never pried into my life more than I allowed him.
“What’s the deal with you and William?” he asked, breaking the tranquil silence. So much for him
being the one who never pushed.
“Nothing.” If my response came out a bit somber, I’d never admit it.
“I don’t believe that,” he mumbled, trailing his fingers up and down my arm. “I saw the two of
you the other night, you know. When you were sleeping. You trust him.”
“Yeah, but I trust you, too,” I countered. “Does that mean there’s something going on between us?”
Sam chuckled. “No. That would be a recipe for disaster.”
“Why do you say that?” I could think of at least a dozen reasons, but I wanted to hear his thoughts.
“You need a Daddy in your life.” He said it as simply as if he was telling me the weather was
warming up now that spring was here. “And if you let him, I think William would like to be that for
you. He’d let you play, and he’d take care of you. You wouldn’t have to worry about everything all the
time.”
My gaze drifted to the right, an ache forming in my chest as I dreamed about the vision he painted.
That was exactly what I wanted, and it was also something I couldn’t have. Not now, maybe not ever.
No one would understand. I could lose everything that mattered if my secrets got out, and the risk
wasn’t worth it.
“What about you?” I asked, trying to change the subject. “What do you want?”
I felt Sam shrug, his shoulders staying tense. “No clue. When I first got here, I thought maybe I’d
have an epiphany and it’d be clear, but so far…nothing.”
“It’ll happen,” I reassured him. “Maybe you’re not kinky at all, and that’s okay too. The world
wouldn’t know what to do if everyone was suddenly walking around needing to be a little boy, a
puppy, a slave, or whatever else. Some guys just want someone to love them, and there’s nothing
wrong with that.”
“That’s just it, though, I don’t know if that’s something I want,” he admitted. My eyes drifted shut
and I struggled to stay awake. Sam had listened to me vent enough times about Lisa, my other job, and
trying to balance it all; this was his turn, and I needed to be a good friend. “I knew I was different
from the other guys in my high school. They were drooling over the pretty girls with big boobs,
talking about how they were going to bang this girl or the other every weekend. I never wanted that.”
I pursed my lips to keep from laughing. As I said, Sam was brilliant but sometimes missed the
