Chapter 22

Dessie

"For fuck's sake." Daddy frowned at his phone as another message popped up. It was the third in about ten seconds and it didn't look like they were going to stop. "I'm sorry. I told everyone that I was off for the weekend, but one of the British royals keeps looking up weird shit online and I have to make some calls or there will be an international incident."

His life was so weird.

"Go. I'll be fine." Waving him away from the table, I gestured toward my cup. "I'm going to finish this and then steal another muffin while you're not looking."

Sofie was going to make me fat.

I loved it.

Daddy snorted. "You're probably going to steal the last two and leave me to starve."

Probably.

But he wouldn't mind.

"Don't worry. We'll figure out snack time soon." Once Sofie got back from the grocery store. She had the look of a woman who liked buying snacks.

Daddy barked out a laugh. "Now that, I believe. Alright, I'll get this squared away as soon as I can get ahold of someone at Buckingham Palace."

Weirdest job ever.

"No problem." And I was amazing because I hadn't called him Daddy once. "Coffee and food and phone. I'm perfect."

Chuckling, Daddy kissed the top of my head and hurried out of the kitchen shaking his head and mumbling to himself about people needing more common sense.

He was right, but it wasn't my business.

Coffee and the best strawberry chocolate chip muffins ever were my only focus.

She'd already had them in the oven when we'd come down, and as soon as they were done, she'd magically found somewhere else to be. It hadn't even been weird, but that was because she was very good at her job and Daddy was basically her little brother.

They were so funny together.

"Where did he go?" Sofie paused in the doorway of the kitchen and seemed to be looking for Daddy. "Work?"

It took me a second to realize she wanted to make sure she could come in, so I smiled and nodded as I set my cup down. "Yes, England is on the verge of a catastrophe maybe?"

I wasn't sure what she knew and what she didn't, but she'd appeared so quickly she couldn't have been far away. Knowing she must have heard part of the conversation, I didn't feel bad about teasing a bit of it.

She started shaking her head. "Some people aren't that bright."

Ah.

She'd lived through a version of this situation before.

"I would have to agree." There were a lot of people who just needed more supervision in life too. Smart people could have very poor impulse control, but everyone seemed to forget that.

My response made her chuckle as she started moving around the room. "Because of your work?"

"And my friends." I didn't go into detail but it made her laugh. "It shouldn't take…Tyson long to figure everything out, though."

Almost caused an incident myself, but I'd caught it first.

She decided to one-up me, though. "He's never brought someone home."

What.

The.

Fuck.

"Oh?" Shoot. There was no good response to something like that. I'd seen it enough when dealing with work and Austin. So I took another sip of my coffee and reached for the muffin I'd wanted anyway.

Sofie chuckled. "I'm starting to see why he's going to do his best to keep you."

Oh.

The conversation was not getting any better.

I'd been right about her and Austin.

Okay. Yes. Austin.

What would I do if it was Austin fucking with me?

Boundaries and a distraction.

Setting my cup down, I smiled and shrugged. "He's very stubborn, but we have a lot in common."

And for phase two…

"Do you need any help with the grocery list? I know this is your domain but I don't want you to think I'm rude." Perfect. "Tyson said you were amazing at taking care of everything."

Laughing softly, she shook her head. "He didn't say it that politely."

My grin gave the answer away, but I shrugged and made her roll her eyes. "I know Tyson. He's never that polite and he's never this happy around anyone else but family."

Their familynot his family.

Got it.

"We've clicked." That was the blandest way I could say it, but she snorted, which I did my best to ignore. "I think a good way to say it is that we balance each other out."

I was thinking about the BDSM aspects and how well we fit into each other's world, but her eyebrows went up. "Really?"

Oops.

She'd been thinking about other things.

The other thing he'd been nervous about.

"My mother's always been a bit worried that he wouldn't find the right person." She gave me a not-so-subtle side glance as she pretended to finish the grocery list.

It was very convincing, but she didn't have Austin's level of talent.

Or a nosy little's level of skill either.

"She always knew he'd need someone special." She went back to the pantry and looked at the flour for the third time. "He's very happy around you."

Somehow, she made that sound suspicious.

"I am very certain he'll look just as grumpy as usual if we're around other people besides family." Austin made him very frustrated, so I didn't think the happiness would randomly carry over everywhere. "And I'm confident he's in his office growling at someone for doing something stupid."

I could almost hear him rumbling through the house, but I wasn't sure if it was my imagination or not.

Sofie cocked her head, so I decided it might not just be me hearing things. "Yes, you have a point."

