Angel blew a raspberry at him, crossed his arms and pouted, not that he was fooling Dion with that bit of pretend attitude. His eyes were glued to the view of golden lights shimmering off various points on the lake and Dion could practically feel the excitement rolling off him. It was the perfect night to be out here too. No wind, just the lingering warmth of the day and the scent of barbecue wafting from some unseen grill. Dion rolled Angel's window down so he could lean out a little and enjoy the night while he got things set up for them.

Hefting the cooler from the trunk, Dion carried it in, turning on lamps and the lights to the dock that stretched from the backdoor out over the water. In no time at all he had a couple candles lit, the groceries put away, the cards at the ready and drinks placed on the dock beside the overstuffed pillows Dion had carried out to make comfortable places for them to sit. Fifteen minutes. He hoped that was quick enough to keep Angel from getting bored and getting out to start exploring on his own. Fortunately, he was still sitting where Dion had left him, arms crossed as they rested in the open window, his head pillowed on them as he stared out at the water.

"It's beautiful out here," Angel murmured, drawing his head and arms back in when Dion reached to turn the key enough to close the windows. "How'd you find this place?"

"The Old Man," Dion admitted. "He brings Pops out here to do a bit of fishing whenever they get too stressed about stuff with the business. Figured you could use the same sort of break with the way you've been running yourself ragged trying to get the last pledges we needed for the splash pad while dealing with what's been going on with Billy."

It hurt his heart a little to see the absolute shock written all over Angel's face, despite Bella's warning that it could be difficult to do things for him because he was always so busy rushing around doing things for everyone else. Too bad. That was fixing to change. Angel would just have to get used to Dion spoiling him or he'd find his protests stifled by whatever Dion had handy to stuff in his mouth.

Heh.

He'd probably like that too much and keep on protesting.

Of course, they could have plenty of fun with that bit of defiance too.

"So, there really is no glitter bomb waiting to explode the moment I step foot through the door."

"Nope. It's just you, me and those pineapple-bacon cupcakes."

"You really liked that choice, didn't you?"

"Seemed to share the same flare I always see from you," Dion admitted. "How could I not like the thought of them."

"And yet you say nothing about the mango vanilla?"

That teasing smirk. He loved that Angel wasn't afraid to give him shit. A snarky boy held far more appeal to him than one who only knew how to say Yes, Daddy while rushing to obey his every whim. Angel would keep him on his toes, both as a Daddy and a partner, especially with his willingness to dive headlong into causes and drag those around him into action right along with him. The combined force of Angel and Bella was one impossible to ignore, or deter, which meant there would be a great deal of reining in, in his future. He was already looking forward to every minute of it.

"There's no doubt in my mind that the mango vanilla will be delicious. I'm just a little leery of that surprise center. Call me gun-shy, but I've participated in enough Beanboozled challenges to know that surprises aren't always good."

"Yes, but that comes with a warning label," Angel pointed out. "While the cupcakes specifically say tropically delicious ."

Dion waited until Angel had slung his backpack over his shoulder to wrap an arm around him and escort him into a cozy living room with a flat screen television, wide pit-style couch, and several bookcases full of reading material. It wasn't until no one jumped out that Angel let his guard down completely and curled into his embrace.

"You really did all of this just for me?"

"I did. You earned it. Between the hours you've put in at the shop and all the time you've spent going business to business charming people with your enthusiasm, you deserved a treat," Dion murmured, their lips meeting moments later when Angel went up on tiptoes to kiss him.

"Thank you, Papi," Angel whispered against his lips.

"Love it when you call me that," Dion admitted. "If I never hear Daddy again it will be too soon."

"You better not be hearing Daddy, Papi, or I might have to show you my jealous side," Angel threatened before kissing him again. For a moment they just melted together, Dion's hands drifting to Angel's bottom and tugging him closer, hands gripping and squeezing from time to time. Dion swallowed Angel's moan and coaxed out another when he rocked the front of their bodies together.

"Still planning to make me win the clothes off you before letting me have a taste?" Dion murmured as they drew apart, eyes a bit glazed and breathing rapidly.

"What fun would it be if I didn't?" Angel asked, wiggling free of his grasp.

"Menace."

"Yup," Angel replied, sashaying away with an extra wiggle in his step.

