"Hey, Luke," Tyler says and hugs the guy. I can see Luke look over at me and then back to Tyler, questions clear in his eyes. Tyler looks over his shoulder and smiles at me. "Luke, this is Brandt. Brandt, Luke. He's one of my friends in our group."
I don't blink at him calling me by my name. We've only had the one scene together last week and I told him he could call me whatever he was comfortable with tonight.
"It's nice to meet you, Brandt!" Luke says happily. "Isn't this awesome! I love this coffee shop."
"And you love the coffee a little too much, baby." A woman comes up and rests a hand on Luke's shoulder. She's pretty, mid thirties maybe, with long brown hair. She's petite, but the way Luke immediately calms down and looks at her gives me all the information I need. This is his Mommy. She holds a hand out toward me. "I'm Rachel. You've met Luke. I let him get an extra shot of espresso and I'm starting to regret it."
"It's okay, Mommy." Luke's voice is taking on some kind of sweet tone. His big eyes are turned to her. "I still go night night like I promised."
"Just don't break anything," Rachel says. "Take Tyler and go hang out with the others. Tyler, I'm going to introduce Brandt to the Daddies, okay?"
"Okay!" Tyler and Luke speak at the same time. Just like when he's at the apartment with me, I can see him slipping just below the surface of being Little. I watch Tyler walk off with Luke until he steps behind another group and I lose sight of him. I turn my attention back to Rachel.
"So, you're here with Tyler?" Rachel asks.
"I am," I say with a nod.
"And are you…?"
I know what she's asking. I shake my head, not sure if that's actually the right answer or not. "I'm curious, definitely. Learning right now and we've done a scene together, but not much else."
"You know he's fairly new to the whole world as well, right?"
"Yeah, I am. He was honest with me the first day we hung out."
"That's good," Rachel says. We still haven't moved any closer to the others in the coffee shop. "Tyler is a sweet boy. We were all relieved when he was okay after going to the hospital. Scared all of us."
"Scared me, too." I don't like remembering seeing him unconscious on the gurney coming in. "He's managing it, though. I'm making sure he takes his medicine each day."
Rachel stares at me for a second too long before her lips turn up into a genuine smile and I relax my shoulders. I wasn't even aware that I had them tensed up.
"Come on, I'll introduce you to the others." She lays a hand on my forearm and lowers her voice. "Just a heads up, the tall one with the salt and pepper hair is Mark."
"The ex." I nod once. I know when someone is sent to do their due diligence on the new person before introducing them to the others.
"The ex," she says. "I thought they would be good together, but…"
I don't take any offense to it. I know they're all friends. Tyler gave me the heads up that Mark would be here. He was worried about it, but I promised him that it would be okay. We're all adults and can act like that.
"The medical side of things made it a bit complicated, from what Tyler told me." I don't give any more information than that. If Tyler wants to share more, he can. Living with his family would too, but I know he’s still looking at apartments.
"That's in the past," Rachel says. We stop at the first table, where three men are sitting. One is bald and nothing but muscles. The other has a solid beard and mustache. He's equally as muscled, but has more of a Dad bod than abs. There's a third guy, slightly smaller than the other two, with dark skin and chocolate brown eyes. "Remi, Garrett, Vaughn, this is Brandt. He came with Tyler tonight."
"Sandwich and coffee guy?" The bald one asks. I smile and raise a hand in the affirmative. "We've heard much about you, man. Come on, join us."
Rachel and I both sit down around the table. The other tables are filled with more people and couples. One table alone seems to be just Littles. There's another guy that is holding a leash, which is hooked to a collar around the neck of a pup in full gear. He's sitting calmly beside his Master, but I notice his head turn toward the laughter caused by Tyler and his group.
When I look back at the four I'm sitting with, I realize they're all looking at me. I feel like I'm about to get quizzed. It only lasts for a few seconds and before I can really start to feel the nerves, Remington speaks. "So, if my gossip of a Boy is right, you've dipped your toes into the Daddy world, right?"
"I have," I say with a slight nod. "I mean, I've read more than I've experienced, but Ty and I are figuring it out. I’ve been in a kinky relationship before, just not as a Daddy."
"Anything you have questions about?" Garrett asks. "I won't talk specifics, but I think between all of us, we have different styles, rules, that sort of thing."
"I have tons of questions," I say with a small laugh. "Mostly just how to balance it. We don't get a lot of time together with our schedules and I don't like having to check in with him over text."
"Oh, I've got this." Rachel interrupts before Garrett or Remington can say anything. Their expressions look equally offended and like she made the right call. "Those two will just tell you to move your Boy in with you. Remington moved Austin in after two or three months? Garrett here had Orion spending whole weekends in under a month. Moving in together definitely helps with being able to build that bond together, but you can still be a Daddy, or Mommy, through the phone. It's a mindset, an agreement between the two of you. My Boy works nights and I hold random hours so I'm checking in with him throughout the night and then I'll have breakfast ready when he gets home."
"Orion will tell you that text messages help with the spank bank as well," Garrett says. The laugh that follows tells me there is a story behind that. "He hates it when I end up calling him, but I don't think he's caught on that I do it on purpose."
