10. Bear

Chapter 10

After the paddling in the woods and a nice, long nap in the tall grass, Bear was impressed that Olivier still wanted to head back inside the academy and get on with his work.

And not only did Olivier complete the task that had frustrated him so much before, but he did it in style too. Bear could see that there was a boy inside Olivier who truly wanted to excel and be disciplined in his life. Clearly there had been plenty of factors in Olivier's upbringing and his friendship circle that had sent him down a less positive path – and Bear was determined to reward him for his efforts as a way of showing Olivier that hard work and focus was worth the effort.

But the day's hard work and discipline was over.

It was time to relax, and Bear was more than happy to be spending his evening at Olivier's luxury apartment. Now that it was much tidier than before, Bear could see that Olivier was happier there too – and he even appeared to be keeping on top of the dirty dishes too.

‘Okay, so… movie night,' Bear said, walking up to Olivier's TV and turning it on. ‘This is your apartment, so you get to choose. Just try not to go for anything too corny.'

‘I'm offended!' Olivier giggled. ‘As if I would have bad taste in movies. My mom has produced about a hundred movies over the years. I was watching some of the classics of cinema when I was barely out of diapers. And I mean the first time round too. I still kinda like to wear diapers sometimes.'

‘Of course,' Bear smiled. ‘Well, now that I know about your background as a film connoisseur then I'll set my expectations much higher.'

Bear could see the pride that Olivier's mother's achievements brought about in the boy. But there was a slight melancholy tone too. Bear didn't have to think on it too long to work out that Olivier's mother must have been very, very busy during his younger years. And knowing that Olivier's father had a reputation for partying it was abundantly clear that Olivier had spent much of his formative years either free to do his own thing, or under the slack guidance of Hollywood nannies.

‘Here, I hope you like it,' Olivier said, beaming with pride as he handed Bear a glass of beer. ‘I wasn't sure what you liked, but wanted to get some in stock. You know, just in case you were ever here again.'

‘This is great,' Bear said, taking a sip of the chilled German lager. ‘Damn. It's actually better than great. But… no alcohol for you?'

Olivier shook his head and took a sip from his tropical juice box.

‘I want to keep a clear head,' Olivier said. ‘I guess I'm starting to see that if I want to make it as a hockey player I'm going to need to tighten up, maybe cut down on the parties a little bit. Is that lame?'

Bear shook his head and brought the boy in close to him.

‘No, that most certainly is not lame,' Bear replied. ‘You can be yourself with me. Always remember that. I'm here to make sure that you reach your potential. I know I'm being paid to do it, but you must know by now that I believe in you way more than my paycheck tells me to.'

For a moment, Bear sensed a genuine surge of emotion running through Olivier as the boy put his juice box down and hugged him tightly. Clearly, Olivier wasn't used to someone having his corner like this, and Bear wanted to make sure that the boy knew he was genuine.

‘Come on, let's pick a movie,' Bear said, stepping forward and making his way toward the couch. ‘Like I said, I'm expecting a good choice now that I know that you're Mr. Movies.'

‘Hehe,' Olivier giggled. ‘But first… is it okay if I get changed into my pajama onesie? I usually fall asleep by the end of a movie and hate getting changed when I'm all tired.'

‘That's no problem at all,' Bear said. ‘I'll get the app loaded while you change.'

And before Bear knew it, Olivier was back in the room and looking utterly adorable in his fruit patterned pajama onesie. With colorful apples, oranges, kiwis, and bananas all over his body, Olivier looked delightful. And the figure-hugging nature of the onesie left little to the imagination either…

Damn, he's cute.

Too fucking cute.

I want to eat that fruity body and a whole lot more on top of that.

‘You look distracted?' Olivier said, suggestively wiggling his body as he chose a movie. ‘Hopefully you can still concentrate on the movie, big Bear?'

Bear rolled his eyes and tried his hardest not to smile.

The boy knew exactly what he was doing.

