3. FALLON

We didn't spend too much time with our new friends. I wasn't super fussed by them because they were hoping to visit a gay bar for the lesbians, and if that was the case, it wasn't going to be full of gays at all. Henry took their numbers so they could keep talking.

On our way inside, hit by the air conditioning, I remembered one of the reasons I was looking forward to coming to this resort. Of all the places in Cancun, none of them had a reputation amongst the littles quite like Joya Rosa did. It didn't took make research to figure out it wasn't because this place catered to us, but more because there was a teddy bear reseller either at the resort, or close to it they could get their hands on collectable Gersch teddy bears.

Gersch were the teddies the rich and fabulous had. I wanted to be rich, because I was already considerably fabulous. It was a moment from a movie, me seeing the Gersch teddy on the receptionist's desk, and me grabbing at Henry.

We both gasped and he grabbed at me.

Standing face-to-face with each other we both let out internal screams.

"I thought it was a lie," Henry said.

"Me too," I glanced at it with a side glance. "Feel my heart." I placed it on my chest. My heart was throbbing, layering my skin was a layer of sweat. "I am absolutely in shock right now."

"I've never even seen one up close before," he said. "How do we get our hands on one?"

I shrugged, unable to keep my eyes off the brown bear with the cute bowtie. There was a little stigma against uses Gersch teddies to play with, but I would've absolutely hosted a tea party and cuddled it tight. My stuffie, a penguin plush named Sibby would've been distraught from not getting the attention, but she needed a friend too.

Henry whacked my arm. "You're the one who read about them on the thread," he said. "I didn't even know until you told me."

"Right. Right." I nodded, still looking at the teddy, almost hoping someone would come by and collect it so I could interrogate them.

"You're not even listening." He tugged on my arm. "But they're so expensive, we won't be able to afford them."

He pulled me down to Earth with that, like a slap in the face. I let out a groan and turned back to him, my shoulders slouched. All my savings were being spent on the extra curriculars we were doing here, like going to the gay bar, and water sports—the type that take place out on an open body of water.

"But they're being resold," I said, pouting. It wasn't going to work on him. The pout only worked on Daddies, and just like two bottoms, two littles did not make a decisive or Dom between us. "Maybe we could haggle."

"Who are you calling a hag?" Henry pulled on my arm, laughing. "Come on. Let's go back to our villa, unpack, and you can figure out how much those things are being resold for."

Still pouting, I hit him with the sniffle. "But I just wanna see who it belongs to."

"It's day one of our vacation, I don't want to deal with restraining orders," he said. "And I don't think you have the body to pull of stalking. You've got two left feet. I've seen you fall over while standing still."

"You know, you could've stopped after don't have the body," I said, holding back a giggle. "And I didn't fall over over , I just had a balance issue. You know I was dealing with inner ear issues."

By the time we'd finished, the teddy had vanished from the desk and there was no more reason for us to stand around in the very stylish and cool lobby.

As we meandered through back to our villa, I'd been trying to locate the thread about this place on one of the many kink websites. I loved lurking around on all those different sites, they would occasionally give me idea for things I would like to try out when I found a Daddy, or just someone who was a little freaky deaky.

Once we were back at the villa, I slumped myself down on the wicker chair in front of the air conditioning.

Henry made a noise of excitement, pulling two bottles of ice cold water from the small freezer unit in our kitchenette.

"Did you find something?"

"No," he said. "They have an on-site spa and it doesn't look booked up."

"I could do with a massage," I said, gesturing with a hand to my back.

"Then book one. But I'm not sure if it's part of the reservation," he said, handing me a bottle of water.

Of course, it probably wasn't, and even if it was, I'd also have to tip and before the vacation was over, I'd have dipped into the negative at my bank. "It's fine," I said. "I'm gonna keep researching these teddies."

"We could get a couple's massage," he said. "Then I can force my dad to pay for it as one thing. This year has been stressful for you."

"It's only you who sees it that way," I said, pressing the cold bottle to my forehead. "My mom nagged at me because I quit that advertising job, which sure, sounds great right, until they tell you that you're going be dressed up in a costume and standing outside in the heat all day for a couple dollars an hour." I had many stories just like that. Nothing worked out for me. I'd tried being a food delivery driver, well, on my bike, but that wasn't a long term thing for anyone.

"You'll find something," he said. "And I literally love having you as a roommate. Even with all my dad's talk of downsizing the law firm, I'm not losing my job."

"And there aren't any open positions either," I noted.

Henry's eyes grew wider as he stared at me. We both knew what that meant. There had been a time when I was a process server, but serving people with summons and law documents was a bit demoralizing after a while, and during those months when I had worked in the industry, I had also been spending more time in little space as a coping mechanism.

We both went off to our individual rooms in the villa. They were huge rooms with soft bedsheets and a sweet smell in the air. Each room had a large patio door looking back. The view wasn't as nice as the one to the front, but it brought in a lot of light.

