Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

LUKE

I know before Timothy walks away that I’ve fucked up.

The crestfallen look that follows my words broke my heart. He doesn’t even give me time to elaborate on what I meant. He stalks out of the arena without a single glance back.

Rubbing my jaw, I fight over my instincts. I want to follow him, wrap him in my arms, and demand he listen to my reasoning. He has to see my side, so he doesn’t hate me.

My concern comes from a place of worry. I can’t let anyone take advantage of Timothy, not even our mutual boss.

Jake’s a good guy. I’ve seen it in the weeks since I arrived. He will do anything he can for others—so long as he’s aware.

And I think that’s the big catch to it all.

He has no clue he’s running sweet Timothy into the ground with this load of work. The poor boy has bags under his eyes, for Christ’s sake.

While I know it’s not the end of the world, my mind tells me it is. The Daddy in me roars to life, eager to fix all the problems plaguing the one person it wants to be his boy.

Knowing I won’t get much done otherwise, I follow Timothy’s path to track him down. We’ll simply talk. Have a nice little discussion about workloads and what it means to stick to one’s job description.

I’ll keep a calm head. There’s no need to be angry or step out of line.

I can do this.

I’ve got this.

I… don’t have this.

The second I make it to the office and see Timothy crying, I lose all sense of the calm I’d been pushing through. Crashing through the door, I’m on him in a blur of movement.

“Honeybee,” I say softly. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

The nickname rolls off my tongue easily. Much smoother than honeysuckle would, yet it’s close enough to remind me of him.

He’s my little honeybee. There’s no doubt about it.

I lift his tiny frame from the chair. Wrapping him in my arms, I take his place before easing him into my lap. He’s so small, it’s nothing to hold him tucked tightly to me.

If anything, the movement makes him cry harder.

My hands stroke down his back gently as I rock us from side to side. “Let it out. That’s it. It’s gonna be ok.”

It takes a few minutes for him to calm. When he does, he stiffens. As if he only realized what position we’re in.

When his gaze turns up to mine, I smile softly. “There you are, honey. Feel better now?”

He shakes his head, his bottom lip tucking between his teeth. I have the urge to pluck it free, then soothe it with my own mouth. I’d suck it between my lips, running my tongue over the abused space until he was putty in my arms.

Shaking myself of the thought, I focus back on the boy in my lap and what needs to happen next.

“I’m sorry if I upset you earlier. I think we had a misunderstanding. Will you let me explain further?”

He eyes me warily. I wish I could read his mind. Surely then I’d know how to explain to him what’s going on.

“Ok,” he whispers after a few tense, silent moments.

Taking a deep breath, I tell him as much truth as I can. “I’m worried about you, honey. Jake may not see it, but I do. You’re running yourself ragged. What I was saying earlier wasn’t how I meant it to come across. Someone more qualified should have been someone specific to that job. We get hired for a reason, right? My job is to coach. You don’t see me on the ice in the mascot costume hyping up the crowd, do you?”

Giggles pour from him at the visual I present. He shakes his head. “No, sir.”

I nearly come in my pants at that sweet tone. Fuck me, he’s precious.

“That’s right. Because my job is to keep the team going, plan the plays, and all that stuff. You’re Jake’s assistant. While I know that encompasses a lot more than most roles, it’s not a catch-all. You should be able to hand off tasks to other people. Relying on others doesn’t make you a bad employee, nor is it you shirking responsibility. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes, sir. I… I shouldn’t do other people’s work anymore?”

I nod eagerly. “Exactly! That’s all I’m asking. I see how tired you are, honey.”

My fingers, as if having a mind of their own, swipe under his eyes, tracing the dark area. His bottom lip trembles at the touch.

“You deserve some rest.”

The phone on the desk rings, breaking the moment between us. I let him reach over to answer it, if for no other reason than to stop me from doing something I shouldn’t.

Something like ravaging his mouth.

Or laying him out on this desk and feasting on his body.

Hell, I’d take staring at him for hours at this point, with nothing more. He’s that captivating.

“I understand, Mr. Bellport.” Timothy’s voice catches my attention. I have no doubt that’s Jake on the phone. If the name didn’t give it away, the strain of tension that’s come over my boy would.

The pair go back and forth for another minute before the call ends. Timothy eases back into my lap, his chest leaning on my shoulder.

“Everything ok?”

He nods. “Yeah. He got Leon and Maddox into the house. He didn’t sound too happy about it, but that could just be his nerves. It’s hard to tell without him being here.”

As he speaks, his words trail off, and his muscles loosen. I have no doubt my little honeybee is falling asleep in my arms.

I couldn’t be happier about it.

Never mind that I have work to do or that anyone could come by the office and see us. Let them all talk.

