Page 15 of Controlled Burn

I turned to my father and handed him the award as the crowd all stood. The applause swelled as my dad accepted the award and then pulled me into a tight hug. As soon as he let me go, he was rushed by members of the crowd who wanted to congratulate him, so I took a step back to give them room.

A minute later, my mother stepped up beside me. “You did good, Keith.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I slid my arm around her and pulled her to my side. “Everyone misses him already.”

“Of course they do, and he misses them. He loved the Sixty-nine, but Samuel will do a good job.”

“He already is, but he isn’t Dad.”

“No, he isn’t, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Now, are you joining us for lunch at Farolitos?”

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

“Good, tell your father I went ahead to get the table and don’t let him stay too long. All this praise is going to go to his head.” She was more proud of him than anyone here, so I knew she was just teasing. I kissed her on the cheek.

“I’ll make sure to get him out of here before it’s so big he floats away.”

I made my way through the crowd in time to see my dad give my baby brother Nash a hug. All four of us Brooks kids were close. Hell, I worked at the same station as Becca, but Nash and I had always had a special bond. I think it was because I was fourteen years older than him, so he’d always looked up to me, and I felt extra protective of him.

I walked up to Nash and pulled him into a bear hug. “It’s good to see you, brother. And this must be Spencer.”

Nash had told me so much about his boy that I knew he was pretty much a goner, and by the way Spencer was looking at him, I would say the feeling was mutual.

I pulled him into a hug, as well. “It’s nice to meet you, Spencer,” I said in his ear before pulling back and turning to my father. “Dad, Mom said not to be too long. She went to secure the table.”

“Sounds good to me. Are y’all coming, too?” he asked Nash and Spencer. They said they were, so we said our goodbyes and headed to the restaurant.

Caleb

I’d been thinking about Daddy Night at Kirby’s all week. I’d told my friends I wasn’t going, and I’d meant that at the time, but the closer it got to the event night, the more I thought maybe I should go.

If for no other reason than just so I could get the idea that I wanted a Daddy out of my head. You know how it goes when you build something up in your mind to the point that nothing else will do, but then you get it, and you find out that it wasn’t all that great after all.

I’d been on so many dates with perfectly nice men like Cole that I should have a boyfriend by now. But instead, I kept comparing them to this imaginary man in my head, and that wasn’t fair to them or to me. So it was time I killed the fantasy once and for all.

I knew Toby had been serious about going with me if I wanted him to. He was a good friend like that, but the last thing I wanted was an audience if this was the disaster that I thought it would be.

Now, here it was the day of, and I still wasn’t sure if going was the right choice, but if I was doing this thing, I would do it on my own. In the books I read, the boys always wore cute little cropped tops that said things like Daddy’s boy on them, and most of them wore make-up and maybe even heels, but those things didn’t really fit me at all. I could sexy it up a little, sure, but sex kitten was not my style at all.

I dug through my closet looking for something that would work. Clubbing had never really been my thing, so my wardrobe was seriously lacking, but I settled on a button-up shirt that I thought looked good with my eyes and a pair of jeans that Ezra swore made my ass look good.

I took a step back and checked the mirror. I looked pretty good. Probably nothing like a Daddy was expecting, but honestly not bad. Of course, that was assuming there would actually be real-life Daddies at the club. I’d come to think of them like unicorns. Fun to read about in books, but not really existing in real life.

I called a ride-share to take me to the club and then gave myself a little pep talk. I would show up, get a drink or two, listen to some music, and then come home. After that, I could tell my friends I’d tried it. Then I could give the dating app another shot, knowing full well I wasn’t missing anything.

It was a solid plan.

It was a horrible plan. It had taken me about five minutes inside the club to realize I had it all wrong. The place was totally packed, and Daddies weren’t like unicorns at all. They were wolves, and they ran in packs.

Okay, not actual packs, but there were bunches of them, and to my surprise, they weren’t hard to spot at all, and no t-shirts were necessary. Instead, they all had this air about them that said, I’m in charge here. It was both exciting and terrifying.

I’d also been wrong in thinking I wouldn’t attract attention. From the second I walked in, I felt people watching me. I lowered my eyes and headed for the bar. If I was going to do this, liquid courage was a necessity.

I slid onto a bar stool and glanced up at the bartender. For the most part, I was a wine drinker, but tonight, I wanted something stronger.

“Is this your first time here?” he asked.

“What gave me away?”

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