I continued looking through the threads on the forum. I couldn't stop searching now that I'd started, and I wasn't going to start a thread of my own, it would totally go against being a lurker. Laid on the bed with Sibby squeezed to my chest as I scrolled countless threads on Gersch teddies, I didn't want her to feel like she was being replaced.

After fifteen minutes of searching, I found the information. I ran straight to Henry's room and banged on his door.

"Come in," he shouted.

He was hanging his shirts up in the closet. Henry was organized, if he wasn't, I doubt we would've made it in one piece to the resort at all.

"I found it," I said. "So, apparently, you have to ask someone about their specials supply and they will come to you."

Henry's brows pinched in the middle and his eyes turned to squints. He was getting into lawyer mode. "It doesn't sound like a legit business," he said. "Plus, are you even sure they're real Gersch teddies?"

"Yes, they're real," I said, shoving my phone in his face for him to see the pictures. "They don't come with all the paperwork or boxes, but they're authentic." I'd read the explanation the poster gave on the thread. "Sourced from the factory here in Mexico, these teddies are usually the ones that have small faults in them, like the wrong dye used on any part, including thread, or the signature button eyes."

He looked my phone from me, sighing. "This is an old thread," he said. "We both know that they've released more teddies, they've all got differences now. I still don't think this is legal."

"Of course, it is," I said, taking my phone back. "If it was illegal, then they would've been closed down years ago. You said it yourself, this is an old thread, and I saw a teddy on that desk. Whoever it is, they're still in operation."

Henry was hiding a smile. I knew he was just as excited as me. Gersch teddies were one of our bonding activities, watching people unbox them online, and seeing how people acted with them, mostly they didn't, but on rare occasions, they would have small tea parties.

"There's no harm in trying," I said, pouting like it would ever work on him. "Please."

"And how much are they? You already said you would be eating into the entire amount you brought for this trip," he said, tilting his head sympathetically. "I just don't want you getting your hopes up."

I'd already seen the prices from the thread. I cleared my throat before repeating them out loud. "Up to three hundred."

Henry nodded. "Well, all you can do it ask, and maybe haggle," he said.

"I have two hands and a mouth."

"Fallon," he laughed. "Please."

"What? I didn't say anal. Like, I'd expect two for that." I knew he found it funny. But I wasn't joking around either. One of the reasons I wanted to come here was for those teddies, so even if I just got to touch or smell one, I'd be happy. Having one to keep and call mine was the ultimate goal, but I needed to be realistic with myself.

I went back to my room, both a little excited and a little stressed. It wasn't anything that blasting Lady Gaga out through the Bluetooth speaker couldn't fix though. I unpacked while dancing, not as neat as Henry's unpacking, but it was organized as best as I could.

"I brought my clothes steamer too," Henry said, startling me in my room.

"What?"

"Clothes steamer, to make sure we're not going out in wrinkled shirts," he said. "My mom actually recommended it. And we're gonna need to be in our best, cute shirts for when we visit that club."

"They texted you back about that already?" I asked.

Of course they had, Henry got their names and numbers in record time. "Tomorrow night," he said. "Apparently, it's queer club, so all colors of the pride flag."

"What were they called again?"

"Nina and Charlotte," he said. "Nina's the German one with the finger tattoos, and Charlotte was from Sweden."

"I thought they—"

"Don't say it."

"I thought they were American," I said.

"I swear you don't pay attention to anything."

"In my defense, I—"

He laughed. "You're not on the stand," he said. "But go on."

I raised a hand, if that's how we were playing. "I swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. But I was too busy thinking of getting railed, either by someone I met at the club, hopefully a hunky Mexican man who is all hairy, or that guy who works here."

"The manager?"

"Yep. What was his name again?"

"Jeez, Fal, you need to get your memory looked at," he said. "His name is Sterling, remember, we were both saying it."

I fanned a hand to my face. "It's the heat."

"No, you're always forgetful."

Sighing dramatically and gasping, I glared at him. "What's your name again?"

"Hilarious. But if you're finished unpacking, do you want to come take a walk on the beach?" he asked. "My mom wants me to gather some sand and see if they have any shells around."

"Duh. I'm so ready for the beach!" After unpacking and the excitement over the Gersch teddies, I had nearly forgotten that we were actually living with the beach on our doorstep for the next week.

"Sun protector first," he demanded. "One of us has to be responsible enough to remember. Please can it be you tomorrow."

"Sure." It was unlikely, but when I said it, I was actually committed to doing it.

There were warnings around on small white signposts about keeping all sliders and sandals on when walking the beach, otherwise the soles of your feet were going to be subject to pure heat. And I tried it out. The sensation ranged from a nice, warm massage to feeling like I'd stepped in molten lava—which I'd never done before, but if I had, it would've felt exactly like it.