I wasn’t certain where the concern was coming from, but I knew in my gut that it didn’t matter. If Jasper needed me to stay, then I’d be here. Why and where the concern came from didn’t much matter tonight, and I wasn’t going to examine it.
He needed me, so I was staying.
“If you want me to stay, then I’ll stay. Gotta extra blanket for me?”
“Daddy gotta ’tay wit me.” Jasper looked exasperated that I wasn’t catching his meaning quick enough. “Peas.”
The whispered please gutted me.
“If that’s what you want, then I’m not going anywhere.” Jasper nodded, then slid off my lap to his feet. He stood there until I got to my feet.
I took his hand, and he led me toward the hallway to his bedroom. It was a different experience to be taken by hand down a hallway under these circumstances. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a sleepover that hadn’t ended in sex. Likely high school.
Jasper’s bedroom surprised me, although I didn’t know exactly what I had expected. It was an oasis of calm. The heavy furniture grounded the room while the duvet covered the puffy bed in softness you wanted to sink into. My own bedroom had mismatched pillowcases, a bottom sheet that didn’t go with either of the pillows, and the same blue blanket I’d had since high school.
We were not the same.
“Okay, sugar, let’s get you ready for bed and tucked in.”
Jasper opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of sleep shorts and a Smokey the Bear T-shirt that might be older than both of us combined. I took them from his hand and let him use the bathroom on the far side of the room. Jasper, while present, wasn’t very helpful. He let me scrounge through the drawer looking for toothpaste and search for his toothbrush. On the plus side, I found a new one for myself.
I put paste on the brush and held it out to Jasper. He refused it. I gave a small shake of my head and said, “Well, then I’ll have to do it for you.”
He immediately opened his mouth, so I guessed the previous refusal was a misunderstanding on my part. Once Jasper’s teeth were brushed, I handed him his clothes with instructions to put them on and go to the bathroom before he left. I heard rustling, followed by the toilet flushing, and then the water running before shutting off.
Jasper emerged from the bathroom with a look of concern.
“What’s wrong, sugar? You change your mind?” There wasn’t a damn thing that was going to happen between us tonight, but maybe he thought I’d expect it? And that was a giant fuck no. Consent was hot.
“Daddy gotta sleep in jeans?”
Well shit. I guess I was sleeping in my jeans.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
Truthfully, I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I wasn’t going anywhere when Jasper wanted me to stay.
“Is ’kay. Make ’em go bye-bye. I got my shorts on, so no one is gettin’ arrested.” Jasper giggled, and it was the first time I’d heard it tonight. I liked it.
“All right, you, hop into bed and get under the covers. You can put up a pillow fort or somethin’ so we each get a side.” He’d stopped at the side of the bed nearest the bathroom, so that was the side of the bed I pulled the covers down on.
“Daddy?”
“I’m just gonna lock the door and get your baby. Sit tight.”
Jasper nodded and slipped into the opening I held for him. I hurried back down the hall before returning just as fast. I was gone for less than a minute, but even so, Jasper was already struggling to keep his eyes open. I wanted to run my hands all over him, but I settled for ruffling his hair. I handled my business in the bathroom and slipped onto the other side of the bed.
Before I’d even settled myself into bed, Jasper rolled over and snuggled into my chest. His choice to skip the pillow fort felt like permission to cuddle him close. Once I wrapped an arm around him, he wrapped himself farther around me with a hiked leg over my own.
Best damn prison I’d ever been in.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Jasper
“Mornin’, sugar.”
The deep, gravelly voice behind me gave me a bit of a jump scare. Sure, I knew he was there and that, at some point, he’d wake up and hopefully join me in the kitchen, but I still wasn’t ready when it happened.
