hand. No, they weren’t dirty, but this was more about the routine than necessity.
“Let me see that moosh, Sammy,” I urged him. He gave me a goofy grin when our gazes met. He
giggled and squirmed when I wiped his face. I bent down, kissing his forehead. “There, all clean.
Now, do you want to go cuddle on the couch while we talk?”
“Can we have a fire?”
I rarely used the gas fireplace in the sitting room, but if my boy wanted one, we’d have one.
“Absolutely.”
Sam’s hand slid into mine as soon as he hopped off the high chair at my dining table. I’d often
thought about replacing it because it was cumbersome and an awkward height, but watching Sam
swing his legs back and forth had been adorable. My heart had twisted a bit when I’d left him to get
our lunch and saw how innocent he looked.
In the past, I’d been with boys who I met through friends or at the club and we’d never sat down
to talk about limits, preferences, and everything like that. The conversations still happened, of course,
but it wasn’t anything formal. It hadn’tneededto be because things had been casual. A scene here, a
limited-time arrangement there, and no one had any expectations that it would turn into something
more. But with Sam, everything was different. He didn’t strike me as the type to do casual, and my
inner Daddy had no desire to be something casual in his life. Once he gave me the green light, I fully
expected things between us to progress rapidly. That was a fact that both excited and terrified me.
I settled into the corner of the couch and pulled Sammy into my lap. He came easily, wiggling
around until his legs were stretched out on the cushions beside us. His arms were wrapped around my
neck, his cheek pressed to the side of my head. “I like this. I could go my entire life without having
sex, but I’ve always wondered what it would be like to cuddle with someone who wasn’t just a
friend.”
I rubbed slow circles over Sam’s back, giving him time to gather his thoughts. As closed off as he
was most of the time, I didn’t want to do anything to threaten the thoughts he felt comfortable sharing.
“I know you probably think I’m a basket case,” he continued.Thatwas something we would be
addressing in the very near future. Yes, there was obviously something in Sam’s past that had
traumatized him, but that didn’t mean I thought any less of him. The exact opposite was true. Sam was
one of the strongest, bravest men I knew. No matter what happened between us in the future, I would
neverforget the way he stared through me as he readied himself to come out to me. And, fuck, I hated
