Chapter 25

What I loved about Will, and I was fooling no one by pretending I didn't love him, was his willingness to put himself out there.

He could have ignored me when I hadn't acknowledged him when he first moved in. But he didn't. He didn't have to keep saying hello after I ruined those damn cinnamon rolls. But he did. He could have walked away from me the night he spanked my ass when I was being a dick. But he didn't.

Will stayed. Will always stayed.

There are zero people alive that I'd be willing to contemplate leaving the country with, except for Will. I hadn't even had the chance to talk to him about it because I hadn't been sure he'd say yes. With no one to talk to about it, I'd kept it on the back burner where it had percolated for weeks. But now Will had made his not-quite-my-death-bed confession. Did that change anything? Should it change anything?

When he returned from grabbing his stuff from his office, he was accompanied by his coworker, Thuy. We'd met in passing when I'd picked Will up for lunch. She'd grabbed and hugged him multiple times as they walked down the passageway to my cubicle. The curtain had been left open and I had a clear view. My eyes narrowed in foolish jealousy. Will was gay. I was gay. Thuy was a woman with a fiancé, so my instinctive jealousy was beyond fucking stupid, but I didn't give a shit. I didn't like it.

By the time they'd reached me, my expression had morphed into a full glower. Thuy took one look at me and stepped back from Will. Her smile was as friendly as always, which made me feel like shit.

"Hey there, big guy, this one is all yours. He just gave me the biggest gift of my life today, and I'm kinda trying not to do cartwheels through the hospital. I know you two talked about it, but to give up such a crazy salary jump with an opportunity at a bigger hospital for love? It's swoony. Swoony, I tell you." She finished her words with batted eyelashes and a lovesick expression.

After my doubtful look, she added, "Young love is awesome. Seriously, Keoni and I will have to name our firstborn after this guy." Her thumb gestured in Will's direction.

"Okay," I answered.

It was all I could manage without admitting I didn't know what the hell she was talking about. I gave Will a look and narrowed my eyes this time. His flushed cheeks, fidgety hands, and refusal to make eye contact told me there was definitely something he hadn't told me. I quirked one eyebrow at him.

"Oh, that's a bit much. The dog seems like a more reasonable level." He turned to face me with a fake expectant look and asked, "You ready to bust out of this joint?"

When I nodded, he draped a flannel shirt that had appeared like magic over my shoulders and helped ease my arm in. I tried to button it myself, but he brushed my hands aside and insisted on doing it himself.

I busied myself counting ceiling tiles and worked to restrain my mouth from asking what Thuy knew about him that I did not. I thought I was doing a decent job of containing myself, but evidently not.

"Sweetheart, I'll explain everything when we get home. If you don't relax your jaw, Thuy will think you're mad at her for something that you should, at most, be mildly annoyed with me about." Will whispered his words in my ear when he reached the last button at the top.

Will gave me a quick kiss on the lips too. That wasn't nearly enough, so I grabbed him back and pulled him firmly between my legs for a firmer kiss. I glanced at Thuy from the corner of my eye. Her smiling face was fucking glowing, so I did it again.

"Well, gentlemen, I'm going to let you get out of here. Will, I will speak with you next week about how to find my replacement. Beckett, I'm glad you're okay. You got a damn good one with this guy."

Her parting comment was said as she waltzed out of the room, already pulling her phone out to text someone at a furious pace. Interesting. "What was all that about?" I asked Will.

Will's smile was a little too wide and far too innocent. It made him look guilty as hell, but he quickly schooled his features. "I'll tell you at home," Will said with a tone that rang with authority over me.

The way he said it, followed by him gathering my belongings, made me feel like Daddy was here so I could let go. It was fine to let him have control because his entire self loved being in charge of me. When my mother fussed over me, it felt like a begrudged obligation, but Will's fussiness felt like love.

Will loved me and damned if I didn't love him too. But I still wanted answers.

Will drove us home, and once again, I was grateful traffic wasn't a problem here. Although the cut on my arm wasn't really a big deal, I was still exhausted and ready to collapse into bed. What he'd said was still at the forefront of my mind. There was no chance I'd forget about that.

