Page 12 of Just a Little in Love

“No.”

Gabriel knew at least one from the club, but he wasn’t going to muscle in if Rowan’s dad was helping him. He leaned back and stared at his empty walls.

“I have an apartment smack bang between the club and UNC if that’s where you go to school? It’s a gated community and the apartments look like townhouses. 4 to a block.”

The dots seemed to start and stop for some time, so Gabriel added,

“You would be welcome to visit this weekend to get an idea.”

“I like the idea of a ground floor one.”

Which wasn’t a yes or a no.

“Mine is upstairs, but all the layouts are the same. I get a large balcony.”

Rowan was silent for what seemed forever after that, and Gabriel wondered if he’d overstepped again.

“That is very kind of you.”

Gabriel shrugged to himself. He couldn’t tell whether Rowan was too shy to ask or too shy to say no.

“How about you come Saturday morning? I can either pick you up or send you my address. 11am?”

“I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

Gabriel smiled. What would Rowan be like a little less formal? He’d love to see him relaxed.

“No problem. Do you need a ride?”

“No, thank you. I can drive.”

Gabriel grinned and sent his address and the code for the gate.

“Come hungry. I make a good omelet.” Then he sent a smiley face emoji and wished him a good night.

“Good night. See you Saturday.” No emojis, but Gabriel didn’t mind. He looked at his cock, which didn’t look like it was going to go down anytime soon, so he got up and went into his bedroom to sort himself out.

For some reason, even though he usually fell asleep right after that, he ended up back on his phone and on some of his favorite sites. He didn’t look at whips, though. For some reason he was drawn to a Daddy/little section. Then he scrolled to a general store.

And spent a really long time looking at cartoon fish.

Chapter seven

“Come hungry.”

Rowan stared at the text messages for the millionth time the next morning. In fact, he’d had to pull over because going somewhere new often made him anxious and this was Master Gabriel. What did it mean? Well, he knew what it meant, but the thought of having to eat in front of anyone else made him feel ill, especially Master Gabriel. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, then looked at the clock on his GPS. He had time. Not that you should ever keep a Dom waiting. Well, anyone, but especially someone that expected obedience. This was going to be a disaster. He knew it was. In fact, he didn’t know why he hadn’t cancelled, except he couldn’t think of an excuse and the idea of lying to Master Gabriel felt wrong.

After a moment, he set off again and, using the code, accessed the community Master Gabriel lived in. As he drove past the manicured lawns, the lakes, the tennis court, and the swimming pool, he was surprised. Not that the area wasn’t nice. He just expected Master Gabriel to want a little more privacy, or even somewhere low key. Not that he should know. It wasn’t like they were friends. Even if Rowan hoped they might be.

If he was honest, he wanted more, but as he was honest, or tried to be, he knew that friends would be all he was ever going to get.

Rowan parked carefully and gazed at the unit as he got out of the car. There were four, like Master Gabriel had explained. Two downstairs and two up. He knew Master Gabriel’s was on the right, but he didn’t seem to be able to get his legs to walk away from the car, so he just stood there.

“Rowan.”

Rowan looked up and saw Master Gabriel standing, smiling, at the top of the stairs next to an open door. Swallowing heavily, he walked over and up the stairs. Master Gabriel had gone back inside, so he wasn’t staring at him climbing the stairs.

Rowan walked in and looked around quickly; his first impression was that it was bare. Functional. But then, the only thing he liked about his father’s house was the library and his secret room.

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