6. Kipp

Chapter 6

Kipp

Kipp was getting on with some work at the ranch. It was a hot morning, and he took this as an opportunity to whip his t-shirt off and get some sunshine and vitamin D goodness onto his aching body.

The weather forecast was all clear and Kipp knew that he needed to do as much work as he could before summer turned to fall and then rolled into winter. Sure, he would still be able to work during the winter, but with the threat of storms and snow, Kipp was experienced enough to know that it was the summer months where much of the truly hard work took place.

Kipp was no stranger to hard work, but he was quickly finding out that building a ranch back up from the ground was a bigger task than he had ever imagined it would be. Although Kipp was given plenty of help from his friends when they were free, the reality was that he was doing most of the work himself.

Not that Kipp was complaining.

Despite the bumps and bruises, Kipp was in fact loving his new life.

The thought that it would be him who brought Eagle Ridge Ranch back to its marvelous former state filled Kipp with pride.

I owe it to Uncle Joe to do this.

Heck, not just Uncle Joe.

I owe it to myself too…

Even in Kipp's wilder younger days, he always had a streak of responsibility and personal pride in him that stopped him going totally off the rails. His brother had been the same too. They might both have been involved in more than their share of scrapes and misadventures, but barely anyone would have had a bad word to say about them.

Kipp and his brother were known for being helpful, kind, and honorable. It was the family way. And if Kipp could make amends for his past errors by fixing the ranch up, then that was what he was going to do.

The threat of his cousin Leigh was something that Kipp wasn't going to spend too much time thinking of either. If it came to a conflict, Kipp was more than happy that he would be able to resolve it without resorting to violence. The only problem was that Leigh had been getting involved with some murky characters from the next town over. Kipp was supremely confident of taking Leigh on one to one, but if there was an unknown factor of a group or even gang from another town, then that could prove to be a whole other ball game.

Still, Kipp wasn't about to waste his time considering things that in all likelihood would never come to pass. Kipp was going to live in the now. And one very important of Kipp's now was his canine companion, Brutus…

Kipp put his pickaxe down for a moment and watched as Brutus frolicked amongst a big pile of old leaves that had gathered by the entrance to the orchard. The orchard was full of the sweetest, most delicious apples in its prime, and Kipp was going to make it a priority to see that it was back in full, wholesome bloom before too long.

‘Yo, Brutus! Give your Daddy a bark!' Kipp called out.

Brutus duly obliged and merrily barked in response as he continued to run and dive into the leaves.

‘He's almost as crazy as me,' Kipp chuckled, his shoulders heating up under the direct glare of the sun.

Kipp decided that it was time to get some sunscreen on. It might not have been much of a thing when he was growing up, but Kipp knew that skincare was important, and this was especially true in hot weather. During his early years on the road, Kipp had been sunburned more times than he cared to remember. The last thing he needed was to wake up tomorrow morning with that familiar stinging sensation across the top of his back. No, sir. Kipp was going to make sure that his strong body was creamed to the max and perfectly protected.

But as he approached his bench where the sunscreen and a big metal bottle of water waited for him, he saw that his phone was flashing up with message after message from his good friend Trey. Trey was the owner of The Tap House, an old school bar that also happened to serve some of the best damn beers in the county.

Kipp assumed that the messages were probably Trey attempting to round up all the Daddies into coming out that evening. However, as soon as he read the first message, Kipp knew that Trey was reporting something altogether on a different track…

TREY: Kipp… I'm at The Hot Plate. You need to see this.

TREY: It's the new boy. The cute one. But there's a problem…

TREY: He's screwing up the orders. Everyone's being nice about it, but it's kind of coming off like he doesn't give a damn.

TREY: And he just left the cash register wide open for five minutes. I'm not a rat, but thought you needed to know. Take it easy and hopefully see you at The Tap House for a beer soon.

Kipp furrowed his brow and shook his head. He was planning on heading down to The Hot Plate later. Truthfully, this was the last thing he needed to hear. Kipp's hope was that Dale was going to settle right in and not give him any major issues to deal with. Kipp didn't want to have to contact Max unless it was an emergency. But now it was looking like Kipp would have to leave his work at the ranch early and head on into Eagle Ridge to see precisely what his new server was doing.

I'll give the boy a chance.

I need to see this with my own eyes.

Only then can I decide what kind of action I need to take.

Kipp took a big glug from his water bottle and hollered for Brutus to come over toward him. It was time to put his t-shirt back on and head onto the strip.

Hopefully, Kipp would be pleasantly surprised by what he saw.

And if he wasn't, there might just be consequences for Dale…

Kipp parked his truck on the opposite side of the road to The Hot Plate and was about to step out and make his way over.

However just as he was about to do this, he spotted something that immediately drew his attention. Or rather, someone …

‘What the hell?' Kipp growled. ‘Is he… asleep?'

Kipp couldn't quite believe what he was seeing as he watched Dale asleep, in his diner uniform, right outside the business. This was a terrible look, and no doubt Max would have been furious had he known what was happening.

