Chapter Eleven

Bobby

I woke in Nicks’s arms, my own wrapped around Rooney, a smile lifting my lips at the memory of the night before. It had been so perfect, so beautiful, so…hot. And then, as I fell asleep, he handed me Rooney. I was happy he didn’t judge me for my stuffie. It was one thing for daddies to like little things when they were playing; it was another to accept that some little things were more than just for little space. Some were for every day, and that was how it was for me with Rooney.

Nick had been so sweet on our date, it wasn’t surprising that he’d been sweet about my stuffie. Still…it meant far more to me than he could know. I’d try and tell him, but not now with him still quietly snoring away.

I wanted to roll over to look at his sleeping face. But more than that, I didn’t want to wake him up because that would mean our time was over. As much as I loved our night together, it was a workday and that meant, the two of us had places to go that weren’t out to brunch or a walk or another round in bed. We both had work, and it sucked.

The sun was starting to rise and I was already dreading my alarm going off, and it would go off soon despite my wish for time to stop for just a little while. And when it went off, I had to get up. There was nothing I could do about it because, as wonderful as it was to be in Nick’s warm embrace, feeling his body pressed against mine, I needed to go to work. He did too.

Instead of risking waking him, I stayed where I was and listened to him breathe, trying to recapture sleep.

I was just about there when the stupid alarm went off. I grabbed my phone and turned it off then tried to sneak out without waking him.

It didn’t work.

He pulled me close. “Are you a snooze kind of guy?” He pressed a kiss to my shoulder.

“No.” I rolled over this time, no longer worried about waking him. I wished I was because it would mean we had more time together, awake time anyway.

“You’re the kind of guy who sets his alarm exactly on time to avoid stealing sleep from yourself?”

“Yeah.” I still had Rooney in my hands and was surprised when Nick reached over and gave him a scratch on the head, like he was a kitten or a puppy.

“Well, then, you need to get up,” he said.

Why did he have to be right?

It felt like he wanted to say more, but what more was there to say? It was time to go to work. Nothing was going to change that unless I won the lottery last night, which was pretty hard to do when you didn’t play.

“I know.” I kissed his cheek, padded into the bathroom, and took my shower, wishing it was significantly larger. If I couldn’t even wash my hair without bumping my elbows, there was no way the two of us would fit in there together. But gods, how great it would be to stand under the warm water with him, grabbing a few extra moments together.

When I came out, he was already dressed. I hated that. I hadn’t wanted him to rush, but that was the way of it. It wasn’t like he didn’t have places to be too. He was just finishing putting on his shoes, and as I stepped out, he went into the restroom.

I grabbed my clothes and got dressed, noticing Rooney sitting in the same spot on the bed I always kept him when I wasn’t there. Nick—remembered. Too sweet.

After putting on a pot of coffee, I threw on my clothes, made a cheese sandwich for breakfast, and tossed a frozen meal into my lunch sack. I poured coffee into my travel mug and was ready to go.

“You didn’t have to rush,” I said, pulling my coat off the hook and buttoning it. “You could have stayed here.”

He shook his head. “Actually, I need to get to work too. Can I drive you to yours?”

I thought about saying no, telling him the bus was fine and not to go out of his way. But as I was forming the words, he reminded me that my job was actually on the way to his house. I gratefully accepted. It meant more time with him. There was no turning that down.

The city wasn’t fully awake yet, which made navigating the streets much easier. We didn’t hit as much traffic as we could have, and he dropped me off outside earlier than usual. I’d never wanted traffic before, but extending our time together sounded wonderful about then.

“See you soon?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” With our schedules, I wasn’t sure how soon it could actually be, but if it was possible for me to make the time, I was going to.

I leaned in for a quick kiss then hopped out before people started honking at him for stopping in a no-stopping zone. It wasn’t like he was even in the way, but people had a tendency to get really pissy on this street for some reason, the sound of their honking often reaching the windows on my floor.

He waved and pulled away.

Work wasn’t too busy, but there was enough to keep the day moving. At closing time, just like almost every night this month, I went home with just enough time to get ready for my job at the mall.

I wasn’t doing a full double shift for Ron today—my work schedule didn’t allow it—but I put in enough hours that when I got to my building, all I wanted to do was fall into bed and sleep for a week.

When I reached my door, there was a box in front of it.

I couldn’t remember ordering anything, and I would have remembered. Ordering always cost money—something I was sadly lacking. But when I picked it up, it had my name on it.

Once inside, I dropped my backpack on the counter but didn’t bother taking off my coat before opening the box. I was far too curious to wait that long.

Inside the cardboard box was a beautifully wrapped present. The paper was covered in Santa Clauses. The tag said, Open now . There wasn’t a name, and, thankfully, it wasn’t one of those Don’t open until Christmas tags because that would have been hard.

I tore the paper off and lifted the lid. Underneath was tissue paper folded over with a sticker on it—a sticker of a raccoon. I peeled it off gently and stuck it on the dry-erase board that lived on my refrigerator, where I kept notes about what I needed to buy or restock. It was adorable, and I didn’t want to risk it getting ruined as I finished opening my gift.

I went back to the box and unfolded the paper to reveal a card and a golden envelope. Underneath the card was an adorable pair of pajamas—Christmas pajamas covered in tiny raccoons. Half of them wore Santa hats, and the rest long red underwear. I wasn’t sure which ones I loved best.

They were ridiculous—ridiculously awesome.

I opened the card, expecting it to be a random Christmas card, but it wasn’t. Inside was an invitation.

Not just any invitation, either. This was a special invitation, one just for me. An invitation from Nick. It wasn’t for a Christmas party or a dinner at a nice restaurant. No, he was asking me on a proper play date.

He hadn’t played with me little yet, though I supposed he got a glimpse with Rooney. But he was about to because there was nothing that could possibly get in the way of me accepting.

My answer was absolutely, positively yes.

I couldn’t wait.