The late afternoon sun struggled to break through the trees. I was grateful the rain had let up for a minute, but the typical fall mist hung heavy. My heavily treed lot had an otherworldly feel that I wanted to keep forever if it meant never giving Will up. For the first time in maybe forever, I felt at home in my own skin.

Just like before, Will grabbed my workout bag from the back seat and ushered me up the steps to the back door. He unlocked the door and indicated for me to go inside first. "Sweetheart, do you want to get in the shower while I start dinner?" Will asked.

"Yeah, they put some waterproof patches in the pharmacy bag. Let me get them, and I'll be quick." Daddy nodded and followed me to the bedroom. He took the bag from me and fished out the patches. He carefully applied one to my forearm and then wrapped his arms around my torso.

"Sweetheart, you scared the hell out of me today."

"I scared the hell out of myself today, Daddy."

"You have to promise you're not going to leave me." His voice held such urgency that for a second, I thought I might actually be able to promise him eternity.

"The best I can offer is to never leave you willingly."

Will looked up into my eyes. One of his arms snaked between us and pulled my head down so he could reach my mouth. His lips brushed against mine, once, then twice. It was a whisper of a kiss that was pure sweetness.

When he returned a third time, his mouth settled on mine and deepened the kiss. As always, I immediately ceded control. His tongue eased into my mouth like we had forever to kiss each other. Despite my tiredness, my cock hardened. I felt Daddy smile against my mouth.

"Let's get you into that shower and get some food in you. I bet you didn't eat lunch, did you?" I quirked my mouth but indicated yes. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Hmm, we might need some rules about taking better care of our bodies. You can't survive on stale coffee and doughnuts."

"I don't eat them every day," I muttered. His arched brow told me not to push my luck and shut my mouth.

"Since I don't want to get bothered, I won't ask how often a week." With a cheeky smile and then a sharp smack on my ass, he headed to the bathroom to turn on the shower for me while I quickly stripped. I was suddenly starved and desperately needed a night of nothing more than cuddling with and being fucked by Daddy.

I finished my shower in record time. The pain meds they'd given me in the hospital were still in effect. Thankfully, my arm was still relatively numb. I managed to change into an old pair of sweats and a T-shirt that was tight across my chest, just the way Daddy liked it.

The smells from the kitchen told me Daddy had been busy while I'd been getting clean. When I joined him in the kitchen, he pointed to my usual spot at the island. He'd tossed together a quick salad, pasta, and pan-fried chicken in a lemon pepper sauce. It smelled like heaven, and my traitorous stomach rumbled with hunger.

"Sit down, baby. I'm not quite finished, but it'll just be a couple more minutes. What happened today?" Daddy busied himself with putting the final touches on the sauce before placing it on the stove to simmer.

"Before we talk about that, can we talk about what made Thuy so happy?"

"Yeah, we can." Daddy sighed. "A few weeks ago, a friend from college called and offered me a position with his hospital. They screwed up their grant program and needed someone with specific skills. I turned it down but told them Thuy would be perfect for what they were looking for. She's been looking for a position down in Portland and she really would be great. Win-win."

"I get being excited about a job, but it seemed like a little more. Was that it?"

"Well, it comes with some pretty great perks. It's a forty percent over verified salary, moving expenses, and work from home at least part of the time if she wants." Daddy kept his hands busy while he chopped and studiously avoided looking at me.

"Forty percent? Holy fuck, that's a pretty damn big raise to turn down."

"Yeah, well, you'd hate living in Portland and leaving the island. This place is your spot. You may be interested in travel—don't think I haven't noticed an increase in your travel books about the UK—but this place will always be your home base. I could never ask you to leave it, and I'm not leaving you."

His explanation made my heart leap into my throat, but still. He never even spoke with me about it. Even if I did really want what he knew I wanted, Daddy couldn't just decide for me.

"Daddy, do you respect me?" I asked. His shocked expression couldn't be feigned. His muscles immediately tensed and he involuntarily clenched his fists. He was ready to throw down.

"What the fuck kind of question is that? Of course I respect you."

"I believe you love me," I said. His body relaxed a little at my words. "But you should have talked to me about the damned job offer. Yeah, maybe the outcome would be the same, but if this is a real relationship, then we gotta talk." Will just stared at me with a dropped jaw. "Yeah, I know, me saying you gotta talk is fucking insane."

