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3. Dale

Chapter 3

Dale

‘OMG, you look great!' Dale squealed with glee as he saw Marshall approach him on the main Eagle Ridge strip. ‘It must be that good old hometown spring water!'

‘You don't look too shabby either,' Marshall replied, a big smile on his face as he broke out into a run and embraced Dale as soon as he was within touching distance. ‘I've missed you.'

‘I've missed you too,' Dale replied, his heart full of joy at seeing his old friend in the flesh again. ‘We've got a lot of catching up to do. And this time I'm not going to cut and run. Well, not without telling you anyway.'

‘You're damn right on that,' Marshall replied.

Dale and Marshall took a moment to take one another in. Dale hadn't been exaggerating when he said that Marshall looked good. With his shiny black hair and hazel eyes, he had always been handsome. But there was a glow to Marshall's cheeks that really spoke to his living his best life. Dale couldn't exactly put his finger on it, but Marshall seemed like he was deeply happy and contented. And it was a good look on him too.

‘Shall we take a trip down memory lane?' Marshall asked, putting his arm around Dale's shoulder. ‘We're only a few minutes' walk from The Hot Plate, so why don't we lap up the sun and work up an appetite.'

‘I'm already pretty hungry,' Dale admitted. ‘The food on the train was yuck . And I didn't really have any money on me before I left to grab anything. So… I guess I'm actually kinda starving.'

Dale felt himself blush as he spoke.

It didn't feel good to be admitting how broke he was. And the last thing that Dale wanted was to come over as some kind of charity case. Marshall had already done him a huge favor by setting him up with a job and somewhere to live. Dale really didn't want to push Marshall into going out of his way any more than he already had done.

But fortunately for Dale, Marshall was sensitive to the situation.

‘Hey, that's cool, I'm hungry too,' Marshall said, not making a big deal of things. ‘I'll sort us out with some of The Hot Plate's finest cuisine. And I'll put it on my staff tab too, so neither of us will have to spend a buck!'

Marshall smiled warmly and the two of them began to make the walk toward what would hopefully prove to be a hot, succulent, and tummy-filling breakfast.

As they walked, it wasn't long before Dale and Marshall began to discuss their memories of growing up in Eagle Ridge. Dale was two years younger than Marshall, but the pair of them had bonded at high school over their shared interest in all things Little. It was a bond that held them together tightly and Dale was regretting letting it slip more than ever…

‘I'm really sorry I kinda fell off the face of the earth,' Dale said, a hint of sadness in his voice. ‘It's just… when I left I felt like I had to make a clean break. I knew that unless I ripped the Eagle Ridge plaster off, I might never leave.'

‘I hear you,' Marshall replied. ‘Honestly, it kinda stung when you stopped messaging. And leaving without a proper goodbye wasn't great. But… that was the past. And I moved on. You're not all that you know, Dale!'

‘Charming!' Dale replied, laughing and appreciating that Marshall was choosing to throw in some of his customary sass into the conversation.

‘No, but seriously, I'm just glad to have you back,' Marshall said. ‘The past is the past, right? The world would be a better place if we could also just focus on the here and now.'

Dale smiled.

Marshall made a good point. Eagle Ridge might have been Dale's hometown, but it did represent a chance to truly break away from the mistakes he had made in recent years. And on top of that quite sizeable pile of errors was Benson. Dale had even managed to put a request to his cell phone provider to change his number. That way, Benson's messages would be brought to a stop. And with no way of contacting Dale, Benson could well and truly be consigned to the soon to be distant past.

There was one man who Dale was keen to know more about however…

‘So, Max,' Dale said. ‘When you told me about the diner, I couldn't resist having a quick look online. This Max guy is pretty freakin' hot. And I'm guessing that you must have noticed that too? Come on, spill.'

‘Well, um , I, um , I guess he's okay,' Marshall said, barely able to keep a straight face. ‘Oh fine, you twisted my arm. He's smoking hot. No one could deny that.'

‘Ha!' I knew it,' Dale squealed with delight. ‘You like him!'

‘It's not like that,' Marshall said, rolling his eyes in a desperate attempt to hide his obvious crush.

