Preston leaned over the table, about to hit the cue ball. He smirked and stood straight instead. “Exactly, baby.”
Maybe his previous boyfriends made a little more sense now, and that could have been why they were so overbearing, like Preston. Still. “Oh.” I leaned closer to Rob and whispered, “You like that?” Wow, guess I had a lot to learn about my friend. Before today, I hadn’t a clue about that side of him.
“Hell yeah. It’s sexy and fun.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Daddy Preston is right. You should meet his friend. Maybe you could use a Daddy too.”
Well, just wow, that was more information than I needed to know about Rob’s kinks. But I had to admit I was a bit jealous. And I could possibly see myself in that kind of relationship, having a Daddy. Not in the traditional father sense but what Preston was describing. It was intriguing and got my curiosity up for the possibilities. Guys my age or ones that had anything in common with me were generally immature. Rob had a good job in accounting and was a few years older than me, but not by much. He was very responsible, but he could still be really silly and fun to be around. We got along great, and if he had a Daddy who he loved, or at least liked a lot, then maybe that was something I could do too.
Guess I had a lot of research to do.
“I, uh…I don’t know, Rob.” I felt the heat on my cheeks. How could I get on board so quickly with a lifestyle I had zero clue about? Desperation? Desire? Maybe a bit of both, or maybe I just needed something new and exciting in my life. But I really didn’t know enough about what a Daddy might expect from me or what I wanted from him. Was it like a regular relationship where I just called him Daddy? Or was there more to it? From the way Robwas acting, there had to be more. “Maybe we could talk about it later?”
Rob put his arm around my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I think you’ll love it, but sure, let’s talk tomorrow.”
The rest of the night was fun, ending in a Fortnite tournament, and even though I didn’t get any presents, I figured that hanging out with everyone was gift enough, since that rarely happened in my life.
The next day was Saturday, so I got up and made pancakes and bacon to tempt Rob out of his room so we could discuss this whole Daddy thing. Finally, he showed up, shuffling into our tiny black-and-white kitchen, and poured a mug of coffee. “Bacon?” he asked, sniffing the air.
“Yep. Did Preston go home?”
“Uh-huh. Yeah, but only a few hours ago.”
Good, then Rob and me could chat—privately. “So, uh, tell me more about this Daddy thing. I mean, what’s it like?”
“To have one?” He snagged a piece of bacon and walked around the peninsula to sit at the other side of the bar.
“Yeah. I don’t know anything about this, Rob. I might want to meet Preston’s friend, but I’m nervous about it.” I plated pancakes and slid them across to him.
“Thanks for breakfast, Gilly. You shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble. I mean, it’s your birthday, not mine.”
“That was yesterday.” I shrugged. “So?” How much more prodding did he need?
“You want to know what’s it like to have a Daddy?”
“It sounds fun, but I don’t know. I have my own business and…” I didn’t really. I ran my uncle’s company. I sure as hell didn’t need someone to run my life; if that was what this was about, I was out.
He swallowed his bite and sipped his coffee. “If you don’t want someone trying to take over everything and tell you what to do, I’m not sure it would work for you.”
“Exactly. But…” I had so much I was hiding. Had Rob zoned in on that?
“Well, I don’t think that’s what it actually is anyway. It’s more complex. Look at it like this, a good Daddy makes sure you have what you need and makes your life easier. Better. Like making you coffee in the morning.” He held up his mug and grinned.
I rolled my eyes. “I can make my own coffee.”
“But should you have to?” he teased.
“Who cares? Seriously, are we talking about coffee here or something else?” Frustrating. That was the best way to describe Rob this morning. Ugh.
“Maybe.” Rob snorted. His hair was messy and falling in his face. Normally, he was runway-ready, but sometimes on weekend mornings like this, he was more casual. In fact, he was wearing a ratty T-shirt and pajama pants, and it didn’t look like he’d even washed his face. I kind of liked the laid-back look on him.
“But seriously, Gilly, you have nothing to lose if you try it. You might like it, and if not, you just say no thanks and then move along.” He waved his arm around and pointed at the front door.
“Were your other boyfriends Daddies, too? Because they were kind of pushy.”
“Eh. They thought they were, but they were nowhere near the Daddy Preston is turning out to be. Being domineering does not make you a Daddy, and they had a lot to learn.” He rolled his eyes like a drama queen, then stuffed more pancake in his mouth. “So good.” It was a relief that he ditched those other guys, and he was right, Preston seemed sweeter than they were, but I didn’t know if I could get used to him calling my friend by a different name.
I’d been living with Rob for almost a year now, and I still hadn’t unpacked my Ellie stuffie, and no way could I even watch her cartoons. I had a lot to hide.Ellie the Elephant and Friendswas my favorite show, but would Rob understand? Pulling out a binky or a bottle? Out of the question. Sure, I wanted to sometimes, but I couldn’t take the chance, and if someone else took over my life, what would happen with my secrets?
“Gilly, there are different kinds of Daddies, but with the right one, you can let him worry about everything and just be who you are. If you want to just enjoy yourself, a good Daddy will make sure you have enough to eat and other stuff to take care of you, helping make life more fun. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
