Page 16 of Awakening His Daddy

“Listen up.” I raise my voice as soon as I get into the briefing room. “Hardman. Quiet,” I bark, and everyone chuckles. Right, he’s not here today. “Habit.” I shrug. “Alright, let’s get to today’s shift. First, it’s colder than a witch’s teat out there, and this cold snap doesn’t seem to be letting up. You guys are going to receive a lot of calls for wellness checks, and people are more likely to get into car accidents as things start to freeze over.

“Make sure that you take care of yourselves. Drink lots of water, take breaks in warm places, and tell your partner if you aren’t feeling well, especially if you can’t feel your fingers or toes. We don’t need to be taking any of you to the hospital either.”

“Yes, Daddy,” Trent teases.

I try not to think about how good those words sounded when Izzy said them to me the other night.

“Your Daddy isn’t here, and I refuse to be your stand-in. Ask Sebastian.” The other officers laugh now.

“Conner doesn’t like to share,” Mason adds with a grin.

“Let’s get back to it. Some property was damaged up in Mill Creek, so we’re going to have extra patrols around the clock in those areas. I know there are far more helpful things you could be doing, but these are the people who make this city and state run. So don’t do anything stupid, like lock your keys in your squad,” I finish up.

“I didn’t actually do that.” Trent scoffs, and everyone laughs.

“Dismissed, and stay safe out there.”

It ends up being a very long day, and I’m getting out of work about an hour late.

I don’t mind the overtime, but I’m starving now. Leo and I were supposed to go out to dinner, and I was going to reschedule, but he said he would make something and I should just meet him at his place.

I wonder if Izzy will be there.

Not because I want to see him again, but because I want to check in on him.

“Hey, Dad,” Leo calls from upstairs.

“Hey.”

“Dinner’s almost ready, so we’re just waiting for Iz to get here.”

“Smells good.”

“Thanks, it’s your favorite. Chicken tetrazzini.”

I hear a truck pull into the driveway.

“Oh!” Leo runs to the freezer. “Iz was complaining about how cold it was today and how he really just wanted a cup of hot cocoa. So…”

He pulls out a bucket of snowballs.

“Seriously, you brat.”

And then he runs screaming out the door.

Izzy seems startled when he gets hit with the first snowball, but he quickly recovers and tackles Leo. Leo tries to fight him off, but Izzy is much stronger.

I watch as they roll around, stuffing snow inside each other’s jackets, throwing hats and boots across the yard.

The two of them are soaking wet and laughing by the time they finish.

It was fun to watch them playing around like they’re twelve again. When they come in, they shake the snow off like wet dogs, and then, for some reason, they start stripping in the porch.

Izzy’s soaked shirt clings to his body. I can see the dark outline of his nipples, which is?—

I almost swallow my tongue when he removes it complete. His skin is golden brown from all the sun he gets at work, and it hasn’t faded much even in winter. Tiny water droplets sparkle as they slide down his very defined abs. When he starts taking his pants off, I turn away.

Or I should turn away, but I don’t. I watch as his hands move to the buttons on his jeans and pull down the zipper.

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