Page 22 of Abbott’s Lost Spoon

“Really?” He hugged me tight. “Will I be able to see you give your speech?”

“Abbott, my boy, you can help me write it.”

A few days later, we were on the road. The conference was in the same city as the Ferris wheel, so technically we could have driven back and forth, but with the various events at the conference, and the fact that they were giving me a hotel room for the weekend, it was better to stay.

The elevator took us to the top floor where the doors opened to a wide hall with the kind of carpet that swallowed all the sounds of footsteps. We followed it to the end where I opened the door with the digital code and we stepped into a suite.

“Holy…wow. This is what the keynote speaker gets?” Abbott passed me on his way to the balcony doors. “I can see the Ferris wheel from here.”

“Would you like to do that again someday?” I stepped aside for the bellhop to bring in our bags on a rack. I’d told them we could handle it, but the clerk insisted. After I tipped him and he left, I joined Abbott on the balcony. “The wheel?”

“Someday, I would. Maybe on the anniversary of our first date?”

“I’ll make sure of it.” That should be plenty of time to get the reservation. I’d gotten very lucky last time with the cancellation.

The conference began right away, but I didn’t have to do anything until the wine and appetizer meet and greet, so we had a few hours to kill and spent them just walking around the city. It didn’t matter where we went, just that we did it together. From there, things got busy and although I told Abbott he didn’t have to go with me to all my events, he did. Which made me happier than I was ready to admit.

We cuddled up in the big bed in the suite and fell right asleep, exhausted from our long day, and got up for another full day of activities culminating in my speech at the closing dinner. Over the polite applause, I heard a wolf whistle and a cheer.

My boy could always be counted on to have my back. Without him, my speech would not have been anything near as good as it was, and there probably wouldn’t have been any applause at all.

“What do you want to do now?” I asked after we finished shaking hands and accepting congratulations from the other people in the industry. Many had their partners with them, and they had been so gracious, including Abbott in their conversations while I was busy. “Did you want to go out somewhere?”

“I know there’s a lot to do here, and if you want to go somewhere, it’s fine. But would it be all right if we just went to the room? Alone? I feel like there have been so many people around us for the past couple of days. I like our quiet life at home.”

“I do too. Let’s go to the room and order some snacks from room service and cuddle up in bed and watch a movie.”

“You don’t mind? This is your special weekend.”

“This is our weekend, and almost everything we’ve done has been about me and my business. Starting right now, it’s about us. What movie do you want to watch?”

“Before or after?”

Before or… Oh.

“Either, both. Let’s get to that elevator before we do something to startle the ice-cream makers.”

Best weekend ever. We stayed up so late, we slept past checkout and I paid the fee gladly.

Chapter Seventeen

Abbott

I couldn’t remember a time in my life when I’d been this happy. Things between Daddy and me were going great. Work was good, I had a solid group of friends, and I never had to eat grocery-store ice cream ever again. There wasn’t much better than that.

Soren and I had become a part of each other’s lives in a way that worked for us and had even come up with a semi-routine for which nights we were at my apartment and which nights we were at his house. We had clothes and toothbrushes and travel mugs in both locations. It was nice, comforting, and safe.

We weren’t talking marriage yet or anything, but I could see that happening in our future. He was my daddy, and I was his little. We had our big dates and our little dates and the times we were together doing boring normal-life things. I’d spend time with my friends. He’d spend time with his. All of our friends would spend time together. Every aspect of our lives seemed to fit together perfectly.

We just worked.

Except, I was tired of trying to figure out if I had the right clothes at the place I was spending the night, if I had the right ingredients for the lunch I wanted to bring to work, if I had my favorite blankie with me, where my good charger was, and where my spoon, the one that brought us both together, was. I had backups now, thanks to having a wonderful daddy, but I still preferred the original.

Not for the first time, I started to wonder if maybe it was time we moved in together fully.

It was a huge decision, and not one I should even be thinking about without having a conversation with Soren. But I was also worried. Dating was one thing. Being his boy was another. Going back and forth was yet another. Until now, we’d always had our own spaces, and moving in together would change that.

If I brought this up, I wanted to be sure it was something I wanted. I didn’t want it to happen too fast and regret it. I also didn’t want to bring it up and have him reject me because he thought it was too soon. That would be awkward.