Finn
“When are you going to tell your Daddy you want to move in together?” Some days, getting Ryland going was entirely too easy.
“What?” He popped up in his bed, wide-eyed and mouth hanging open.
Sharing a room had worked out better than I’d expected, but that might have had something to do with the fact that Ryland just about lived at Holden’s place. Before we ever got frustrated with each other, he would be gone for a day or even the whole weekend. It was perfect.
I’d be sad when he actually moved out for good to go live with Holden, but they’d been perfect together from the start, so I knew it would happen sooner or later.
“Don’t give me that look. We both know it’s what you want.” He was shaking his head, but it was more like denial was his pre-programmed response rather than what he actually wanted.
“But…he…” Ryland blinked and reached over to tap his phone, looking at the time. “Um…I have class soon.”
Trying to use that as a good excuse to get out of the conversation was cute. Of course, getting him functioning had been the only reason I’d brought it up originally, but I wasn’t planning on admitting that.
“I’m sure you have a few minutes to talk.” I gave him a grin. “I never see you anymore. You’re always off staying over with your Daddy.”
Ryland blushed faintly, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been when he’d first started exploring age play with Holden. “Bull. We hung out last night.”
“So tonight it’s Daddy’s turn?”
Ryland flopped back on the bed and groaned. “You’re just trying to make me crazy this morning.”
Yep.
“I was promised a wild year of debauchery, and you ditch me for another guy.” I sighed but laughed when he snorted.
“Liar.” He rolled over and propped his head up with one arm. “I never promised that. I think I said I’d go to a club with you once as long as you didn’t make me dance or talk to anyone…and he’s not ‘another guy;’ that just sounds wrong.”
“I’m still going to hold you to that club promise. Don’t think you’ve gotten out of it by falling in love.” Holden wouldn’t mind. Especially since I had no intention of using my “club” night at a regular bar with strangers looking for one-night stands. In fact, he’d want to come with us.
Ryland looked skeptical. “I don’t know…Holden…”
“—wouldn’t mind and you know it. He wants you to have fun at college.” I had a feeling that was one of the reasons Holden hadn’t pushed Ryland more about moving in. He’d made it clear he didn’t feel crowded and that he liked taking care of Ryland. But he also worked really hard to make sure Ryland got to choose how much control he turned over to Holden.
Ryland got a faint smile on his face and a faraway look in his eyes. “He does. He always puts me first.” Then he frowned. “I just wish other people in my life would think about what I wanted too.”
He sighed and rolled over to stare up at the ceiling. “That sounds selfish, doesn’t it? I mean, I’ve got you and Daddy who want me to be happy and stuff…Is it terrible that I’m getting frustrated with my parents?”
No, I thought it was about time, but saying that might not be helpful to Ryland. “I can understand that. Your mom is very set in her ways and how she sees you.”
And she was a crazy old bat who was pissed that Holden was more important to Ryland than her.
I had to give her some credit. Once she’d realized no amount of questions or cold shoulders would chase Holden away or get Ryland to leave him, she’d backed off. I thought that was more about a strategic retreat to regroup than anything nice on her part, though.
“So I’m not…greedy?”
That he was worried about being greedy when he just wanted his mom to be happy for him was sad. “No. Absolutely not. She’s wrong. You’re not.”
“Your mom is always so supportive.” He rolled over again to look at me. “How’s your little brother doing?”
Between classes and Holden and his own parents, Ryland hadn’t been over to the house lately. “Good, sitting up and looking more like a real person every day. Every time I see Mom, she starts complaining about how soon he’s going to be walking.”
Ryland chuckled. “She’s so funny.”
Especially when she wasn’t his mother. “You try dealing with the insanity. I’m so glad I’m not living at home.”
I loved my family, but having time to myself and privacy was a godsend. Not that I was living it up and making the most of it. No, dating had slowly ground to a halt as I’d gotten more curious about someone new.
Well, not exactly new.
“Absolutely.” Ryland might have traded in the unlimited freedom of being away from his parents to just about live with Holden, but it was clear he didn’t regret that decision.
“But then you’d be living right next to Holden and would only have to walk across the yard to see him.”
Ryland barked out a laugh. “Do you honestly think my mother would make it that easy?”