Timothy needs to rest, and if he can only do that in the safety of my arms, then dammit, I’ll be that safe place for him.

I see Jake long before he sees me. The man strides down the hall, completely oblivious to the things happening around him.

Seeing as I figured he would be gone for the day, I’m not quite sure how to explain the situation I’ve found myself in. Plus, I really don’t want to wake Timothy yet. He’s only been asleep for half an hour or so. He could use at least another full hour before he has to be woken up.

Knowing I don’t have much time, I slide my arm under his legs to adjust his position. Once I know he’s secure, I rise slowly and move to the couch in the far corner of the room.

I see Jake’s head whip my way at the movement. Giving him a slight shake of my head to tell him to wait, I ease Timothy down.

As it did on the call, his thumb immediately slips between his lips. I smile at his adorable Little side slipping out.

Knowing he’ll be ok for a few minutes, I cover him with my jacket before stepping into the hall to talk with Jake. He’s watching my every move closely, as if he’s trying to piece together the events of what went down since he left earlier.

As soon as the door closes behind me, he’s ready to pounce. “What happened? Is he ok? Does he need a doctor? If you hurt him, so help me…”

I put up a hand to stop his tirade.

“I would never intentionally hurt him. That being said, I did upset him because of a miscommunication. It’s something I’d like to discuss with you if you have a few minutes.”

He nods, though he stays surprisingly tightlipped. Knowing I’ll have to steer the conversation carefully, I explain my point of view.

“While I know Timothy is your assistant and likes to take care of everything for you, he’s recently taken on more than he should. The lack of an assistant coach has added to his plate exponentially. The poor boy is running ragged. Have you seen how dark the circles under his eyes are? Or the way he yawns every few minutes? He’s not who he was just a few weeks ago.”

Jake’s defensive stance drops. “I hadn’t realized it was so bad. The acquisition took up most of my time, to be honest. Is he really that exhausted? I’ve been meaning to fill the AC role as soon as I could.”

“He is. When you called earlier, he spoke fine, but then passed out as soon as it was over. He’s keeping it together because he feels he has to as your assistant. I’m not sure why he thinks he can’t tell you no.” I give him a pointed look.

“Hell if I know! People tell me no all the time. Especially my family,” Jake grumbles.

I shake my head. “That’s not the same, and you know it. He’s worried about job security, not whether it will cause a family tiff. I really think you need to be clear with him about what his role is before he gets worse.”

“It was only meant to be temporary. I was going to find you an assistant coach. As for the other stuff, yeah, I guess he does do more than his fair share. In my defense, he tends to read my mind and do things before I ever ask. I bet it will take some time for him to break the habit.”

“True, but we can both help him along.”

This entire conversation is going better than I imagined. Jake is listening to reason, and he’s not being the over-the-top character he’s portrayed himself as since my arrival.

“I bet you want to help him, don’t you, Coach? Can you explain why he was in your lap earlier?”

Ok, clearly, I spoke too soon.

There’s all the mischief I thought wouldn’t show up for such a serious conversation.

I shrug. “He’d been distraught after my flub-up earlier. I was hugging him to ease the sadness.”

“In your lap?”

“Yes,” I huff.

“Mmhmmm. Seems suspish to me,” he says with an exaggerated wink.

“Nothing suspicious about it. He needed someone, and I was there. End of story.”

Jake smacks me on the bicep. “Sure thing, Coach. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go hack my assistant’s computer to shift around his schedule a bit. And I probably need to give him a raise. Maybe some back pay too. What do you think?”

“All of the above would be good in my opinion. Show him you appreciate everything he’s done, while ensuring that he’s not required to keep it up.”

He looks me up and down, a slow smile forming. “You’re a good guy, Luke Swift. I mean, I knew that before, but this… this proves it even more. I hope this thing between you two works out.”

“What thing?” I ask as he pulls the door open.

Instead of answering, he covers his lips to shush me. “Don’t wake the baby.”

At his humorous expression, I ponder over what all he knows. While I suspect Timothy is into the kinkier side of life, I didn’t think Jake was. Then again, I heard Brutal Bishop with his boy Atlas. They’re clearly in a Daddy dynamic.

If anyone in the Bellports was the slightest bit familiar, I’d suspect it to be Bellamy. Or maybe their other sibling Royce. Both seem like good options for Daddy types. Though, with Royce, I’m not sure if Daddy is the right word. I’ve been informed of their pronouns and work hard to respect them, even when only having internal thoughts.

As Jake slips away, I push down the random thought. It doesn’t matter if Jake thinks Timothy is Little or not. All that matters is what my little honeybee wants in life. Because I plan to ensure he gets his every desire.

He’s unleashed the Daddy in me. There’s no stopping me now.