‘And… is he a Daddy?' Dale asked, thirsty for more information.

‘I think he is,' Marshall replied. ‘But he's my boss. So we don't exactly go down that route when it comes to conversation. More like stock levels, pancake recipes, and whether the fryer is on the fritz again.'

The two friends gave one another a knowing look and laughed.

It felt great to be back in the groove with Marshall. Dale had missed his company. And even more than that, he had missed being able to take a stroll down a pleasant street and not have to worry about throngs of people jostling him out of the way in a rush to get to wherever they were headed.

The Eagle Ridge strip was still busy enough, but the general pace was far less urgent. The local residents were far more likely to stop, smile, and offer a way past them than they were to plough on regardless. And Dale was all there for it.

And it wasn't long before the pair of them were pulling up to The Hot Plate.

It was time to get some much needed food and drink – and if Dale could take a peek at Marshall's hunky boss, then that might just be the cherry on top of the cake.

‘When you said the food here was good, I wasn't quite ready for it being this good,' Dale said, his fork diving down to pick up another chunk of apple pie. ‘I never tasted anything like this in the city.'

‘Hey well there's plenty more where that came from,' Marshall replied. ‘Remember all those midnight feasts we used to have at your mom and pop's house?'

‘I do,' Dale said, suddenly feeling flush with memories. ‘They were the best. It kinda sucks that they moved away. But I know they wanted to find a retirement complex to live in. Especially with my pop's disability.'

‘Yeah, I get it,' Marshall replied. ‘I always remember him as being such a strong man. But illness can hit us all like a bolt of lightning. But tell me he's happy where he is?'

‘Yeah, him and mom are living their best lives as much as they can,' Dale said.

‘And I'll bet they're happy to know that you're back home,' Marshall added. ‘Wait… you have told them, haven't you?'

‘No comment,' Dale replied. ‘But I will. I promise I will. I just wanted to see how it went back here first. I didn't want to build their hopes up or anything. You know?'

‘I get it,' Marshall said, sipping on his fresh OJ.

‘I was thinking, we should totally set up a playdate,' Dale said. ‘That's if you'd like that?'

‘Totally,' Marshall said, flashing his brilliantly pearly-white smile. ‘Getting back into Little Space with you will be the highlight of my year. And I think it'll rank high up there on the charts for you too. Not to blow my own trumpet, but I'm a pretty cool playdate companion.'

‘Yeah, I'd say you were pretty awesome,' Dale said.

Everything felt so good. Dale's tummy was slowly filling with apple pie and OJ, and he was back having the kind of fun conversation with Marshall that he had missed out on for so long. Dale knew that he was probably to blame for having lost this part of his life for the last couple of years, but like Marshall said earlier, there was no sense in looking backward.

As Dale tasted the sweet apple chunk in his mouth, he couldn't help but wonder what his life might have been like had he never left. But before he could get deep into his thoughts, his attention was very much taken by Max as he walked over toward his and Marshall's booth…

‘Young men,' Max said, his voice deep and full of natural confidence. ‘I take it that my food is of the required standard today?'

‘Sure is, boss,' Marshall replied, his cheeks flushing red. ‘I'll pay for Dale's, don't worry.'

‘Forget about it,' Max replied. ‘It's on the house. Call it a welcome gift.'

‘Thank you,' Dale said. ‘I'm Dale. Dale Hanson. It's nice to meet you.'

‘Manners too,' Max said. ‘Looks like we might just have a natural born server on our hands. What do you say, Marshall?'

‘I think so too,' Marshall said, regaining his composure and nodding his head in agreement.

Dale watched the unspoken dynamic between Marshall and Max and almost wanted to scream for them to get it over with and get down and dirty right there and then. Dale might have been young, but he knew what full-blooded chemistry looked like. And as far as he could tell, Marshall and Max had it in spades.

The thought of having an older, stable, and successful Daddy was something that appealed to Dale. Benson had ticked some of the boxes, at least initially. But, of course, that ended in disaster. Benson had been unfaithful at least three times, and on top of that was his controlling behavior. However Benson's version of being controlling couldn't be compared to how a Daddy would behave.

