20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Archer

Crispin had a late class tonight, but we'd decided to meet in the bar after he finished. He was so adorable when he cocked one hip to the side and said, "I have a late class, but I'll run up and change really quickly. I can do that because, you know, I live at the Windsor now."

I went down and had a drink with Hitch and Bram while I waited for him to finish his class.

"So things are good with Crispin, I assume?" Bram asked.

"Better than good. I don't even have words, man. He's everything I needed."

"I'm happy for you, man," Hitch said, holding up his glass for a toast. "Here's to finding the perfect boy for you. May we all be so lucky."

Bram clinked glasses with us but shook his head. "Speak for yourself, my friend. I'm running a new business, so I don't have time for a boy right now."

"Trust me, if the right boy comes along, you'll find time," I said.

"I barely have time to take a shit at this point."

"I told you that you need to hire some help." Hitch shook his head and took a sip of his drink.

"No kidding." Bram rolled his eyes. "The problem isn't hiring help. It's keeping it. I've had the worst luck. They either show up late, don't know what they're doing, or they're straight-up thieves. It sucks, man."

"Someone stole money from you?" I asked.

"Not money, baked goods. I'd left out some brioche bread to go stale to make bread pudding with the next morning, and when I came back in, it was gone. At first, I thought maybe it was thrown away by mistake." He shrugged. "But then the next day, I came up missing two loaves of herb bread that were on the bread rack that had been for a special order."

"Bread, seriously?"

"Yeah, and it kept happening. I was able to figure out who was working when it happened and had to let him go."

"That's a silly way to lose your job," I said.

"Honestly, he was on borrowed time anyway. He couldn't make it on time in the morning either, so I was already about ready to let him go. That was just the last straw."

"Hey, guys!" Crispin called from across the bar. He was headed our way, dragging Elton with him. Poor Elton looked a little shell-shocked. My guess was he hadn't been coming into the bar at all since he was wearing a pair of pajamas with unicorns on them. "Look who I found."

"Hey, Crispin, Elton." Hitch shook his head and let out a sigh. Then under his breath, where only we could hear him, he added, "At least he has shoes on."

When they reached us, Elton hung back, but Crispin came straight to me and gave me a kiss.

"How was your last class?" I asked.

"It was great. I finished up with my singing bowls, and they loved it. They said if I added a sound bath meditation, they'd all sign up."

"What's a sound bath meditation?" Hitch asked.

"It's a meditation that uses sound waves to promote relaxation, healing, and mindfulness," a voice said from behind Crispin.

He turned and stepped to the side to reveal Cort standing there.

"You've done a sound bath meditation?" Crispin asked.

"Nope, but I read about it on your new website."

"Cool." Crispin grinned. "Did you have any luck at the soup kitchen today?"

"No, unfortunately none of the teens Monica remembered him hanging with showed up this week, either. But I'm closer than I've been since I started the search, so I'm hopeful."

"You're going to find him, Cort. I know it. Let's go sit in a booth, Elton." He kissed me again and dragged Elton with him to the booth.

I watched them go, and then I turned back to the guys. "I'm so glad Crispin and Elton have become friends. I think they're good for each other."

Hitch let out a wry chuckle. "Oh, you think so?" Then he motioned their direction, and I turned and looked. They had their heads together, whispering. Crispin was motioning with his hands, and Elton shook his head. Then he leaned back in and said something, and Crispin's face lit up. "They're up to something."

"See." Bram pointed in the boy's direction. "What did I tell you? Ain't nobody got time for that."

"I do, my friend." I smiled. "I do."

Crispin

"I can't believe he still hasn't found him yet," Elton said.

"I know. I've seen Cort strolling around outside over where we showed him Jordy disappeared several times, but still no luck." As upset as Archer and Hitch had been with us for chasing Jordy, I'd been glad they'd at least let us walk through what happened with Cort. He said it was helpful at the time, but it didn't seem to have gotten him any closer than the pictures Archer had accidentally taken of Jordy.

Elton frowned. "I wish we'd caught up to him that day."

I wrinkled my nose. "Me too. But, Elton, where the heck did he disappear to? It was like, proof. He vanished."

"I know. I've been doing the same thing as Cort. I've walked around outside several times, too. There's been no sign of him."

I shrugged. "It's okay. We'll keep searching. I'm confident that we'll find him." I grinned. "After all, we've done it before."

He smiled widely back at me. "We have, haven't way? We pretty much rock."

I snickered. "Well, us and my Daddy."

Elton rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but Archer caught him in those photos by accident. We were actively searching for him. We win."

"Good point." A server set our drinks down in front of us, so we placed our order.

After she walked away, I propped my elbows on the table. "How did you like Janelle's class earlier?" I asked curiously.

"She was a good find, Crispin. She's awesome. She's got a really cool way about her, too. Her energy isn't quite like yours, but it's different in a good way. You know?"

I nodded eagerly. "I felt the same way. I'm glad it doesn't make her nervous that I want to take her class. It's so nice being able to attend a session that I'm not teaching."

"I bet it is. You need to feed your soul, too."

