Page 8 of Little Bedtime Snack

“I’d like that.” Eli's eyes were wide as he nodded and then buried his face in my neck. “I’d like that a lot.”

I held him close, savoring the feeling of his warm body pressed against mine.I’d like that a lot too, sweet boy.

After a while, Eli sighed and sat up. “I should go look for Jeb.”

“Yeah.” I’d almost forgotten about his friend and wondered if he was still with Jeff. “Let me just get you cleaned up.”

I wet a towel with hot water and then cleaned the dried come from Eli’s leg. His cute sailor outfit was a bit rumpled, but by the time we walked out of the private room, we were both presentable.

The Little room had gotten crowded, and I saw Jeff on the couch with a boy in a diaper and nothing else.

“Where’s Jeb?” Eli looked around, and we both spotted his friend at the same time. “Oh no! I’ve got to go to him. Bye, Mason.” He gave me a peck on the cheek and ran off.

I stood there in disappointed silence, and before I knew it, both boys were gone.

7

ELI

I rushed back into the playroom with my heart still pounding from my time with Mason. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when I saw Jeb hunched down in the corner with red-rimmed eyes, my heart broke for him.

"Jeb! What's wrong?" I hurried over and crouched beside him. “Are you hurt?”

He looked up at me and shook his head. "Can we go?"

Not being hurt was almost worse. That meant someone had stomped on his heart. He might seem brave and confident on the outside, but he was tenderhearted. It was one of the things I liked best about him. It was also one of the things that made him most vulnerable.

"Of course, Jeb. Let's get outta here." I helped him up as guilt gnawed at me for leaving him alone for so long. I really thought he’d be fine. Instead, I focused on my own desires, and he was the one paying the price.

As we headed for the exit, I caught Mason's eye across the room. He looked concerned as he started walking toward us, but I justshook my head and waved goodbye while I guided Jeb out to the parking lot.

Jeb sniffled quietly as I pulled out of the parking lot.

The suspense was killing me, and I needed to know if he was really okay. I wanted to respect his privacy, but if it was something the club needed to know about, I wasn’t gonna mess around. The car would be back in their lot in a flash. "Do you wanna talk about what happened?"

He wiped his nose on the sleeve of the hoodie he’d put on. "After Jeff left, I was coloring with some of the other Littles." He took a deep breath and his breath stuttered. "And Tommy said my drawing was the worst he'd ever seen."

My hands tightened on the steering wheel. "That wasn't a very nice thing for him to say. You’re a great drawer."

That sucked, but at the same time, it was a relief. No one tried to take advantage of my friend. It was a jealous Little being a dick. I hated that it happened, but also, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

"Am not." Jeb crossed his arms over his chest and rested his forehead on the dash. "It doesn’t matter or anything. I shouldn't let it bother me so much, but I just felt embarrassed, I think."

"Hey, your feelings are valid." I reached over and squeezed his hand. "It's okay to be upset when someone’s mean to you."

We drove in silence for a few minutes as I tried to think of how to cheer him up. "You know what? I bet Tommy was just jealous of your awesome art skills." I glanced at him to see if he was even paying attention to me. "We should invite him over for an art party to see if he’s any good. I bet you’re way better than him."

That got a small smile out of him. "I don’t know aboutwaybetter…but maybe a little bit."

"A ton! I’m sure of it."

By the time we pulled up to Jeb's apartment, his mood had lifted. He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door. “Thanks for going with me tonight, Eli. I had a great time until the end.” He turned back and looked right at me. “And you haven’t even told me what happened with you and Mason.”

“Mason…” I sighed as I thought about the sexy Daddy, and then I realized something awful and my stomach dropped. "Oh no. I totally forgot to get Mason's number. He wants to go out again, but I got distracted when I… Well, anyway, I forgot."

"Because of me?" Jeb sighed with his hand on the door handle. “Sorry about that. But I have good news.” He dug around in his backpack and pulled out a small white rectangle. "Daddy Jeff gave me both of their business cards earlier. He and Mason work together at the same company."

My eyes widened as Jeb held out the card. "Jeb, you're amazing!"

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