Coffee and donuts. I had donuts, right?
“Oh, maybe leftover pizza?” It sounded so good, I almost looked away from the screen.
Almost.
But I was so close to being done, I just couldn’t walk away. The pizza could wait until everything in the video was perfect. I was so close.
“Shit.” My stomach might’ve lost the battle to get me away from the computer, but my phone won when the text notification had me nearly jumping out of my seat.
Corey.
He was funny in an odd kind of way and was probably my only friend, so I didn’t ignore his message like I would have with anyone else when I was working. Which was why he was the only person I knew that had their own personalized notification sound.
Maybe I shouldn’t have picked a fire engine, though.
What kind of sub do you think I would be?
Was he taking an internet quiz?
He should stick with figuring out his Hogwarts house, not trying to decide what kind of Subway sandwich he would be. That wouldn’t tell him anything about his personality or how to make better decisions in dating.
Meatball maybe. A bit traditional a bit spicy.
Yep, not helpful at all.
He should stick with Hogwarts.
Focusing back on my computer, I ignored the weird growl my stomach made and tried to get back into the swing of editing. But in seconds, the phone was ringing, pulling me out again.
Fuck.
As I answered, Corey sighed and charged in before I could even say hello and pretend to be polite. “That wasn’t helpful. I didn’t mean that kind.”
How was I supposed to know that?
Was there a list of sandwiches to pick from?
Oh, not that kind of sub.
Shrugging, because I wasn’t sure how much help I was going to be in this discussion, I pushed away from my desk and stood, trying not to wince as I stretched tight muscles. How long had I been sitting there?
Wait. When had it gotten to be morning?
Time was relative, though, so I focused on Corey. “It wasn’t the weirdest question you’ve ever asked me.”
Last week he’d been pestering me to take a test on what Star Trek character I would be.
Which was totally ridiculous since they’d fucked up the metrics by combining original, Next Gen, and Deep Space Nine in the questionnaire.
Idiots.
“I meant the other kind.” He made it sound like I should’ve known that, but really, food was more important than how take-charge he was. “And really, meatball? I’m not a meatball sub.”
Rolling my eyes, I snorted and wandered into the kitchen to see what kind of pizza I had. This was crazy even for him, and food was really much more important. “Am I supposed to guess random kinks I’ve seen on cop shows or should you rephrase the question?”
I could do it.
I liked cop shows, but he was shy enough about sex that he probably wouldn’t want me to try, and I wasn’t sure if guessing would somehow be offensive.
Corey must’ve decided that was a terrible idea because he quickly offered up more details. “Um, I met a guy last night who describes himself as a Daddy, and he wants me to call him back. But I don’t know.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “If that dickhead car salesman is a Dom of any sort, I’ll eat my remote.”
Hell, I’d eat my computer.
There was no way the moron who kept standing him up was a Dom or Daddy or even a real human at this point.
Corey made an embarrassed sound and sighed defeatedly. “Um, he stood me up again.”
Before I could tell him what I thought about that—I knew he shouldn’t have given the idiot another chance—Corey rushed through the rest. “So I got drunk and the Daddy guy started talking to me.”
I was probably an asshole, but I laughed again.
This was definitely worth the interruption. Even if the episode didn’t get uploaded to YouTube until tomorrow, this would definitely be worth it because I just couldn’t picture Corey doing that at all. “You must’ve been shitfaced to have picked up a guy like that in a bar.”
“Well, yes. But I’m pretty sure he did most of the picking up.” He sighed again, and I knew he’d be looking a bit frustrated. “I’m pretty sure I made a Star Trek joke.”
I had to fight the urge to laugh again. He’d made more than one Star Trek joke and we both knew it.
Especially if he’d been drunk.
But that didn’t seem to have scared off his new man.
“Do you think I should call him or just hide?” Corey’s question had me thinking about it logically.
If he liked Corey’s jokes, and the Daddy thing, whatever that really meant, didn’t scare off Corey, what should he do? Did I even have enough information to guess? “Did you have fun hanging out with him? Was he creepy?”
