Page 42 of A Daddy for Maddy

He kept blinking. “Because I could already tell when I first met you you’re special.”

On the way to the staircase, I dawdled, trying to see everything at once. It was all high ceilings and gold brocade molding. The chairs and couches in the huge living room were black leather. There was a giant TV screen on the wall over the mantle.

“My father was an architect. He died when I was fifteen. My mom died about five years ago. I’ve only just now gotten rid of most of their things and made the place mine,” he offered when he saw me turning around to look at the rooms.

“That must’ve been hard.”

“It was.” He raised an eyebrow at me.

“My parents are in Wisconsin,” I said. “They really don’t keep in touch. It’s because of, well, you know. They have a little trouble with the whole LGBTQ thing. They don’t like thinking of me that way.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, sweet boy.”

Well, it was what it was. I had no choice in the matter.

“Can I at least see the downstairs before we go up to your room?”

Colin’s face got all soft. He took my hand. “Come with me.”

Colin showed me around the kitchen, the dining room and the two bedrooms downstairs. One was a guest room. The other had all his exercise equipment. I knew he worked out, but now I knew he had his own gym. It was amazing.

All the while he kept hold of my pack.

With the first floor tour done, Colin turned to me. “Are you ready to go upstairs?”

“More than ready.” I couldn’t keep the breathiness from my voice, even though I knew I was going up there only to rest.

“This way.”

I followed him up a curving flight of stairs with a wooden handrail so highly polished it looked like it made its own light. We walked across a rather plain-looking landing that led to a vast open space that made me gasp.

Before me was a huge playroom. It held so many toys I didn’t know where to look first. My heart started to pound. It was a dream and like what had happened several times since meeting Colin I had to convince myself this was reality.

Colin walked me by a giant rocking horse that had to be ten feet tall at the head, the kind you might see at a fairground event. He reached out and took my hand.

Slowly, we moved through the room. I held Kornie tightly to me.

There were shelves of games and stuffies. Electronics galore. A popcorn machine. A cotton candy machine. A soda fountain. A train on real tracks. It was big enough to ride and the tracks made a circle around the edges of the room.

There were multi-colored sparkle lights along the walls and framing the window, and whiteboards for drawing and colorful tables and chairs all around. But best of all, and already my favorite part of the whole huge room, was a little alcove like a cave with painted jungle plants all around the outside and little painted animals peering through the leaves. The alcove part was the cave, and inside was a wide bed with lots of soft pillows. The walls above the bed and on each side were entirely made of bookshelves. I immediately wanted to curl up there with a stack of picture books.

“It’s too much.” I was rocking up and down on my toes, unable to keep still.

Colin squeezed my hand. “Yes, it can be a bit overwhelming.”

I looked up at him. “It all looks so new. But you’ve had boys here before.”

“Only a few. Not to worry. They weren’t the right fit. But you, on the other hand….”

“Me?” It was still too early in our relationship. He couldn’t know if I was a right fit yet. We’d had a sleep-over date planned for last night to find out. It had never happened.

He eyeballed me as if seeing me for the first time, his look glaring and hard again. Mr. Menacing. I flinched.

“Yes, you, you little silly. I think maybe I’d like to try with you.” His tone didn’t match his look. It was soft and seductive. In a roomful of toys with the promise of a very soon first time with a real daddy, the fever came up from inside me again, like a powerful wind leaving no part of my body untouched.

“Try?”

He nodded. “I have a feeling about you.”

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