2. Brook

TWO

brOOK

W hat a day.

One of these days, Brook was going to learn. She was going to make the responsible choice. It probably wouldn’t be today. And most likely not tomorrow, either. But one day, because eventually, these late nights would really catch up with her.

“Have a great night,” she called out to the real estate agents she worked for.

“You too,” one of them replied.

Oh, she would. It was going to be a fabulous evening. Her bathtub was calling her name. So was the chocolate she had stashed in her kitchen. Add in the book she’d been reading the night before that had just gotten to the good part and she was going to have the time of her life.

It was nearly dark when she parked in her designated spot in her apartment complex. She hated this time of year. That wasn’t totally true. She didn’t mind the winter. But the early darkness is what she didn’t like. Which was why she ran from her car to her apartment and got herself inside as quickly as possible.

As soon as she had the door locked behind her, she let out a breath and kicked off her heels.

Stupid grown-up shoes. I hate those things.

Pretending to be an adult all day long was exhausting. Technically, she was an adult. By law, anyway. On the inside, she was anything but.

“Bubbles, Creamsicle, I’m home,” she sang.

They didn’t respond, of course. Well, in her mind, they did. But not out loud because that would be weird. They were stuffed toys, after all.

Deciding to take a bath first, she stripped out of her office clothes and turned on the water. As she waited for it to fill, her phone buzzed on the counter.

Carlee: You’re still coming tomorrow, right?

She grinned and did a little naked wiggle. Of course she was still going to Carlee’s birthday party. Not only was it a Littles party, but it was also at the motorcycle club compound where Carlee and her boyfriend lived. Brook had only been there a couple of times, but she always loved it. She had no idea why. Maybe it was because all the people she’d met there were so nice. Everyone Carlee had introduced her to had been friendly and welcoming, which wasn’t something she had expected from a bunch of tatted-up bikers. She’d always tried to be non-judgmental but the first time she’d gone to visit her friend, Brook had been terrified. That only lasted about five minutes when one of the guys made them hot cocoa with extra whipped cream. Who could be scared of that? Not her.

Brook: Of course. I can’t wait.

Carlee: Yay!

Smiling, she poured in half a bottle of bubble bath into the water, then decided that wasn’t enough, so she poured a bit more. Her entire bathroom smelled like bubble gum.

After dumping a bucket of toys into the tub, she lowered herself into the hot water and hummed. Perfect .

There wasn’t anything Brook could think of that could make her life better. Well, maybe one thing. The problem was she was painfully introverted. Other than going to work every day, the only other places Brook went were the library and the grocery store. And occasionally to see Carlee. There was no doubt she would have to decompress for the rest of the weekend after her friend’s birthday party tomorrow night. Thankfully, Carlee understood. Some people didn’t, which was why she’d struggled to make friends. And finding a Daddy.

Oh well. She could be her own caregiver. That was a thing, right? She even had rules she’d come up with for herself. Not that she’d punished herself when she’d broken them. That would just be silly.

She stuck her tongue between her teeth as she twisted the bath mermaid’s tail and then put her in the water to swim. When the doll swam into the mountain of foam, Brook grabbed her and did it again. When the water started to cool, she set her toys up on the ledge to dry and started washing herself.

By the time she had on a fresh pair of cotton panties and one of her pink frilly nightgowns that fell to her thighs, she was starving. She also wanted to watch an animated movie. And read. It didn’t seem to matter how late she stayed up to read each night, her Tbr list just kept getting longer and longer.

Brook shuffled through the fridge and cupboards, pulling out random things that looked good. Finger foods were her favorite. Utensils were overrated and a waste of time.

She made herself a charcuterie board of sorts, proud of herself by the time she was done. It was beautiful. And so delicious. She even put some greens on the plate. They were M&Ms, but still. They were green. There was also fruit in the Pop-Tart, protein in the peanut butter cups, and carbs in the mini-donuts. It was all around a well-balanced meal. In her eyes, at least. And she was her own caregiver, so hers was the only opinion that mattered.

Dinner in hand and a sippy cup of soda, Brook went into her bedroom and spent a few minutes nesting. Her room was her favorite place to be. Even though the entire apartment was hers, she still preferred to be in the smaller space rather than her living room. It was where she felt comfortable. It was also where all her toys and fun decorations were so it was easier to slip into Little Space there. She had hung some fairy lights around the top of the wall, and her bed had a cute canopy she’d seen and had to buy for herself. That was one of the benefits of being your own caregiver.