"A jealous side, huh," Dion asked as he hurried to catch up as Angel placed his backpack in one of the easy chairs, then followed the lights through the kitchen and out onto the soft golden glow of the dock where their lantern and candlelit spot awaited them. "And what, exactly would that jealous side do if he spotted an unknown boy on my lap?"

"That depends," Angel said as he paused to take it all in.

"On?"

"What he was doing there and if you'd thought to ask before deciding we should share him."

A stiff breeze would have knocked him right off the dock after heading that, while Angel turned that guileless look of his up full blast, licked his lips, and settled down on a pillow.

"Share, huh," Dion pondered as he took the seat across from him.

All it took was one stray image skittering through his mind, of Angel on the lap of another Papi, for him to know that was unlikely to take place.

"Nope, can't do it," Dion admitted. "I've got too much of a jealous side, myself."

Angel chuckled at that and leaned back to graze his fingertips over the surface of the water. "Ohh, that's nice."

Dion let his hand dangle over the edge to see if he agreed. Cool but not too cold. Perfect for the kind of weather they'd been having. He couldn't wait for Angel to see what else lay within swimming distance, its bobbing shadow-shape occasionally catching a glint of light. There would be time enough for that tomorrow, once they'd had breakfast and taken a walk up the north trail in search of the wild strawberries that grew there.

"Now it's your turn to answer the question," Angel prodded.

"And which question would that be?"

"What you'd do if you stepped into the playroom to see me perched on the lap of another Papi?" Angel asked, flashing him a wicked grin.

Yup, as usual, Angel had managed to turn the tables on him and set him up.

"It wouldn't be as nice as your offer of sharing, I can tell you that," Dion said. "I'd probably have a few words to say to him about keeping his hands off what doesn't belong to him, and there might be a few swats to your bottom if there wasn't a good enough reason for you to be sitting there."

"What if I was sitting there ‘cause I wanted a spanking?" Angel asked.

"Then you better not have any complaints about the one I doll out ‘cause you wouldn't be sitting on that tush of yours for a week."

Even as he began plating the mini-lobster rolls, bacon-wrapped scallops, and spicy crab bites he'd brought along for their meal tonight, he took a moment to observe the shift in Angel's expression. The tip of a pink tongue poked out and flicked against his upper lip several times as he sucked in a breath, sighed and shot him a smoldering look.

Yup. There would definitely be some impact play in their future. Once they set the guidelines anyway. Since he hadn't initially planned on them playing cards, he'd grabbed a four pack of stainless-steel rainbow cutlery, determined to find matching plates and cups once he'd gotten settled into his new apartment. If he ever decided on something that suited him. So far, everything he'd looked at had been wrong in one way or another, leading his Pops to suggest, not for the first time, that Dion start looking for something more permanent.

A serious, committed relationship and a house? Was he really ready for all of that on the heels of his recent career shift? Surprisingly, the thought of it didn't frighten him. In fact, the sensation he did experience was one he likened to a little thrill, with all the potential to morph into full blown excitement if their weakened together proved to be everything Dion hopped it would be. If that was the case, then not only would he be house hunting, but he'd be looking to create a private play space where he could indulge his boy in every fantasy his heart desired, including ones that involved breaking his studded paddle out and leaving his boy with a few raised red reminders of how good Papi could make him feel.

"So do you like to be spanked when you're little as much as you enjoy being spanked when it's turning you on?"

"Yeah," Angel replied, flicking his tongue out again. "'cause I don't get all the way little, but I'm not in the middle either. Just sort of right on the edge and a little, well, demanding sometimes. I don't like it when someone is playing with me but not really paying attention to me."

"You mean when their hands are engaged but their focus really isn't."

"I hate that shit."

"You're not the only one," Dion said. "I've seen it happen, from both sides and it just pisses me off, like both parties are lying to one another about wanting to be together doing what they're doing when they've both got eyes for someone else."

"When it happens to me, it's usually because they're looking for easier playmates," Angel admitted. "I tend to have a habit of crushing men's egos when boasting about their portfolio and what they can buy for me doesn't land me in their laps. That's never been what I was looking for in a Papi. I make my own money and if I want to treat myself to something I will. I just have a hard time liking something enough that I want to bring it home with it. My brain trips into questions about whether I'll have to leave it behind and if I could stand to lose it, then what's the point in getting it in the first place? Material things seem so pointless. I collect memories. I've filled tons of memory sticks with pictures and videos of the shenanigans that go on at home and in the shop. I'd rather worry about holding on to them than some bulky, heavy thing that was hard to keep up with."

