I quickly finished while Noah used the toilet and moved out of the way so he could brush his teeth.
I was used to no privacy. It took some time to understand that some people wouldn’t want to see me do certain things, but for most of my life, there wasn’t a door to keep things private. And well, Noah just never got that message. At least with me.
Somehow, Noah was already in bed waiting for me by the time I finished doing a walkthrough of the apartment. If I didn’t make sure that all the lights except for the one above the stove were turned off, and the door was locked, I’d never be able to fall asleep. I also made sure that the fairy lights that I had running the length of the floor around the bed were on before I crawled into it.
I didn’t get time to get into a comfortable position before Noah was lying on me, wrapped around me like he belonged to a part of my body.
Well, he did belong. He belonged in my heart. He held onto it with a tight grip, and I never wanted that grasp to break. I wasn’t sure I’d survive if it did.
“Ashie?”
I hummed, wrapping my arms around the boy.
“Tell me if I’m too much, okay?”
“You’ll never be too much, sweetheart.” I wasn’t entirely sure what was going through his head. “Whatever you need, or want to explore, or talk about, you can with me. Nothing you could want could possibly be too much for me. And, if it is, I’ll let you know.” But I highly doubted anything would be worse than what I wanted to explore. If I ever had the guts to try, that is.
“Okay.” Noah borrowed more into me if it were possible. I didn’t think he could get any closer to me than he was. One leg was thrown over both of mine, then tucked under one of my legs. “I...I think my leg is more messed up than I want to pretend. But I don’t want to go to the doctor.”
“Do I need to have Collin come with his machine and stuff?” I would. The family doctor had an easily movable X-ray machine. “Or would you like me to make an appointment with your doctor?”
“Neither?” he sighed, his breath ghosting over my skin since I forewent a shirt. “I hate it hurting, and it’s really not bad as long as I don’t walk too much. Can...can I have a couple more days? If it’s not better, then I’ll let you decide on what to do.”
“As long as you don’t try to lie and hide it from me.”
“Deal.”
I had a feeling he’d still try to wiggle out of it. “But that’s not what's bothering you tonight.”
“Are you sure you aren’t a daddy?” He huffed, shifting some against me again.
“I’m just a sub who likes to please those around me. Not my fault I can take on caretaker mode just as well as kneeling before a man and asking for things that’d make you blush.”
He giggled, and most likely blushing as thoughts went through his head. Once he calmed down a bit, he spoke. “I was doing your laundry today.” He paused, giving me time to try to figure out what he could have possibly seen. Or found. I didn’t have anything that I could think of that could cause him any type of alarm. “I...didn’t...lace?”
Oh, was that it? I guess it’d been a while since I had the bravery to order those. I hadn’t worn them more than a handful of times, though. The last time was when I went to the munchie, mostly because there, no one would care or think differently of it.
“Yeah.” It didn’t need to be explained. Did it?
“I...how did it feel?”
“Noah, sweetheart,” I ran a hand along his spine. “I can tell you right now, you don’t want me to explain that. If you are interested, I’ll show you the website and you can order something you’d like to try.” I probably had another pair that hadn’t been worn stuffed in my drawer somewhere. Or had a snoopy, curious boy found those?
“Oh. No. I couldn’t....no thanks.” He shook his head quickly.
“The offer is open.”
It was quiet long enough, I thought maybe he’d fall asleep. I almost was when Noah’s quiet voice spoke my name once again.
“Yeah?”
“Maybe....a nightgown that’s soft. I think I’d like that.”
Well, maybe Noah wasn’t so much unlike me as I thought.
Chapter 24
Another week passed without too much drama or issues. The only thing that happened was our shopping trip. Which, I was never wanting to do again. At least not without someone who could hopefully tell my best friend no.