Once she had her pink-and-white bedding fluffed and her bubblegum fuzzy blanket spread out, she settled in and found a movie to get lost in.

Just one more chapter.

Brook turned the page, trying her best to ignore the clock on the nightstand that told her that she was still reading in the wee hours of the morning. At least it was Friday, and she could spend all Saturday recovering from pulling three near-all-nighters this week. She blamed it on all the amazing books she couldn’t get enough of. It was easy to get lost in those worlds and forget about real life. At least until her alarm sounded at six o’clock in the morning on workdays.

Her stomach gurgling in the dark, silent room nearly startled her. Except it had been doing that for the past couple of hours, and she was starting to think her dinner choice wasn’t the best plan.

Three chapters later, Brook turned off her e-reader and went to the bathroom to find a ginger chew to settle her tummy. The last thing she needed was to be tired and feel like crap when she woke up.

Checking her phone to make sure the alarm was set, she groaned. She would only have about three hours to sleep. Good thing her job was pretty easy and it was the slow time of year for house buying. She just hoped the grumpy tattooed guy didn’t come back in the next day, looking at her full of disapproval. It didn’t matter that he was the best-looking man she’d ever seen. He was as prickly as a cactus and clearly disliked her.

She let out a sigh, ignoring the need to squeeze her thighs together from thinking about him, and hugged her stuffed elephant tightly.

“Night, Bubbles,” she mumbled sleepily before she dozed off seconds later.

What had she been thinking?

Being in charge of herself was sometimes a major disadvantage. Especially when she got so absorbed in a book. Now, her entire Friday seemed to be lasting forever, and all she wanted to do was go home and take a nap. Except that wasn’t going to happen because she had Carlee’s birthday party to go to. Which she was excited for, actually. A Littles birthday party. Her friend was so lucky to have the life she did.

Brook knew how rare it was to find a good Daddy and be able to spend so much time in Little Space. Somehow, Carlee and all the other Littles in the MC had found that, but she wasn’t hopeful for herself. She wasn’t the typical Little. Loud noises and a lot of commotion exhausted her, so she could only be around it in small doses. A Daddy didn’t want a Little who was an anti-social introvert. That went against everything a Little should be. At least, so she thought.

When five o’clock finally rolled around, she couldn’t get out of the office fast enough. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her job. She did. But as the day crept by, the more excited she got for the party and the less tired she felt. Funny how that worked.

She made a quick stop at her apartment to change, opting for comfy pink leggings and an oversized tunic sweater that had a big red heart on the front instead of her formal work clothes. It was a party for Littles, after all, and she loved that she could go over there and be her most authentic self. None of the men in the club ever made her feel weird or awkward. They all seemed to love having Littles around and being in their own caregiver headspaces.

After tossing her uncomfortable heels into the right side of her closet, she shifted the doors to look in the left side. She kept her big-girl clothes separated so she didn’t even have to look at them when she was at home.

Hmm. Converse. Vans. Slippers. Ballet flats. Mary Janes.

She tapped her chin, trying to decide. It was hard to make the choice. That was something Brook was terrible at. When she’d stared at the shoes for too long, she rolled her eyes at herself.

“Stupid, just choose some shoes,” she murmured to herself.

Bending down, she grabbed the slip-on white Vans. Good enough.

Once she was satisfied with her outfit, Brook went into the bathroom and pulled the claw clip from her long chestnut-brown hair, letting it fall free. The relief was instantaneous. With each step, it was like she was shedding her adult personality. Every time she did this, it was so freeing. Responsibilities sucked.

She took a few minutes to style her hair into a set of big fat space buns on the top of her head, letting a few loose whisps frame her face. One glance at her phone and she scurried back into her room to grab her small backpack purse and the gift she’d bought for Carlee. If she didn’t hurry, she would be late.

Luckily, the Shadowridge Guardians’ compound wasn’t too far from her apartment, though it was in a more industrial part of the small town. Part of the compound housed a business that repaired motorcycles along with some other stuff the guys did. The front gate was already open so she pulled in and drove to the parking spaces behind the shop, where the actual clubhouse was.