That was the only place I could find to start, but Corey didn’t seem to mind. He made a thinking sound and I could hear him shifting the phone. “Some of the details are a bit hazy, but I think it was fun, and nothing I remember is creepy. I was drunk enough that he could’ve talked me into something stupid.”
He seemed embarrassed to admit that, but I was just glad one of us had gotten out of the house and talked to a real guy.
Well, at least a guy who wasn’t just online.
But the more he talked about the Daddy guy, who seemed really nice, the more he sounded too perfect. He hadn’t tried anything fishy…not even slightly sketchy? “Okay, don’t misunderstand me, but is it weird that he didn’t try anything?”
“Um, I think it’s part of his…kink? Role? I’m not sure I know the right word here.” As I shrugged, no help at all, he continued. “I’m going to call it a role. I think the watching out for…a sub…is part of his role.”
I could get that. Some guys were obsessively take-charge and a small fraction of them had to be decent.
I just hadn’t met them.
But since it really sounded like he was just using me to talk himself into dating the guy, I shrugged as I opened the fridge. “What’s the worst thing that could happen if you text him and end up meeting for dinner? It already seems like he’s not some kind of serial killer, so if he shows up and isn’t a dick, he’s already better than the last asshole.”
He’d be better than the last few guys either of us had dated.
And Corey already knew he was real and not just catfishing people.
Damn, no pizza.
I’d been sure I had leftovers.
Hadn’t I ordered pizza last night?
What day was it?
Fuck it.
Food could wait.
Heading back over to my computer, I pulled up a new window and started to type as Corey sighed and tried to talk himself out of calling the guy.
“But he’s going to have expectations. He didn’t hide what he’s into. Will he think I’m agreeing to something?” Corey seemed to be panicking over that idea, but I wasn’t sure if he hated the idea of the guy having expectations or if he wanted him to have big ones…and possibly naughty ones.
The more I thought about it, I couldn’t help snorting because it was ridiculous either way. “Every guy you’ve dated lately has had expectations. At the very least, he’s honest about wanting to what…take care of you?”
Did either of us even know what a Daddy wanted?
Well, we might not have, but the internet did.
Oh wow.
“Man, have you looked this up online?” This was definitely…interesting. “What does he want…to give you crayons or to spank you? Both? Something weird?”
There were too many options to guess.
Who knew there were this many things a Dom might do to a sub?
Corey made an embarrassed squeak that had me trying not to laugh again. This was much more fun than editing. “No, I was kind of stuck on the text him part.”
Good grief. He needed to ask more questions. Neither of us was psychic. “Text him. Flirt. Ask some questions. I don’t know what being a sub might mean, but you’re not the most aggressive guy, so see what happens.”
At the very least, he should do some research and google this shit.
Corey laughed. “Takes one to know one.”
Okay, maybe. “We’re talking about you, not me. I wasn’t picked up in a bar by a Daddy. Besides, you like take-charge guys.”
And I might not have been the most grown-up guy…at least according to my family and my last three dates…but that didn’t mean I wanted binkies and bottles.
But I was starting to think Corey could see himself like that.
“One bad date where I was stood up should not leave me with this many questions.” His response had me laughing.
Oh yeah, he was curious.
He just didn’t seem to like how curious he was.
And one bad date? Bullshit.
“If you didn’t want to get to know your new Daddy, you wouldn’t be this conflicted.” I knew I was right when he sighed and I couldn’t help grinning. “Just go for it. You’ll either figure out you don’t like him or you’ll see you’re kinkier than you imagined.”
Besides, what he’d been doing hadn’t worked, and I wasn’t sure this date could go any worse than the last one. “Just see what happens. I don’t think he’ll be a bigger dick than the last guy.”
“Maybe.”
I snorted, rolling my eyes at the lame response. “Yeah, maybe. Okay, I need food and caffeine. Let me know how your date with Daddy goes.”
As I disconnected the call, I sighed and shook my head. “Thank fuck that’s not me.”
Looking around the living room, I pushed away the weird thoughts Corey’s existential crisis had pushed in my head. “Now, if I was a pizza, where would I be?”
It had to be around here somewhere.
