It wastrue that relationships with power dynamics, like a Daddy and his boy, could move faster than most, but I still wouldn’t call myself a believer in love at first sight. If there was one thing that meeting Isaac and Jules had proven to me, though, it was that there was absolutely a phenomenon ofmineat first sight. There was connection at first sight. There were some people who were simply meant to be together, whofit, and even if there were a few bumps along the road as they went from “first sight” to the kind of deeper love, trust, and understanding that they could build an entire lifetime on, the final destination couldn’t be in doubt.
But that didn’t mean, while the three of us were still so new, that I had all the answers.
A commitment to finding them?
Absolutely.
A deep need to make things right for my boys?
Always.
But I’d known from the moment the three of us had woken up this morning that something was off, and even though it had killed me to sense that my little lamb was scared and hurting, it felt damn good making him feel good again. It had ripped my heart out to see him cry like that, but it was also deeply satisfying—and a huge relief—to finally know what the problem was, and that it was fixable, and that I was going to get exactly what I’d wanted from the moment these two had barrelled into my life, because it turned out they wanted it, too.
Both of them.
Isaac had his doubts about Jules’ feelings, but that was okay. Understandable, even, since he was too close to him to see the truth clearly. But after hearing Isaac’s confession, connecting all the dots, and understanding what both boys needed on the deep, instinctive level that made me a Daddy in the first place, I knew I was right.
And damn, that made me a lucky, lucky man.
Before I could move on that, though, we had a few more moments of uninterrupted connection that I wouldn’t trade for the world. Having Isaac on my lap, even with the tears of relief still dribbling down his cheeks as he nestled against my neck, was like a drug for me. I couldn’t get enough—would never get enough of my sweet boy.
Boys, plural.
The one cooing against my neck, and the one who was currently shooting daggers at me with her eyes as she sashayed across the room toward our table in what came dangerously close to a flat-out sprint.
Dangerous because her sexy boots added far too many inches to her height to make the kind of speed she was using as she wove through the crowd to be safe. I’d save the reprimand on that for later, though, because just as Isaac’s distress had been plainly obvious to me, so was Jules’… and as Diva, that distress was just as exaggerated as everything else about her.
Both boys were hurting, the only difference was in how they showed it. Where Isaac had a tendency to look inward and unfairly blame himself for his troubles, Diva… did not do that.
I was ready for her, though. I’d known that the moment her Kylie Minogue megamix ended, there would be trouble. Nothing I couldn’t handle, but it was still sort of like bracing for a tornado to hit. No way of knowing in advance whether it would leave a swath of devastation, or completely skip you by.
And then, as four queens took the stage singing about nails, hair, hips, and heels, the tornado touched down.
“What thehelldo you think you’redoing?” Diva hissed the moment she was within earshot—which, it so happened, was about fifteen feet away. “Howdareyou make him cry, you bastard!”
Okay, so now I had an idea which version of the tornado I was dealing with.
Early warning signs pointed to an F5… and God, she was magnificent. She’d been bearing down on me with each shouted word until she finally stopped right in front of me, towering over me and Isaac in her sky-high platform heels and platinum wig.
Had I said I didn’t believe in love at first sight? Because how could Inotinstantly lose my heart to anyone who loved each other as hard as these two did?
“Quit…smiling,” Diva snarled, her rage throwing the queens on stage off their choreography for a moment.
Isaac straightened up on my lap, wringing his hands together.
“It’s okay, beautiful,” I said before he could work himself into a knot. “Daddy will take care of this. Diva, Our boy was just telling me—”
“I don’t want to hear it!” Diva sliced the air with her long nails. “Youknowhow sensitive Isaac can be. And if you don’t, you shouldn’t be his Daddy. No, youaren’this Daddy. You made him cry. You shouldn’t even be holding him now. Get away from him!” she screeched.
“We need to talk,” I said calmly, ignoring her demands because that wasn’t going to happen. “But not here, gorgeous. Let’s go up to my suite where we can—”
“We’re not going anywhere with you,” Diva interrupted again, reaching for Isaac. “We’redonewith you.”
Isaac hadn’t said anything at all since the shouting started. The louder Diva had gotten, the more he’d recoiled against me, and when as she tried to grab his arm, he pressed himself back as tightly as it was humanly possible to get against my chest, looking up at his roommate in wide-eyed horror as the larger-than-life queen tugged on his arm, no doubt mortified by the dramatic scene that was unfolding right in front of him.
I wasn’t bothered by the dramatics, though. I could see through that tough as nails exterior and the cutting words to the vulnerable, aching man beneath.
That man was terrified of losing his best friend. Terrified that he’d been replaced overnight. And genuinely enraged at the thought of anyone hurting Isaac… even though he was blind to how his own fears were doing just that.