Sure, the diner had its regular clientele who would always be back, even taking into account a server slacking off and sleeping outside. But the diner picked up plenty of passing trade too and it relied on good online reviews. The last thing that Max's business needed was a ton of one star reviews talking about a server fast asleep outside.

‘This can't fucking stand,' Kipp said, still barely able to believe what he was witnessing,

Kipp waited for another few moments to make absolutely sure that Dale was asleep and then he got out of the truck and made his way over. He was angry and he was frustrated. This was his first day looking after the diner while Max was away, and it was far from the start he had wanted.

Had it been up to Kipp, he would have hauled Dale to his feet and given his butt a spanking right there and then on the street. But Kipp knew that he couldn't do that. And he also knew that he needed the whole story from Dale first before he rushed to any judgements.

As stern as Kipp was, he was also fair.

It was time to wake this naughty young man up and take him into the office for a good talking to. And if that didn't go as planned, there was always the option of taking things further…

Kipp woke Dale up and immediately marched him inside the diner and then into Max's office.

As he listened to Dale attempt to get himself out of the mess he had created, Kipp knew that he had to make sure this didn't happen again. The fact that Dale was even beginning to show some sass in his replies simply wasn't going to fly. And while the red-blooded Daddy in Kipp would have simply taken Dale and bent him over his lap right there and then, his more considered side knew that this wasn't the approach required.

But without any doubt, Kipp was going to make things clear to Dale.

Standards had to be met, and if they weren't then there would be consequences…

‘Now you listen to me, boy,' Kipp said as he stood up and towered over Dale. ‘I don't want to have to report back to Max and say his new server fell asleep on the job. Or that he left the cash register wide open. Or any of the other careless mistakes you made either. I can tell that you're not a bad person. And the last thing I want is to be responsible for making anyone homeless.'

Kipp could see that Dale was listening to him now.

The look on his face was a mixture of fear, focus, and… something else that Kipp couldn't quite put his finger on.

‘Yep, I won't do any of those things again,' Dale said, his voice wobbling as he spoke. ‘Call it first day nerves. I'll do better next time. I really, really, really need this job. And the apartment too.'

‘Good. You've got motivation to do well,' Kipp replied, circling Dale and keeping his voice as stern as ever. ‘But if this happens again, I want you to know that there will be consequences. You know I'm a Daddy. You know what I mean by consequences. Don't you?'

Dale simply nodded.

There was a look of shock on his face, and Kipp could see that his message was being received loud and clear. But just in case any further information was required to make it all truly sink in, Kipp decided to expand his thoughts a little further…

‘You're a Little,' Kipp said. ‘I knew it from the first time I saw you. And what happens to Littles when they misbehave is they get their briefs pulled down and their bottoms spanked. Don't they?'

Dale nodded once more, visibly squirming on the seat and his cheeks flushing a bright crimson color.

‘I hope you behave, I really do,' Kipp said, stopping and crouching down in front of Dale. ‘But in the event that you don't, I'll need to know your safeword. And I'd like you to tell me that right here and now.'

‘My safeword?' Dale gasped.

‘it's up to you,' Kipp said. ‘I'm a good man, I'd never force anyone into anything. But I believe in discipline, consequences, and doing things the right way. If you're in agreement, then tell me your safeword.'

Kipp waited and watched as Dale thought it over.

He could see that Dale was a mixture of excited and shocked by how direct he was being. And it was a huge turn on too. The boy was in the palm of his hand, and all Kipp needed to do was listen out for Dale to give his safeword to know that things could progress.

‘My safeword is… avocado,' Dale said, his voice trembling hard but a hint of a smile creeping out the side of his mouth as he spoke. ‘Avocado. Please can I go now? I want to finish my shift and show you that I can be a good server.'

Kipp nodded.

It seemed like the threat of a spanking was enough to get Dale thinking about taking his job far more seriously. This was a good thing. And the fact that he had given his safeword with enthusiasm was even better.

‘You may leave,' Kipp said, not wanting to show any emotion. ‘And Dale…'

‘Yes, boss?' Dale replied.

‘Have a good shift,' Kipp replied, nodding and opening the door for his errant server. ‘You've got this.'

‘I'll make it right,' Dale said, turning away from Kipp with a look of focus on his face.

Kipp could see that Dale needed the job more than most people. Having spoken to Max, Kipp knew that Dale had arrived back in town under something of a cloud. The last thing that Kipp wanted was to make life harder for Dale than it already had been. But standards had to be maintained, there was no getting around that – and Dale had to show that he was capable of repaying Max's goodwill and keeping up his diner's excellent reputation.

With that, Dale scurried back toward the diner and Kipp quietly shut the office door and locked it. He might have appeared calm when he was laying down the law to Dale, but the reality was very different.

Almost without thinking, Kipp unbuttoned his jeans and let them drop to the floor.

His briefs followed soon after.

As Kipp stood in the center of the office with his thick, throbbing cock standing to full attention he realized the true extent of his arousal. Putting Dale in his place and showing him some tough love over his job prospects had allowed Kipp to bring out his Daddy side in a way that he hadn't experienced for so long.

And judging by the way his cock was bouncing up and down in a state of total arousal, Kipp figured it was probably time to manage that too…