13. Milo

Chapter 13

Milo

"He bought you diapers? That's so cute." Dally said that just a bit too loudly and every head in the diner turned in our direction.

"Stop that." I was going to have to remember he had no common sense. "You can either whisper or I'll stop telling you stories."

He must've realized it was a threat I'd follow through on because he sighed. "Fine. I'm sorry."

It wasn't perfect but his voice was as low as he could go, so I took what I could get. "Thank you. It's okay."

We were having dinner on his side of town anyway, so I didn't know anyone in the slightly grungy-looking restaurant. The bus ride back was going to be a pain in the ass, but the food was cheap and it wasn't too far from today's work.

"But yes, he bought them for me and he seemed confident about me using them." He'd been confident about keeping me too.

Telling Dally the rest of the story got more laughter from him and more inappropriate commentary, but we managed to finish it without getting kicked out or me having a heart attack. "He was just too funny."

"Sounds like it's going well if you spent the night." Dally was grinning until he gave me a dramatic pout. "But he told Victor first. That brat one-upped me."

Was Victor a sub?

No, I wasn't getting distracted over something that wasn't my business.

"Sorry. Elias said he had to help because I tell you everything and he can't let Victor always lose." But it'd worked in my favor since it'd meant that Daddy had come to get me last night…and he hadn't worried about it too much.

"You owe me then." Dally gave me a greedy smile. "I'm the reason your…Elias gave up all common sense to go sweep you off your feet."

Head cocking, he stopped mid-brag. "Did you ever figure out what kind of car he drives?"

"A very clean one?" I shrugged when that just got a giggle from Dally. "I was going to look at the back but I forgot. He distracted me with free laundry and lots of cuddles."

Dally's eyes sparkled. "I can't believe he did your laundry."

I couldn't believe he fixed my zipper.

"He's really sweet." And not subtle about what he wanted…at least, I didn't think he was being subtle. "His family is weird, though."

Scrunching up his face, Dally nodded. "But is it deal-breaker weird? I mean, they think you're hot. That's not a bad thing."

I couldn't decide if he had a point or not.

"Elias doesn't mind that I work retail and there are some big differences between us, but his family isn't as understanding." Or as smart. Or as sane. "He doesn't seem to want their approval, though."

I couldn't imagine Dally dating someone his family had so many weird opinions about, but Daddy wasn't as close with his family, so it probably made sense. I couldn't imagine him liking someone they actually approved of.

"Victor didn't say anything about them affecting how he feels about you." Dally's oversharing seemed to be working in my favor for the time being, so I just nodded to keep him going. "Victor said he handles all their account contact stuff because they're asshole pains in the asses and he's glad Elias understood the gem that had been placed in front of him."

What?

Ignoring how it sounded like I'd been set up, I focused on the important gossip. "Victor approves?"

Family might not matter to Elias but Victor did.

"Yes." Dally answered that without hesitation. "He likes you. He likes your relationship. He thinks you're going to make Elias very happy."

"But…" There was always a but. "What else did he say?"

Scrunching up his face, Dally leaned back in the booth and shrugged. "The closest thing to a but that he said was that he wanted to make sure you weren't feeling second class for not having enough money and he was worried that the crazies might drive you away."

"No." I was curious about how they'd found me but with one good photo, anyone could be found online. Dally had shown me that but we'd promised not to talk about it ever again since he hadn't actually gotten arrested. "They're weird but I've had customers that were worse. They're not even top ten, but they think I'm cute, so that makes up for a lot."

Nodding, Dally understood. "Like, charging for it cute. They think you're expensive. Elias isn't the type to go for cheap."

"And the money thing." I shrugged. "That might drive me crazy at some point, but right now it's easy to see why he's not dating rich people. They're stranger than we thought."

Honestly, I'd worried more about the money before I'd met him and before I'd realized how much money he had. I wouldn't have wanted his family, even for Scrooge McDuck-level money. They were probably part of the reason that Daddy couldn't date anyone nice.

He was just lucky I was made of sterner stuff.

"Inbreeding, maybe?" Dally's head cocked. "I'll look that up online, but it would explain a few things and rich people are known for that."

"I think that's just royalty, but it wouldn't surprise me if Elias's family has some in there." The phone calls I'd gotten were…interesting. "They're polite for the most part, though."

Except for that one cousin…but I'd handled him fairly well.

Polite. Weird. Rich.

Yeah, they probably did have royalty back in the family tree somewhere.

Somewhere unexpected and stupid.

"You can tell Victor I'm not worried about that, though." I laughed when Dally looked confused. "You already told him that, huh?"

"Of course." Perking up, Dally grinned. "But now I get to tell him again since you said it this time."

They had the weirdest friendship…and Dally proved it when I went to the bathroom because he was grinning ear to ear when I came back to the table. "What did you do?"

He didn't bother hiding it. "I got Victor again. For some reason he thought I wouldn't ask you about the money thing."

Dally asked everything. Victor should've known that already.

"You're just going to—" I was cut off by Dally's phone going nuts and singing "Another One Bites the Dust."

Victor?

"Oh, he's sending laughing emojis." Dally thought that was cute but I knew better.

Daddy.

