Page 13 of Axel

And with that, Axel got up and him and Laser made their way out of the house.

‘He’s really not all bad…’ Arlo whispered to himself as he heard the front door shut.

With the blanket over his body and his eye lids now feeling heavy, Arlo allowed himself to shut his eyes for just a moment. Arlo wanted to keep the conversation going when Axel returned, so was determined not to fall asleep.

Or that was the plan at least…

When Arlo opened his eyes, he let out a groan. With the sound of Axel’s coffee machine chugging and whirring and Laser’stail wafting past his face, Arlo was experiencing a very different kind of wake up call to the normal sunrise that he had gotten used to recently.

‘What time is it?’ Arlo asked, rubbing his eyes.

‘Wake up time!’ Axel laughed. ‘Coffee? Or are you more of an OJ boy?’

‘OJ, thanks,’ Arlo said, suddenly realizing that Sass was tucked under his arm.

Wait… I didn’t take Sass out of my bag.

So how did he…

Axel must have put him there.

Arlo blushed as he realized that Axel had probably arrived back from his final walk with Laser and found him fast asleep, probably snoring his Little heart out. Suddenly the notion that Axel might be a Daddy was seeming more and more likely. If he’d seen Sass and assumed that Arlo slept with him every night, then the chances are that he knew he was a Little too.

Before Arlo knew what was going on, his mind was running wild with the thought of having been tucked up and put to bed by a Daddy. And now here he was, in his house, and getting ready to receive a freshly squeezed glass of OJ…

‘Thanks, D-’ Arlo said, stopping himself from saying the D-word just in time. ‘Thanks, Axel. This is just what I need.’

‘Don’t mention it,’ Axel smiled, standing over Arlo with an espresso in his hand. ‘I’m thinking we drink these and head into town. Your tent will be ready to pick up soon so why don’t we pick up some breakfast in the diner first. That’ll set you upfor the day and you’ll be back up at your campsite before you know it.’

‘Yeah, sounds good,’ Arlo replied, trying to hide his disappointment that his time with Axel might be coming to an end sooner rather than later.

As much as Arlo wanted to have his repaired tent back, he knew that this meant he wouldn’t be spending another evening with Axel.

Still, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t enjoy whatever time he had left with him – and if that also included some of the diner’s apparently delicious pancakes, then that was all the better…

Chapter 6

Axel

Axel felt different walking down the main Eagle Ridge strip. Despite having walked up and down the main parade of stores and cafes a thousand times before, this time felt different. And there was one reason for it too…

Arlo.

Axel felt a surge of pride come over him as he walked alongside the happy, confident young man who he had very recently come to know. There was no denying the fact that being around Arlo brought out another side to Axel.

However Axel also knew that this was a short-term thing. The boy was only passing through town and would soon enough be on his travels once more. There was no point getting attached in any real sense of the word. Axel was determined to enjoy this precisely for what it was.

I get to hang out with a sweet young man…

Help him out, make him feel safe.

That’s all it is.

Axel couldn’t help but smile though as he caught Arlo looking at the pair of them in the bookstore window’s reflection. For the briefest of moments, Axel imagined that Arlo was considering what the pair of them would look like as a couple – or as Daddy and Little.

Such thoughts might be fun for Axel to contemplate, but he simply wasn’t going to allow himself to dream or live in a fantasy land. Axel was a practical man who lived in reality, and that was the way he was going to keep things too.

So rather than dwell on an impossible future with Arlo, Axel decided to take control of the situation and get the pair of them to The Hot Plate for some breakfast. And once they were done there, Axel and Arlo could head to the repair store and collect Arlo’s refurbished tent.

---