Page 59 of Learning to Change

Did they, though?

Chapter 17

Tate

He had to be making some of this shit up, right?

Dean was watching our drama queen with a very suspicious expression, but he didn’t immediately call him out on it either, which made me wonder. I wasn’t sure if him lying or being honest was the most ridiculous scenario, but either way, if he wanted someone to cuddle with that was reasonable.

“Alright.” Fuck it. I parked the car and decided to take the whole thing seriously. “We’ll make sure someone takes a nap with you.”

None of us had gotten enough sleep last night and it hadn’t been anywhere near actual quality rest, so a nap wasn’t a bad idea.

“Good.” Yawning again, Joel tipped over against Dean. “I need to be cuddled and put to bed.”

Dean’s head cocked as he turned to Joel, and I could see him remembering our conversation about how Joel wasn’t the most adulty adult we’d ever seen. “Finish your water first and then we’ll get you ready for your nap.”

It seemed like with all the bits Dean was uncomfortable with, Joel not being a full grown-up wasn’t one of them.

“I’ll be good.” Joel’s definition of good included sighs and pouts and groaning like an old man when he had to sit up, but he eventually finished his water. Handing the empty bottle to Dean seemed like second nature to Joel and it made me wonder what else about this part of their relationship I’d missed. “I did it.”

Taking the trash and nodding, Dean reached over and ran a hand over Joel’s head. “Good boy.”

That was new because I wouldn’t have missed how cute it was, but I had a feeling they’d been working their way up to this point for a long time.

Did they realize it?

Joel was startlingly oblivious about nearly everything in life that related to other people, but Dean couldn’t have his head that far in the sand, right?

“Nap time.” The way Dean reached over and unbuckled Joel without being self-conscious of it at all said he could be just as oblivious.

I was starting to see how we’d ended up as just friends for so long.

They were both insane.

But since it was cute and I was tired, I didn’t point it out and played along like it was all perfectly vanilla.

“I need…I need a snack.” Joel frowned as he looked around at the parking lot, not seeming to realize what he was doing or why he was being a pain in the butt. “And a book.”

“You need to get out of the car first.” Dean aced Daddy training and didn’t make any promises. “Do you want me to help?”

It was fascinating.

“Yes.” Pouting, Joel sighed. “My legs don’t work.”

I wasn’t sure how Dean was going to handle that, but I should’ve known he’d figure out what to do. Instead of reacting to the ridiculous statement that was just meant to cause drama, he nodded and started to get out of the car. “Okay, I’m sorry you’re too broken to play later.”

Oh.

Joel’s brows pulled together as he watched Dean get out of the car. He was quiet for a few seconds before he turned to me, and I knew that was my cue to escape. I wasn’t sure what the best response for me to give would be and I wasn’t going to fuck it up.

I was out of the car before he’d managed to say anything, but he didn’t have time to pout before Dean was opening the door. “Let me have your toys.”

The reminder about what he wanted to play with later had Joel looking down at his bag. “Oh.”

The pieces were slowly being put together, and as he turned to hand Dean the bag of goodies, he shifted his legs. “I can do it. I’m not too broke.”

No, just too dramatic.

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