For a while, he’d taken to parking in Holden’s garage with the hope that they wouldn’t know he was over at his Daddy’s house, so we both knew the answer to that question. Smiling, I climbed out of bed and headed over to the small coffeemaker that was perched on top of my dresser crammed next to a small TV. “No, you’d have turned into Rapunzel or something and we’d have had to break you out.”
Snickering, he nodded. He gave my now brewing coffee a long look. “You love me, don’t you?”
“Make your own coffee, mooch. I’m not your Daddy or your boyfriend.”
Blushing, Ryland groaned. “He won’t make me coffee. He says it’s bad for me, and I need to get more sleep instead.”
They were so funny together.
Taking my mug over to the bed, I sat down. “Get up, lazy. You’re going to be late for class and might have to skip the caffeine if you don’t function faster.”
Forcing himself up, Ryland groaned. “I can’t wait for fall break.”
Laughing, I took another sip and then set it down on the shelf by the bed. The room was small, with two twin beds pushed up against one wall separated by a low shelf, but we’d done our best to make it work. “You just want a week with your Daddy.”
Ryland grinned and his blush flared back to life. “I…we…” He turned away quickly and walked over to the dresser. The handful of steps to get there wasn’t enough time for him to figure out what he wanted to say, though.
Knowing it was easier for him to tell me things when he wasn’t looking at me, I waited patiently. I’d gotten good at it over the years. Finally, he started again as he dug through drawers, taking a lot longer than it should have to grab a T-shirt.
I heard him take a deep breath, and I tried not to smile. “We’re going to see what it’s like for me to be little for a couple of days instead of just for a few hours.”
It was about time.
“I think you’ll like that. What does Holden think about it?” Holden was probably in heaven with the idea.
As much as Ryland worried about taking over Holden’s life, his Daddy loved taking care of him. Ryland finally moved away from the dresser and went over to the coffeemaker, tossing his shirt on the bed. “He thinks it’s going to be fun.”
“What kind of rules are you guys going to have? If I call you, are you going to be able to answer, or are you going to be out of touch completely for those days?” Ryland hadn’t let me see him little yet.
He was always a bit panicked about the idea and, I assumed, a bit afraid of what I’d think. I knew it wouldn’t make any difference to our friendship at all. I just wanted him happy and comfortable enough that I wouldn’t have to hide it from whoever I got serious with someday.
There was a long pause that just kept getting longer. I wasn’t going to push him, but I had a feeling I knew what Holden would think. Eventually, as Ryland’s coffee was filling, he shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Well, it wasn’t no, so I was impressed. Walking over, I slung an arm over his shoulders and gave him a side hug. “Thank you, Ry.”
He blushed again but leaned into my hug.
I knew there were crazy things going through his head about what would happen if I saw him little. It was something he needed to work out alone or with his Daddy, though. Me pushing my way into that part of his life would just make it harder for him to figure out what he wanted.
Pulling away so he could grab his coffee, I started wandering around the room getting my stuff together. My day wasn’t as rushed as his, but I had a few things that needed to be done before my afternoon classes. When Ryland had grabbed his coffee and was feeling steadier after thinking about me seeing him little, I grabbed my clothes and started getting ready.
Ryland started laughing as I stripped down. “Now I have to tell Daddy I was bad because I saw someone else naked. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” I wiggled my naked ass at him. “If you’re lucky, maybe he’ll spank you for being naughty.”
Groaning, Ryland started muttering about me driving him crazy as I hurriedly got dressed. We’d slept over at each other’s houses since we were kids and he’d seen me naked countless times. It was one of the things that made living together easy. He was shy around almost everyone but me, and now Holden, so I’d never had to worry about making him uneasy over something as simple as changing clothes.
I knew a guy freshman year who had a roommate who’d been so shy he’d changed in the closet if there wasn’t time to go down to the showers. The guy I knew wasn’t even gay, but he’d felt so weird about it all that they’d hardly spoken.
Ryland ignored my teasing and started getting dressed too. As he pulled his shirt over his head, he seemed to remember something. “Oh, Daddy wanted to know if you wanted to come over for dinner this weekend.”
“Is he actually cooking?” I was fine even if it was takeout, but I wouldn’t turn down a home-cooked meal that didn’t come with a crying baby and nosy parents.
Ryland grinned. “Yep, he’s making lasagna.”
“Just tell me when to show up, then.” There was always endless studying to do, but taking the night off to hang out with them would be fun. It would also give me a chance to test the waters and see what Holden thought of me seeing Ryland when he was little.
