“Come on, we have to go,” she urged, dancing in place beside the door as he buttoned his suit jacket.

One silver eyebrow raised. “What’s the rush, little one?”

“Nothing.” When his other eyebrow joined its twin, she just barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I just wanna get to breakfast so I can talk to Kylie. She’s waiting on me.”

“Ah.” A knowing smile curved his lips as he slipped an arm around her waist, yanking her up against his solid chest in a move that knocked the air clear from her lungs. “Anxious to tell your bestie about last night?”

“Yes.” She grinned when he laughed and wiggled out of his arms. “Now come on, slowpoke!”

“You’re lucky I’m in such a good mood or else I’d take you back to bed and teach you a lesson about teasing your Daddy.”

“But then we’d be late.” As they walked toward the front doors of the complex, she tilted her head thoughtfully. “If you’re the one who makes us late, do I get to spank you?”

“Not a chance, little girl. And if you even try it, I can promise you will end up with a sore bottom inside and out.”

That thought left her hot and flushed all the way to the cafeteria, where Kylie was waiting just outside the doors. Samuel kissed her goodbye and went to join the other teachers he’d gotten in the habit of having breakfast with while she and Kylie chatted in the mornings.

“Oh my god, I thought you’d never get here.” Grabbing her hand, Kylie dragged her over to an empty table at the far end of the cafeteria. “Tell. Me. Everything.”

“Okay, well, for starters, I have to say something I don’t say very often.” Clearing her throat loudly, Eliza took Kylie’s hands in hers and forced her expression into somber lines as she met her bestie’s gaze. “Kylie. You were right.”

Kylie blinked, her mind obviously scrambling to catch up for a moment before she threw her head back and let out a whoop of laughter. “Hell yeah I was! About what?”

“There are definitely some perks to being a good girl.”

“Told you! What happened?”

She ran through the entire story, from him finding her in the library and finger fucking her against the stacks to his promise to have her for dessert to the way he’d spanked and fucked her until her throat was raw from screaming to the second round of sex in the shower. By the time she finished, Kylie’s eyes were round as saucers and her mouth was hanging slightly open.

“Whoa. That sounds… whoa. Lucky bitch.”

“I know. And I know it sounds crazy because it’s all moving so fast, but I’ve never felt this way about anyone, Kylie. I don’t know if it’s like you said and he’s the first man I’ve been with I couldn’t wrap around my finger but… god. I think I might be a little in love with him.”

“I might think it was crazy if I hadn’t seen it happen a dozen or so times at the Ranch already.” Kylie shrugged. “There’s something magical about this place, I swear.”

“I’m beginning to think there really might be.”

“So… you’re even okay with the Daddy stuff?”

It was the one sticking point, but it was feeling less and less sticky as time went on. “I haven’t called him Daddy yet but… I almost did last night. When I was begging him to”—she stopped and glanced around, then leaned in toward Kylie and lowered her voice—“when I was begging him to fill me with his cum.”

“You little slut. I’m so jealous.” Kylie’s sigh was filled with envy and longing. “You’d think on a Ranch filled with Littles, finding a Mommy or Daddy wouldn’t be so dang hard.”

“I mean, you haven’t even really tried, have you?”

“No. I’ve thought about asking Master Derek but if I spend any time in the Littles’ Wing, word will get out and I’m just not ready for that. And I really want to finish college before I even start thinking about settling down with someone.”

As it often did when Kylie mentioned “settling down”, Eliza’s mind went directly to their friend Dan. But Dan wasn’t a Daddy, and Eliza had her suspicions he might be a secret Little too, though he hadn’t actually told anybody anything of the sort.

“Well, I don’t know if I’ll ever get into the baby stuff, but I think I could be down for like, a playdate or something. I’ve been reading those Arabella Cole books and, again, I’m forced to admit that you may have been right. Some of those books…” Trailing off, she waved a hand in front of her face.

Kylie giggled. “Told you.” She glanced down at her watch and winced. “Shoot. We should go grab something to eat so you can get your Good Girl star for meals today.”

“You’re pretty responsible for a Little,” Eliza commented as they made their way up to the line.

“I am when I’m Big. Not as much when I’m actually Little.”

“I’ve never really asked you much about what it’s like for you when you’re Little. Is it like, a whole different person in your head?”