Leaning toward Elton, I sighed and glanced over at the table where Archer and his friends were talking. "What do you think it's going to take for me to get Archer into one of my yoga classes? Do you think he'd do it if I convinced his friends to take one, too?"

Elton, who'd been mid-sip, sputtered out his drink across the table. "You have to do it. I'd kill to see all of them on mats trying to follow your poses. Especially Hitch. Maybe he'd calm the hell down."

I bit my lip to keep from laughing. Archer had told me that he didn't think either of our friends realized that they were circling each other like sharks in the water. This just proved that, at least for Elton, he was right.

"We'll have to work on making that happen, along with helping find Jordy."

Elton nodded. "Agreed." He stared at me for a second, and I wondered if I had something on my face. Then he cleared his throat. "Crispin, I want to thank you for inviting me to a yoga session that day. I don't have many friends, so…" He shrugged. "This has been nice."

I smiled. "It's been pretty awesome for me as well. My life's changed so much over the last few years, so I lost contact with a lot of people I used to hang with." I snorted it. "Hell, my best friend had become Aziza, and she's older than my parents. It's nice having someone my own age to talk to."

Elton glanced over at the table of Daddies. "You're doing better than me. I think my closest friend has been Hitch, and I wouldn't even say were friends. In fact, I'm pretty sure I drive him crazy, but I seem to need his help all the time."

Yeah, he did. But he'd figure out why sooner or later. "Well, we have each other now."

Elton nodded. "Friends forever."

"Friends forever." We both giggled since we were acting like elementary school kids, but it was pretty amazing to find someone who was the same kind of weird as me.

We chatted about all kinds of things while we finished ate dinner and then Cort and Bram waved goodbye to us as they left. Archer and Hitch came over to our table.

"What are you two up to?" Archer asked.

I fluttered my lashes up at him. "Nothing, Daddy. Just talking."

Hitch smirked. "It looked more like gossiping from where I was sitting."

Elton rolled his eyes. "You couldn't hear us from over there."

"That's true, but you had your mischievous face on," Hitch said back, pointing a finger at him like he was scolding him.

Elton's bottom lip pouted out. "You don't know me like that."

Hitch barked out a laugh. "Sure, I don't. Do you still need me to check your kitchen faucet?"

"I thought you were going to do that tomorrow," Elton said. Honestly, I felt like I was watching a tennis match.

Hitch shrugged. "We're both here, so we might as well get it over with."

Elton shrugged like he didn't care one way or the other, but he hopped right up. They said their goodbyes and made their way out of the bar, too. "Daddy, what was that?"

Archer chuckled. "You get used to them." He held out a hand. "Are you ready to go home, sweet boy?"

Home. The place I officially lived inside the most beautiful old hotel in the world with the most perfect man for me. "That sounds good to me, Daddy."

"Did you speak to your brother today?" he asked as we weaved our way out of the bar.

"I did. My mom's distraught about what happened, but my dad's still being stubborn. I don't know. Ben's really upset about the whole thing, and he keeps saying he doesn't know what he's going to do."

It hurt that I hadn't heard from either of my parents yet, but I wasn't sure what I'd say to them if they reached out. My dad crossed a line, and my mom knew it. Until they apologized, I didn't have anything to say. Between Archer and Ben, I knew now that I deserved better. I was allowed to make my own choices, and they needed to respect that.

He hummed. "Okay, why don't you invite your brother over to our place for dinner sooner than later. I'd like to get to know him, better, and it sounds like he could use some brother time with you."

Gah. He was the best. "I'd like that."

We strolled through the lobby toward the grand staircase when I noticed a blank space on the wall where one of his owl photographs used to hang. "Daddy, did it sell?" I pointed to the empty space.

A huge smile spread across his face. "It sure did. I'm going to miss seeing it there, but it's always nice when someone appreciates the photographs I've taken enough to purchase one."

"I'm so proud of you."

"And I'm proud of you, sweet boy. The studio's growing and you're taking more time for yourself."

"Only because you helped me with a website and advertising, and you're helping me learn how to put myself first."

He smiled down at me and winked. "That's literally my job as your Daddy, sweet boy." He frowned. "I just realized; I've never given you a picture of your own."

"Ah, you have so many beautiful photos hanging in the condo, plus I get to see your art all through the Windsor."

"I know, but that it's not the same," he said, sounding disappointed in himself. That wouldn't do.

Stopping, I turned toward him and wrapped my arms around his waist, tilting my head up to meet his beautiful blue eyes. "As much as I always wanted one of those pictures for my own, it's not necessary. I've already got something even better."

"And what's that?" he asked.

"I won the photographer's heart."

"That you did, sweet boy." He rested his hand against my chest, right over my heart. "And you entrusted me with yours. I'm not sure life gets much better than this."

For us, I didn't think it possibly could. "I love you, Daddy."

"And I love you, my sweet boy," he said, then sealed it with a kiss.

We hope you enjoyed Archer and Crispin's story and that you will be back for Bram's book which is coming up next.

In the meantime check out both our webpages to find your next yummy Daddy read!

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