Daddies were firm and in charge.

But Daddies only acted in the interests of their Littles.

A Daddy would never put down his boy or make him feel small.

Dale sighed and felt happy that Marshall might be about to get with the kind of good all-rounder who could make him happy. However just as his mind was imagining what a spanking from Max might be like, Dale's attention was very much taken elsewhere…

Who the heck is that?

He's so big, so gruff, so… hot.

And he's headed right over here…

‘Boys,' Max said, turning and welcoming the buff and rugged stranger into the fold. ‘This is Kipp. Kipp Styles. He'll be keeping a wise old eye over the place when I'm away for the next couple of weeks.'

‘Enough of the old,' Kipp barked, clearly unimpressed.

‘Yeah, he's definitely not old-old,' Dale blurted out, immediately regretting his outburst. ‘Sorry. I mean, not sorry. But you know. Um , what was I saying?'

Dale wanted the earth to swallow him up as Max and Kipp clearly exchanged a look between them and seemed to both repress their smiles. And the playful kick that Dale felt under the table from Marshall told him that his very obvious discomfort was plain for all to see.

But fortunately for Dale, Marshall had his back and quickly got the conversation back on track.

‘You're away for two weeks?' Marshall asked, arching his eyebrow. ‘Will I be getting extra pay for having more responsibilities?

‘Hey, I respect the hustle,' Max replied. ‘And, of course, yes . I pay my staff what they're worth, you know that. Any extra work you do will be reflected in your paycheck.'

Dale watched as Marshall and Max had another moment of heightened tension between them. And when he turned away, he quickly saw that Kipp had his eyes very much trained on him.

Kipp was big and intimidating. Maybe even a little bit scary. He looked like he was in his early forties, maybe a bit older. But there was no doubting that he had one hell of a body underneath his tight, well-worn grey t-shirt and rugged jeans.

Before Dale could stop himself, he was eying up Kipp's shovel-sized hands and wondering what they would feel like all over his body. The idea of Kipp using his strength to rip the clothes off his body was sending a very direct signal straight to Dale's briefs and he had to stop himself from squirming on his seat as he felt his manhood come to life and begin to strain and grow bigger by the second.

‘Earth to Dale?' Marshall said, bringing Dale out of his fantasy and back into the real world. ‘Max was just asking if you wanted to start tomorrow?'

‘Oh, yeah, sorry, tomorrow's great,' Dale replied, still flustered and unable to stop his eyes from darting back to Kipp as he towered over the booth. ‘Thank you again for the opportunity, Max. I do appreciate it a lot.'

‘Hey, seriously, do a good job and it'll be me thanking you ,' Max chuckled. ‘Now if you'll excuse me and Kipp, we've got some basic stock training to go over. And I just know that he's going to love it.'

‘Yeah, right,' Kipp barked. ‘Let's get this over with.'

With that, Dale watched as Max and Kipp walked to the staff only door and disappeared into the diner's rear.

‘Woah,' Dale said, taking his OJ and gulping down half. ‘That was… intense . Who the hell is Kipp?'

‘Kipp is kinda new, kinda not new,' Marshall said. ‘Word has it that he left Eagle Ridge under a cloud a long time ago. But he's back now. He inherited his uncle's ranch. And yes… he's single. And yes…'

‘Don't say it!' Dale said. ‘Don't say he's a…'

‘Kipp is one hundred percent Daddy,' Marshall said, full of glee. ‘And if the way he was looking at you is anything to go by, then he's all set on making you his boy.'

Dale covered his face with his hands in sheer excitement and embarrassment. He was only coming back to Eagle Ridge for a while. He wasn't looking for a Daddy, and he certainly didn't want to find himself getting into anything long term when his plan was very much to leave when he had saved enough money. And on top of all that, the heartbreak with Benson had kind of put him off the idea of a relationship at all.

But Kipp was something else. Dale knew that he had to be strong. He couldn't let himself fall for Kipp in even the smallest way. Dale resolved to do his shifts, save his money, and then book himself the first flight out of there.

There's no way anything can happen.

No matter how hot he is.

Kipp Styles can keep his distance. I'm just not interested.

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