Shit.

Given what he'd learned about Angel's past, Dion knew he had every reason to fear that taking place. When inspiration hit, a slow grin split Dion's face as he reached out to hold a crab puff to Angel's lips.

"What are your thoughts on scrapbooks?" Dion asked. "Or more specifically, scrapbooking together and immortalizing all the inspired chaos we're going to get up to."

"Inspired chaos?" Angel murmured before taking a bite.

"Sounds a lot better than simply calling it mayhem."

"Aren't Papi's supposed to be serious and responsible?"

"And aren't boys supposed to listen and behave when their Papi's warn them about certain behaviors?"

"Kinda hard for Papi to say no if he's doing it too," Angel surmised.

Dion caressed Angel's cheek and drank in the happy sounds of appreciation he made after tasting the food. Pops had made everything special just for their evening together and outdone himself, it seemed.

"Maybe that's what some Papi's need," Dion said. "A boy who will remind him of how much fun it is to be impulsive and seize the moment instead of worrying about what someone else will think."

"How'd you wind up working in a corporate setting?" Angel asked ss he cut a bit of lobster roll, the chunky meat making the bun bulge almost obscenely. "It doesn't really seem like it would be your thing?"

"Because it started out as more of a favor and I let myself be swept along into making it a career."

"How's that work."

"College roommate of mine graduated and went to work for his aunt's company," Dion explained. "Awesome lady but you don't mess with her money or her image. Someone screwed up and forgot that or wasn't smart enough to learn it in the first place and an event she was counting on for the company's launch of a new children's author, was about to turn into a trainwreck. Since I was the only one he knew with any party-planning experience, he called me up and begged me to take over. She was so thrilled at the way it has all come together that the next time she was planning something, she had him reach out to me."

"Did you go to school for that?" Angel asked, frowning a bit as he seemed to ponder his own question. "Are there even courses for that?"

"I'm sure there are, but no. I majored in communications. Got it in my head that I could be a DJ or a talk show host. The closest I ever came was working at the college radio station and an internship my senior year where I spent most of my time programming in playlists. It was nothing like I imagined. No walls of CDs and stacks of records leaning everywhere. Guess I watched too much WKRP in Cincinnati with Pops, ‘cause I sure expected something with more personality to it."

"No clue what show you're talking about, but I think being a DJ would be amazing. Imagine all the new music you'd get to hear before everyone else."

"That was the one good part," Dion admitted. "And getting to set the tone for Friday nights during finals week. We kicked shit up to ten and rocked the campus, all high energy songs bursting with intensity to help take the edge off the anxiety of waiting for grades."

"So, how'd you go from wanting to DJ to party planning?"

"Needed spending money and my grades were good enough that I could pick up a part time job and not have to worry about them slipping. There was this place in town, Plato's Playhouse, and yes, it was run by a guy named Plato and his wife, Starr. They sold supplies and did party planning for people, had all the hookups with the local bakeries and caterers too. I learned everything I needed to know while working for them, so it just made sense at the time to keep going back when my buddy called me up. I'd already been struggling to land a radio station position, so I was still working full time at Plato's' and doing the events for my buddy on the side. The next thing I knew I had an office in the building and a few years after that they begged me to transfer up to their Toronto office to breathe the same kind of life into the events up there."

"That's cool," Angel said in between the bites they fed one another.

Pops had sent along a creamy garlic butter sauce that was off the chain, and Dion leaned in to kiss a smear of it from the corner of Dion's lips.

"It's like the universe chose for you, the same as it did for me," Angel admitted. "My first real job was sweeping up the shop, stocking and shampooing. Mona and Kurt taught me the rest as we went along. They saw something in me that I couldn't even see in myself at the time. I was still in survival mode, and Tiny, Ajay and me were barely holding on to the apartment. Ajay couldn't make enough playing guitar on the streets so he'd started lying about his age so he could play other places, and Tiny had to start all over on a whole new boat, once he could find someone to give him a chance after the way his brothers were going around spreading rumors and badmouthing him. I'm not proud of some of the things I resorted to in order to bring in my share of the rent, so when Mona put the Help Wanted sign in the window, I went in there begging."

"And now you're one of their top stylists."

"Bella is too free with her praise."

"And you don't know how to take complements," Dion couldn't resist pointing out. "But no worries, we'll work on that too, along with scrapbooks, adventures, and tropically delicious cupcakes."