While Olivier may have turned over a new leaf when it came to his professionalism, it was clear that there was still plenty of sass and sexiness left in the tank – and Bear was very much all there for it too.

As the movie finished, Bear could see that Olivier had been true to his word – the boy was half-asleep and his eyes were fluttering, barely able to stay open.

‘Carry me to bed?' Olivier asked, smiling sweetly as the film credits rolled on the wall mounted screen. ‘And maybe milkies and story?'

‘You got it,' Bear replied. ‘In fact, I'm way ahead of you.'

With that, Bear reached over the side of the couch and held up a bottle of warm milk that he had prepared a few moments ago. It was perfectly warm and ready to drink, and Bear saw no reason not to hand it to Olivier and let him suckle on it as he carried him into the bedroom.

‘There, you just feel it trickle down into your tummy,' Bear said, cradling Olivier and smiling as he watched the boy clutch onto the bottle with both hands and gulp the milk down. ‘Not too quickly now, I don't want my little boy to get too bloated.'

Olivier smiled and gurgled his response, clearly enjoying his milk far too much to pay attention to Bear's instructions.

As the entered the bedroom, Bear carefully placed Olivier down on the bed and then snuggled up with him under the covers. Olivier giggled and looked on in awe as Bear removed his t-shirt and tossed it onto the floor.

‘Get nice and close,' Bear said, his powerful chest on display for an eager Olivier to cozy up to. ‘Now close your eyes, drink your milk, and listen to my little story about a wild little bobcat who learned how to hunt from the biggest mountain lion on the mountain range.'

Bear could see that it wouldn't take long before Olivier was fast asleep in his arms and took great delight in the look of pure joy on the boy's face as he began his story.

The truth was that Bear had wanted to retell this story to a boy for many years. It was a story that his Uncle told him many years ago when he was small. And Bear was glad that he'd saved the story for Olivier. There had been boys in the past, but none of them would have appreciated it like Olivier so clearly was.

The only problem was that Olivier was snoring before the story ended.

‘We'll finish it up next time,' Bear whispered, gently removing the empty milk bottle from Olivier's hands and placing it on the bedside cabinet. ‘And now it's time for me to make my exit. Well, maybe in a few minutes…'

And the longer Bear found himself next to a sleeping Olivier, the harder and harder it became to even contemplate getting up and out of bed. The last thing Bear wanted to do was disrupt his sleeping boy, especially after having such a long but rewarding day together.

Bear loved the feeling of Olivier's soft pajama onesie nestled next to him – and he especially enjoyed knowing what a fabulous body was underneath it too. Suddenly, Bear began to imagine all the things they could do together if they were a proper Daddy and boy.

This wasn't the time to be getting all hot and bothered, but Bear was struggling to keep his mind off all the positions he could put Olivier in, and all the steam they could make together.

Nope. This isn't like that.

I have to keep some boundaries.

And what about Dante's offer?

Bear had managed to keep Dante Chiellini's job offer out of his head for the whole evening, but lying there with a sleeping Olivier next to him, Bear began to consider Dante's offer once more.

The upside of taking Dante's offer was that he would be able to feel the rush of his old life once more. Bear had rested and recharged his batteries at the academy, but deep down he knew that his old self was growling and waiting to emerge from the shadows.

But how could he go back to New York when he had Olivier in his life? It was dangerous work, and with Dante's offer of fully joining the family it was only going to go up a notch or several.

The thought of losing his life and leaving Olivier behind didn't bare thinking about. It was going to be a tough call, whatever Bear chose. And rather than allow himself to get bogged down in choices that weren't in the here and now, Bear simply shut his eyes and felt Olivier's soft breath on his chest as he slept.

It was time for Bear to fall asleep and hopefully have dreams as sweet and sexy as the boy gently snoring on his mighty chest.

But Bear knew that when morning came, he would need to refocus his thoughts and think about giving Dante a clear response to his once in a lifetime offer…