Daddy scrubbed his hand over his jaw before he responded. "Shit. Nothing makes me happier than being your Daddy. I love it. I love you. I just didn't want to spook you and let you use it as a reason to dump my ass. Next time, we talk." It was my turn to look skeptical. "I promise. The lines got a little blurred for me about what is taking care of you and what's running roughshod over you. We are equals in all things."

"Fuck, I hope not, Daddy," I said with a wicked grin.

"Baby, you are getting out of hand."

I was up at the crack of dawn. Will was burrowed under my armpit and the snores he claimed never happened were the only sounds in the room. Chief had given me the next few days off, so I didn't need to get up or do anything. There was nowhere else I wanted to be except in this bed with this man.

Yesterday, he'd laid his cards on the table. He'd said he loved me. More than anything, I wanted to force the words out of my mouth. I loved him too, but I couldn't force them out. They were stuck in my throat, and no amount of want could dislodge them. I couldn't remember telling anyone that. Ever. Even my grandparents, who did love me, rarely used those words with me or even each other. We all knew it, but none of us ever said it.

It blew my fucking mind that someone like Will loved me. He was happiness and light and all that good shit. I was broody, and no one would describe me as lighting up a room. Somehow, he'd found the side of me that no one had ever seen, and I was so damn glad that he had.

Maybe I could say it later, but for now, all I could do was show him how much he mattered to me. And not just because he was snuggled up next to me and his body was pressed tight against mine. His hair smelled like strawberries and he was always my favorite snack. Ha! Did the kids even say snack anymore? Christ, I was old.

Even with the sun barely over the horizon, my morning wood was making itself known. I was on my back with my injured arm jutted out to the side to protect it from being jostled. Daddy was lying on my side with his head pillowed on my shoulder. My good arm was wrapped around him as best I could manage.

It had become the norm for us to sleep cuddled up, and there was no reason to change that now. My available hand ran over the smooth plane of his back to his rounded ass. My hand lingered there, squeezed the globes, and teased the indention of his crack.

"Baby, whatcha doin'?" Daddy asked in a sleepy voice.

"Nothing." I continued my soft assault on his body. I felt the growing wet spot forming in the front of his briefs where his cock was angled against my hip.

"It kinda feels like something." Daddy's soft moans were music in the morning. He gently thrust his ass out to meet my hand.

"Nah, I just wanted to feel-up my Daddy this morning." I slipped my hand under his briefs to touch bare skin. My own cock was hard and aching in my sleep pants. "Is this okay, Daddy?"

"How is this not hurting your arm?"

"Meh, it's fine. I'm not even using it."

Daddy glanced over to make sure I was telling the truth before he tilted his head back and licked a stripe up my neck. He scooted up and caught my earlobe between his teeth and gently tugged. My already hard dick thickened even more.

Daddy's chuckle bordered on evil when he rutted against my hip. With a grunt, he swung his leg over me and hoisted himself into a sitting position. His hands braced against my pecs so his fingers could tease my nipples into sharp points. I moaned when he pinched and pulled at them but then leaned down and soothed them with his tongue.

"Fuuuuuuuck."

I was already past the point of being able to articulate anything. The minute Daddy touched me, my brain went offline. This morning was no exception. He knew it because he laughed again while he pushed down my pants and freed his own cock from his briefs. Daddy quickly leaned over to the bedside table and grabbed the lube out of the drawer before he settled back down over my hips. With both our cocks out, aching and leaking, he drizzled the lube over them.

"You're just gonna be my pillow princess." I couldn't stop myself from snorting, but I followed his instructions. With both of our cocks lined against each other, Daddy encircled them with both hands and slowly moved to jack us off. He sped up with each stroke until we were both thrusting for more friction and moaning incoherently.

Daddy threw back his head and the tendons straining in his neck told me he was close. My balls were pulled tight against my body, and Daddy's slippery hands kept our cocks frotting against each other. Within just a few thrusts, we both spilled into Will's fingers.

When I could finally open my eyes, Daddy was still straddling me. His labored breathing matched my own. The love reflected in his eyes made them soft, and his grin made them crinkle at the edges. He leaned down and gently brushed a chaste kiss across my lips.

"I love you, sweetheart."