My phone started vibrating as a text came in and just looking at it made me sigh. "Did you tell Victor I had pancakes for dinner? Daddy just asked if I had a vegetable."

"Oops." Dally finally realized what he'd done. "It was good gossip too."

Lord.

"Now he wants to know when I'm planning on going to bed." It wasn't that late but it would be by the time I got home.

"Tell him the truth. Late." Dally giggled when I looked up from the phone, confused. "Then he'll come and get you."

"Really? You think?" Would he? "I…I was over there last night."

Dally snorted. "That was his idea, so you don't have to feel like you're being annoying. If anyone is a level-five clinger, it's your Daddy."

Since I couldn't argue with that, I tested Dally's theory. "Alright, let's see what happens."

When Dally giggled, I shot him a glare. "But if I end up grounded or something because he doesn't like that answer, you and me are going to have a conversation about what you get to share."

The threat of having his favorite game removed from his life had Dally sucking in a breath. "I can't be punished for you doing something naughty."

"Wanna bet?"

Shoot.

The phone vibrated.

"Did you tell Victor where we were? He's coming to get me." He was not happy about my answer but he also hadn't been surprised. "Damn it, Dally. You told him I got the dessert ones too."

Tattletale.

He was throwing me under the bus for good gossip.

I was going to have to start leaving clothes at his house. "Thank you for coming to take care of me, Daddy."

Yes, cute and sweet and I was just going to pretend he wasn't frowning.

"You ate another sandwich at lunch and had pancakes for dinner. That's not healthy enough. I didn't plan for you to just have carbs and sugar for dinner." He had to focus on the road, so that gave me a few seconds to think.

I needed to learn to think faster.

"Dally likes that diner because they ignore that he's annoying and they have good food." It was cheap too. "We don't go there very often, though."

Mostly because our schedules didn't line up well on pancake night.

It wasn't my fault they were half off on Tuesdays.

"Oh, and don't forget you gave me a cut-up apple and some carrots." I wasn't going to mention the cookie he gave me. "So I had veggies and good stuff today."

I wasn't sure where he'd found the little bag of chips he'd put in for me, but they'd been so much fun.

And a named brand kind too.

"Well, I'm glad you were able to spend time with Dally." Daddy was trying to find the good side, but he didn't like it. "We'll find some healthier options for your nights out, though."

Ugh.

"At the very least, I can surprise you with takeout and pick out something fun. Dally would like surprise dinners." Grinning as I groaned, Daddy sat straighter. "We can make a game of it and you'll like it too."

I was starting to see a lot more vegetables in my future.

But it brought up something we'd talked about at dinner and I was big for the time being, so it was probably the right time to mention it. "I don't mind that you're rich, Daddy. You know that, right? I mean, it's weird and your family is nuts. Oh, your great-aunt Ella said hi and she said you were named after her. Shoot. Getting distracted. Um, where was I?"

"I'm rich and my family is nuts."

Yes, he was so helpful.

"Thank you." Okay, back on track. "I don't mind that you're rich and have a stressful job. At some point I'm going to have job stress too."

I was just at the point where I had money stress and those seemed to be mutually exclusive.

"Thank you for not minding the money. I can't really help it." He shrugged as we turned the corner to his street. "I'm the only one who can manage it without making stupid decisions, and well, you've talked to a lot of them so far and I'm sure you see why they aren't to be trusted with financial decisions."

He was rude but he was right.

We just weren't going to tell anyone about the rude part.

"No, I think you handling it was the best decision and you can't help being smart and functional." I leaned into Daddy's hand as he reached out to stroke my head. "Being poor isn't helpful to anyone."

Daddy pressed his lips together and was obviously trying not to laugh.

I sighed and shrugged. "It's okay to giggle."

Letting out a slow breath, Daddy managed not to laugh. "First of all, you're very smart and functional too. We just need to help you figure out some new goals and how you'll get there. You're very good with stupid people and stressful people. You also seem to be very good at dealing with customers in general, so I think you've got a lot of job options you haven't thought about."

Before I could thank him, he squeezed my shoulder and kept going. "Secondly, while I promise not to take over your life in overly annoying ways, we're going to come to some kind of agreement about the bus. You are on the bus for a ridiculous amount of time some days. It'd have taken you at least forty-five minutes to get home instead of ten minutes by car."

He'd clearly found the bus app.

"Um, I don't have a driver's license, so it's my only option? I take cabs and stuff like that sometimes but it's a waste of money to do that all the time when the bus works." I just had to plan better than car people.

Daddy gave a very rich-person kind of groan and rolled his shoulders as he muttered to himself. "He's not going to let me get him a driver and those stupid driverless cars still require a driver."

Well, at least he realized that part on his own?

"We'll figure out some good options." He ran his hand over my head one more time before reaching down to pat my thigh. "Yes, we'll find some reasonable options too."

So there were good ones and reasonable ones?

Couldn't they be both?

Dally's voice in the back of my head popped up and told me not to be stupid.

"Thank you, Daddy." Yeah, I was going to see what he came up with before I tried to help and ended up with some kind of babysitter who could drive.

"You're welcome." Daddy was trying to have good manners but he was still letting out long sighs. "We'll work it out."

I was definitely going to end up with a babysitter.