That had to be a good thing, but she was back to subtly watching me.

Maybe it wasn't a good thing?

"It's just you he's softened around." She was trying to sound casual but she needed more classes.

"You need to practice being subtle. Austin can teach you if you ask nicely. He holds classes." With some of the littles but I thought they could tone it down while she visited.

My response had her stopping midstep and barking out a laugh. "Yes, I can see why he likes you."

Thank goodness.

"I like him." And I wasn't going to explain why because Daddy was not the let's share type. "We get along and we have enough in common that I'm not worried."

Rolling her eyes, she stopped pretending to be busy and just leaned against the counter. "Alright, I'll stop being nosy."

"Thank you." That meant I could finish my muffin. "Your family has nothing to worry about."

She snorted. "Bullshit."

Possibly.

"Now I just have one last question." She waited until I sighed and nodded. "So dramatic. I'll keep it simple. Are you planning on making changes to the household?"

What.

The.

Fuck.

"No." That was easy to answer. "No. Do not put me in charge of anything."

Good grief.

She was trying not to laugh but was doing a poor job of it.

"D…" Shit. "Tyson said once we get to a more serious point in our relationship that I'll get a room for myself. That's the only thing I want to make changes to or have any power over."

I was not taking charge of Daddy's house.

Hard limit.

Yes, that needed to go on my list.

"Hmm." Her frighteningly curious sound worried me, but it was the way she smiled as she wandered out of the room that made my nerves fire back up.

Women were scary.

Luckily, Daddy came to see me before she came back with more questions. "I'm sorry, baby."

I managed not to look too relieved. "I saved you a muffin…"

Caught it.

Daddy flashed me a grin. "Thank you. Got distracted?"

Yes.

But not by what he thought.

"Nooo, I'm just very…sweet." Nice? What was a good regular word for saying I was a good boy? "I was polite."

Daddy's chest jerked in silent laughter, but he didn't give us away too badly. When he got his terrible sense of humor under control, he nodded slowly. "Yes, I'm glad you were polite."

He was such a brat sometimes.

But we were going to get ourselves in trouble if we couldn't find a normal conversation to have. "What should we do later?"

I was good with just curling up and watching a movie but I wasn't sure what Daddy was thinking about. He was a bit more of a let's do something kind of person. When I was little that energy seemed to be focused on taking care of me, but the plan was for me to be big while Sofie was around.

I liked being little, but all the sides of me were in agreement that it was big Desmond who was going to be in charge while she was around, not cute Dessie.

Plans should've been an easy conversation, but Daddy looked naughty. His grin was devilish and his eyes sparkled.

I'd made some kind of strategic error but I wasn't sure what that was.

His silence dragged out but from the way his head cocked, he was thinking about how to say something. So clearly he knew that Sofie might be able to hear us too. After a few seconds, he nodded to himself. "I was thinking that we should try out the social club you belong to. I'd like to meet your friends."

Really?

It was okay for him to be nervous and want to take his time.

Swallowing, I let out a breath and tried to think of how to respond. "I'd like that, but we already discussed that we didn't have to rush anything."

Anything like hanging out with people from the club or dating in public…and the club wasn't regular public but it was an interesting kind of almost-public.

I knew he wasn't hiding me because I'd just met Sofie and she was planning on telling everything she knew to her mother as soon as she got the go-ahead from Daddy. But this was different. The club and being my Daddy in that kind of space was very not-private.

Shaking his head before he seemed to think about it, Daddy frowned. "No, it's not rushing."

If he said so.

"We could always just go be pests and show up at Austin's house. I'm sure you know if he's actually busy or not." Daddy probably had his phone bugged, so I wasn't worried about just heading over there.

Daddy laughed. "That sounds like a punishment. I'd really rather meet your friends."

"You've been dating long enough that if he's not ready to meet your friends, then I'm calling Mama." Sofie's helpful push said I'd been right to expect her to be able to hear us.

Daddy rolled his eyes. "Tattletale."

"You're dragging your feet. Does Mama need to give you that when you find your mate lecture again? Don't think I won't tell her." Sofie's voice sounded like she was getting closer and before she'd finished threatening Daddy, she was strolling through the kitchen.

He didn't look worried or pissed, so I just finished my coffee and tried not to laugh. Daddy was nervous, but he wasn't tattling to Mama level yet even if Sofie didn't have any idea what meeting my friends would entail.

"I'm off to get groceries." She shot Daddy a glare as she picked up her purse and headed toward the garage. "Call Mama or I will."

They made me really glad I was an only child.