“I’m excited to show this little guy his new home. I know it’s hard work running a booth, so take care of yourselves.”
“W-we will!”
Heat rose to my cheeks as he smiled and walked away. Ugh, the man was perfect.
“OH. MY. GOSH.”
I jumped as Ellery squealed in my ear and shook my shoulders. “Tristan! Holy shit, he was such a sexy silver Daddy.”
I blushed harder than I thought possible, stuttering as I tried to process the whirlwind of events. “He did have strong Daddy vibes. B-but Embers gone… I know he’ll be taken care of, but I’m sad.”
My thumb started to creep into my mouth when Ellery grabbed my hand and rubbed soft circles into my palm. “It’ll be okay, Tristan, I know you liked him… but now he’s going home with a super sexy silver Daddy.” He pouted and sighed dramatically, “I’m jealous.”
“He was extremely sexy… and he was so sweet and didn’t make me feel silly for the way I talked about Ember.”
Ellery giggled and pretended to swoon. “I know! He seemed tolove Ember just as much as you do. It’s like he walked out of your dreams.” I plopped down on my chair, sighing heavily.
“If you weren’t here, I’d worry I had finally gone insane and imagined him.”
The to-go bags crinkled loudly as Ellery dug around and pulled out our food. They passed me my meal, and we both dug in.
“Hey, didn’t you say earlier that you wanted to walk around and check out the other booths?”
A smile stretched across my face as I remembered those blocks I saw on the way to get our food. My little side was fighting to come to the surface, torn between the pain of losing Ember and the excitement of possibly finding new blocks. It was getting harder to stay completely big.
“Yes! I saw some pretty wooden blocks earlier. I really, really wanna go look.” I bounced with excitement as I cleaned up our trash and got ready to go. Ellery giggled, sensing my change, knowing I wasn’t all big right now.
“You love blocks. Get ‘em! If you see anything I might like, please let me know.”
“Of course, I will, bestie. I’ll be back soon.”
Daniel
David let out a booming laugh when I returned to our table with Ember in hand.
“What is it with you and damn dragons?”
I sighed as I sat down next to David and placed my new friend in my lap. “I’m not sure, they just keep calling out to me. I mean, look at him, he’s adorable.”
“Well, I hope your future boy likes dragons because if not, you’re screwed.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right… But come on, who doesn’t love dragons or at least think they’re cool?”
I sighed, stroking the soft orange spikes on his head. The soft yarn made my heart ache to have my boy cuddled up in my lap. He’d be wearing his comfy pajamas as I rocked him side to side, soaking up the feel of how our bodies fit together as his fingers clutched Ember to his chest.
Whenever I dreamed of my boy, he was faceless—just a figment of my imagination, a placeholder. But now I could see him clearly. It was Tristan; he was gorgeous and so sweet. He was definitely on the shy side, but the way he lit up when talking about Ember and his other creations was breathtaking.
I didn’t even know if he was a little, but the way his eyes sparkled with pure joy and wonder instantly captivated my heart and made me smile.
“That dragon is cute, but I don’t think he’s the reason your face looks all dopey. What happened?”
“Tristan, the man who made the dragon.” I sighed longingly. “You should’ve seen him, David… The way he lit up when we talked about Ember was so precious, I could barely stand it. Hehas the most beautiful soft brown curls, and I just wanted to ruffle them.”
“Lucky bastard… did you get his number?”
My heart dropped as I shook my head. Shit. I was so captivated by how precious Tristan was that I forgot. Dread instantly filled me at the thought of never seeing him again. How could I be so stupid?
David placed his hand on my shoulder, pulling me from my panic. “Hey, it’s been a hectic day, don’t beat yourself up, man. You still have plenty of time to go back to his booth and see if he’s even interested in your ugly mug.”