A few men were outside talking, and as she got out of her car, she swallowed nervously. They were big and tattooed, and quite frankly, they were terrifying. She thought she’d seen them before when she’d been there but couldn’t remember for sure.

As soon as the men saw her, they smiled and waved.

“Brook,” the older man called out. “Good to see you again, Little one. The girls are all inside.”

She gave the man a weak smile, feeling awful that he remembered her name, but she had no clue what his was.

He must have understood because he chuckled. “I’m Rock. And this is King and Faust.”

Right. She had met them all before. Whoops.

“Sorry,” she said as she fingered the strap of her backpack. “There’s just so many of you.”

King winked at her. “No worries, love. We all look similar, too. Though, I’m the handsomest one, obviously.”

Faust snorted and shook his head. “Jesus Christ. Don’t fucking scare the girl off.”

She looked between the men, unsure what to say or do. A shudder worked its way through her. Faust was… well, he was one scary dude. Always had a scowl on his face. She remembered that from the first time she’d met him. Was his face just like that, or was he as mean as he looked?

Feeling bad for thinking that, she looked up at Faust and forced a kind smile. His face twitched like he was trying to smile back, but it looked more like a scowl.

Right. Time to move along.

“Nice seeing you guys again,” she said as she headed toward the clubhouse entrance.

“You too, Brook. We’ll be in there in a bit,” Rock replied.

She liked Rock. The man was older and looked tough, but he had some sort of reassuring fatherly vibe about him that made her feel super safe.

As soon as she opened the door, she was met with squeals and screams of excitement. Atlas, Carlee’s Daddy, noticed her first. He rose from his seat at a table surrounded by a bunch of other bikers. There was something about being in a room full of muscular, tattooed, slightly unkept men that made Brook tingle between her thighs. The men felt a little dangerous, but she wasn’t afraid of them.

“Hey, Brook.” Atlas strode toward her, calling out at the same time, “Carlee, Brook is here.”

Carlee hooted and came running into the common room.

“No running!” at least five of the men barked.

Brook rolled her lips in to keep from grinning. The way the guys fussed over the women was adorable. Sometimes when she left the clubhouse, Brook would have a longing for a Daddy to worry about her. If she were totally honest with herself, the longing was always there, just under the surface of her independent self. It would never happen for her, though. Brook wasn’t the type of girl guys wanted to get into a relationship with. And that was okay.

“I’m so glad you could come!” Carlee jumped up and down, clapping her hands together.

Her friend’s excitement was so contagious that Brook started wiggling with her own excitement as she started to slip into her smaller headspace. It was so easy to do it here.

Other women ran into the room, also getting barked at by several men to slow down. Brook recognized Ivy, Remi, Harper, Eden, Elizabeth, and Addie, but she didn’t recognize the last woman.

“This is Molly! Faust is her Daddy,” Carlee introduced.

Brook started choking slightly. The huge scary dude was this sweet-looking woman’s Daddy? Wow.

“Sorry.” She coughed. “Air went down the wrong pipe, I guess.”

Remi scrunched her nose. “Hate it when that happens.”

They all nodded, giggling together.

“We were playing a game in the playroom. Wanna join?” Carlee asked, already tugging Brook toward the room tucked just off the common area.

“Food will be ready in an hour,” Gabriel called out.

Brook was pretty sure he was Eden’s Daddy, but she was still trying to remember all the men and which Little they were with.

As the girls passed the large table with all the men, Brook’s heart started to race as she met the dark eyes of the hottest man she’d ever seen. The same man she’d fantasized about the night before.

Storm .

Time seemed to stand still as they locked gazes, both of their heads turning to keep contact as Brook walked by. It wasn’t until the women entered the playroom that she lost view of those piercing, nearly black eyes.

She blinked a few times and then looked at her friends, who seemed to be grinning… at her.

“Did you just have an orgasm? Because that was totally an orgasmic stare-off,” Carlee said, waggling her eyebrows at Brook.

“What?” Brook scoffed, waving her off. “You’re silly.”

Carlee rolled her eyes. “Okay. Whatever you say, even though I totally saw what I saw.”

She totally did not see anything.

Licking her lips, she let out a breath. “He came into my office the other day to make an offer on a house. He was kind of a jerk.”

Remi nibbled on one of her black-painted fingernails. “ That would be Storm.”

“Wait,” Ivy said, drawing her eyebrows together. “Did you just say he’s buying a house?”