The words I knew I felt but couldn't say formed a lump in my throat. I loved him so fucking much, but I couldn't force the words out of me. No matter how much I willed it, my mouth refused to form them.

Goddammit.

"Mr. Mac, I'm so glad you could come over this morning." Daddy fussed around us, refilling coffee cups and bringing us more food. He had on his silly pink apron, and his cheeks were flushed a matching pink. The moist heat from cooking made his hair a little more curly than usual. He looked delicious.

"I appreciate the invite. It's nice not to have to fix my own breakfast once in a while." The bruises had faded, but Mr. Mac's face was still drawn and weathered. He'd spent a lifetime on the water as a ferryman, and it showed in his stooped shoulders and lined face. "This one here"—he jerked a thumb at Cameron—"can't cook for shit, and he's been force-feeding me."

Cameron's feigned look of outrage had even me laughing at him.

"Mr. Mac, you said that last batch of pancakes was good!"

"I lied, son." Mr. Mac's wheezy cackle reminded me of my granddad. They'd been friends and hunting buddies for decades before his death, and I had occasionally gone with them. Oddly enough, they never once bagged anything. After Grandpa died, I never called on him because I hadn't imagined he'd want to keep going with some kid. Seeing him in the kitchen had me rethinking some things. Oh, he was still snappy and sarcastic as he'd ever been, but there was a light in his eyes that said he fucking loved giving Cameron shit. In fairness, Cameron always deserved shit.

Maybe all the things I'd thought weren't quite right. Maybe I was the one who drew away first? Maybe there was space for me with people? Micah had texted me asking if I'd like to join him at the library next week and read.

At the fancy dinner, we'd discovered we were both avid readers. I read almost everything, but he preferred non-fiction business books. It was the one thing I didn't read, but it didn't matter if we were just reading silently next to each other. Daddy had been so excited when I said I was gonna go that I expected him to give me a juice box and a gold star as a reward for making a new friend. I was glad he went with the blowjob instead.

"How's Laken?" Will's innocent question created a ripple effect across the room. Cameron instantly got stone-faced and Mr. Mac's eyes shadowed with pain.

"Laken is Laken. I missed a few days when I was in the hospital since I couldn't make the time slot his boyfriend lets him have. He says he's happy, and I guess I have to accept that."

"Time slot?" Will's voice had taken on that social worker tone I'd come to understand. He used it when he wanted to probe for information without coming across as intrusive. Will was damn good at his job.

"Yeah, his ‘boyfriend'"—Cameron put the title in air quotes—"lets him call for fifteen minutes in the afternoon. If that spot is missed, then you wait until the next day. If you call late, you only get until the slot is finished. I'm pretty sure it's fucking timed."

"Wow. That's…unusual. Does Laken like that kind of structure in his life?" Will's tone turned gentle and soft.

"I guess he does. He's been with the pissant since college, but he never seems happy when I've been allowed to visit." Mr. Mac paused before adding, "It's been a while since I don't travel as easily these days."

Cameron's face reflected his frustration with the tenuous contact allowed with Laken. Cam always said there had never been anything between them, and they'd been best friends since kindergarten.

Cam usually dated women, but he'd openly messed around with guys in college, so it wouldn't have surprised me if there had been something there. For all the shit Cam gave me, he'd never once said jack shit about me being gay. He'd always been Laken's protector in school too.

An expression of sorrow crossed Mr. Mac's face. Suddenly, his rounded shoulders drooped more and his lines seemed more pronounced. He whispered to himself, something I was sure he didn't want us to hear, but it sounded suspiciously like, I wish I understood it.

Will caught my eye and his grimace broke my heart. Our breakfast had turned dark. Nothing made Cam happier than giving me a hard time, and I was about to make his morning.

"Cam, you going to Dad's retirement bullshit?"

"Yeah, free food from Quill and you buying me drinks all night? Fuck, yeah."

"Why the hell would I buy you drinks?"

"Because if you don't, I'm gonna tell your dad that you can't drive for shit and you lost another fight. They might send your ass back to the academy."

I rolled my eyes at his bullshit and our conversation devolved into grunts from me and digs from Cameron, delivered with a shit-eating grin for each metaphorical blow landed. He was in fucking heaven, and Mr. Mac's eyes lost their cloud of sadness. Worth it.