Ryland gave me a shy look before glancing away. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be busy.”
I grinned. “If you must know, I am very free. For now.”
Rylan shrugged like it had just been a casual question, but I knew better, so I continued, “I saw this guy a few times, but it wasn’t going to work.”
He was still deep in the closet, and I was entirely too curious about someone else.
If he’d been “the one,” I would have waited. I didn’t need to flaunt a relationship, but the stress of keeping it quiet combined with him being a lot more vanilla than he’d originally hinted at was a deal breaker. I knew myself better than to get serious with someone who would never understand a big part of me.
Rylan frowned. “I’m sorry.”
He walked over and gave me a hug. “You’ll find someone perfect.”
“Thanks.” Squeezing him tight, I let him go so he could finish getting ready. “He ended up being way too vanilla. I met him online in this group and he hinted that he was curious about—”
Ryland stuck his fingers in his ears. “La la la la.”
Laughing, I stopped teasing him. “Head out of the sand, ostrich.”
“No, thank you. I like the sand.” But he glanced over and gave me a questioning look.
He might not be ready to admit it, but he was starting to get curious. I loved that finding security with Holden had gotten him out of his shell. I’d pushed him as much as I could, but I’d always wanted to protect him too much.
Now, he was doing it on his own.
I felt like a parent whose kid had finally started to grow up. Well, grow up and figure out that they wanted to stay little.
“If you stay in the sand, you miss out on all the good details, though.” Not that there was much to share.
I’d never been as clueless as Ryland had been about what I’d wanted, but that didn’t mean figuring it out had been easy. Information did not magically make opportunities or Mr. Right appear…and sometimes Mr. Right Now was even scarce.
“No details.” Ryland shook his head.
He was so funny. He had this weird combination of innocence and sex appeal that he’d never understood what to do with. Not that he’d wanted to.
I laughed, wiggling my eyebrows. “One of these days, I’m going to tell you all the details.”
“That’s just mean. No threats.”
Still laughing, I shook my head. When I finally caught my breath, I stepped closer and ran my hand over his head like he was a puppy. “One of these days, you’ll be curious enough to want to hear all of the details.”
But hopefully not give himself a heart attack in the process.
“Daddy said I don’t have to know anything I don’t want to.” Then he stuck his tongue out at me.
“You’re so spoiled.”
He smiled and nodded, but before he could respond, I pointed at his phone. “Check the time. You’re going to be late.”
He sighed, frowning. “Where does the morning go?”
“It disappears when you hit the snooze button a dozen times.” Well, at least four. I’d already been up, so it hadn’t bothered me. I’d just ignored it until he’d run out of time.
He kept grumbling about schedules and stupid early morning classes while he threw on clothes and tried to gulp his coffee. I prodded, “Hurry or I’ll tell your Daddy you didn’t get up in time to have breakfast again.”
Ryland shot me a dirty look. “Meanie.”
“I’m not the one who slept in.”
“But you’re the one who kept me up too late with that stupid movie. So it’s not my fault.” Satisfied that he couldn’t get in trouble, Ryland took another long sip before he started hunting for his shoes.
Since he could hurry when he actually needed to, Ryland was out the door before the rest of his coffee had cooled any more.
I went slow enough that I got to drink my coffee, but I was out the door not long behind him. I had a few hours before my first class, but I had an errand to run and it needed to be timed perfectly.
Synopsis:
Curiosity might have killed the cat—but Finn is hoping it will make him a better Dom.
Finn isn’t sure what form of BDSM calls to him more, but what he does know is that he’s drawn to a certain English professor. Unfortunately, Professor Sexy—as he’s known by his students—is skittish, and Finn knows he needs to take it slow. Teasing Beckett with little notes and presents might be a little outside the box, but Finn never claimed to be conventional.
Beckett will admit he’s curious about his not-so-secret admirer, but he isn’t sure he’s ready to take the next step.
Beckett has always maintained a strict policy about not dating anyone associated with the college, but he’s never been so tempted before. Even if he wants to know who’s been leaving him the notes, there’s still one big question left. Does Beckett’s mysterious admirer know what Beckett’s into, or is he expecting a much more conventional professor?
When an untrained Dom falls for an older, hesitant sub, sparks fly in the most unconventional ways.
Story Contains: Spanking, mild BDSM, Puppy Play, and mild exhibitionism
