I got my own plate and the plate of rolls, putting them in between us on the table.
“I thought I could smell freshly baked something when I got up,” he murmured and grabbed one of them.
“Use the serrated knife and be careful, please. They might be hot on the inside still.”
“Thank you, boy.” He smiled through the cutting operation, then pushed the roll to me before halving his own.
“Thanks.”
We chatted about inconsequential things while we ate, and then, like every morning he worked, Luke got dressed in his work clothes.
This time, something was different though. He walked to me and kissed my hair again.
“Have a good day, boy.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
I watched him leave the house and for the first time since I’d gotten here, I felt this small private glimmer of hope bloom in my chest.
I hummed with contentment as I sent my email to tell my client the job was finished and the files were attach—“Oh shit!”
I quickly added said attachments into another email in the same chain and apologized profusely even though I knew they wouldn’t mind.
Well, there went my perfect workday. Sighing, I closed my laptop and got up. I had stuff to do around the apartment and it would help me settle again.
By the time I was in the kitchen, making myself a mug of tea, I already felt happier. The teapot was a cast iron one that had materialized in the kitchen last week after I’d mentioned that I liked loose leaf tea more than teabags. It was orange, almost the exact color Tonya was—or rather the color she’d once been—and I loved it more than I could express.
I took my tea into the living room and sat on the couch for a while. There were two new fleece blankets as well. One was blue and one was green. They were pops of color that we’d added together after I’d told Luke his lack of colorful decorations was appalling.
The thought of living with a Dom who was as easygoing as Luke felt like… heaven, really. He didn’t mind when I got bratty—a side of myself I hadn’t really known I had before—and even encouraged it.
He also liked to watch cartoons with me on the weekends, and for the upcoming weekend in a few days, we were invited to Mal and Jamie’s for an early dinner.
Getting to know people better was a bit intimidating, but Mal was one of Sir’s best friends and I’d liked Jamie, even as Little as he’d been at the munch.
After I finished my tea, I went to gather our laundry and started to divide it into piles. When I’d heard Sir just put everything in the same machine and didn’t care if the colors mixed or the temperatures were too high for something, I’d freaked out a little. I used to help my sister with laundry when we were little, and our mom taught her well.
As I said there on the floor, sorting the clothes, I thought about Jamie and the other littles. I didn’t have anything against them, I’d told that to Sir, too. It felt so… weird. I’d researched it a bit online, and I guess I could see why someone would want to, what did they call it? Regress?
I could remember my own childhood and the lack of play and affection. We’d been put to work as soon as we were old enough to help out around the house, farm, or the church. I hadn’t minded the church stuff, really, because I’d had friends there.
Part of me wondered if there was some sort of trauma I was hiding from my childhood. Shouldn’t I be traumatized? Growing up in a strict and conservative environment as a gay kid who knew he was different pretty early had to be traumatizing. Right? Except I didn’t feel like it. I had always been a very go with the flow kind of person. I’d adapted, because I knew it made me feel better, and I’d concentrated on serving others, because that helped as well.
But I had never really felt the need to… whatever. I frowned as I tossed Sir’s white T-shirt into the pile of other whites.
Sir had kissed my hair twice today, and when I remembered that, the warmth from the morning filled my chest again.
I had the biggest fucking crush on him and I couldn’t help it. Part of it was probably the fact that he was so kind and gorgeous. Besides, he’d taken me in after saving me from Carl’s place, and I couldn’t really say for sure that the gratitude wasn’t muddling my feelings.
There were always stories about people getting attached to those who saved them. Hell, didn’t firemen have groupies? I was pretty sure I couldn’t trust myself with this thing, and I knew Sir was enough of a gentleman and protector that he would never like me that way, but the affection felt nice. Almost too nice.
I got into a Zen sort of mode then, putting in the brighter colors first. While they were in the machine, I worked on making sure the bathroom was clean and everything was ready for Sir’s post-work shower.
I was getting a bit worried about his back. He had grumbled about it being sore after work couple of times now. After doing some research online, I’d learned that tattooing was notoriously bad for one’s back. I needed to figure out how to help Sir out with that. Maybe I could watch some YouTube videos about back massages and then give him one? It would feel so good to have my hands on him like that.
Yes, because giving him a massage was all for me, right?You numpty.I stopped in my tracks and sighed. Then I went to push my pint of ice cream into the very back of the freezer and put the bags of peas and veggies in front of it.
After that, I continued cleaning.
