Page 22 of Daddy's Little Matchmaker

Tessica laughed. “Aren’t you always getting into trouble for being too bossy?”

Gwen gasped and pulled out of the hug. “No fair! That’s different! When I’m bossy, no one has to do what I say. When Paul is bossy, everyone has to do what he says.”

“Well then, I guess it’s a good thing Paul isn’t bossy very often, isn’t it?” She turned to the taller girl dressed in Piglet pajamas and ran a hand through her long brown hair. “What about you, Susan? Are you okay?”

Susan glanced over Tessica’s shoulder at Connor, took her pacifier out of her mouth, and then leaned forward to whisper in Tessica’s ear.

When Susan finished whispering, Tessica turned and scrutinized Connor. Then she focused on Susan again. “I don’t know. Maybe you should ask him yourself.”

Susan’s eyes opened wide, and she shook her head vigorously.

“Tell me.” Gwen leaned forward. “I’ll ask him for you.”

Susan whispered to Gwen, who then faced Connor. “Do you have a Little of your own?”

Connor shook his head. “I used to, but not anymore.”

“Why not?” Gwen asked.

“Gwen,” Tessica scolded, “that’s a very personal question for someone you’ve just met.”

“It’s okay,” Connor said. “She wanted to have kids, and I didn’t.”

“Why?” Gwen asked.

“Okay,” Tessica said firmly, “No more questions. Do the two of you want another story, or are you ready to do something else?”

Susan pointed to the television set.

“The Little Mermaid is starting,” Gwen said. “Will you come snuggle with us while we watch?”

“Sure.”

“Hooray!” Gwen grasped both Tessica’s and Susan’s hands, and then pulled both of them toward the movie area.

Once the women were out of hearing range, Connor glanced around for Brian. He spotted his friend talking with Paul near the snack table, and went to join them.

Paul noticed Connor coming toward them and gave him a nod. “Everything okay between you and Tessica?”

“More than okay,” Connor said.

“How do you two know each other outside of the club?” Brian asked.

“I’ve known Tessica since she was fifteen.”

“Fifteen?” Paul asked, as if he wasn’t sure he’d Connor correctly.

Connor nodded. “She was best friends with my sister in high school.”

“Damn,” Brian said. “That’s why I never went to clubs when I was going to medical school. I was terrified of running into someone from high school, and it getting back to my parents that I was into kink. I’m sure they would have cut off my funding unless I went to some kind of conversion therapy church camp.”

“Do they have those for kinky people?” Connor asked. “I thought those groups specifically targeted gay people.”

Brian shrugged. “I’m pretty sure they target everyone who isn’t heterosexual, monogamous, and vanilla. And my parents had enough money to make any of those groups take me, whether they focused on kink or not.”

Connor put a hand on Brian’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I’m sorry.”

Brian gave him a bitter smile. “Don’t be. If they weren’t extremely conservative, I never would have done my residency in Alaska to get away from them. Then I never would have met you. You’ve been a much better role model for me than my biological father. Back when you first told me that you’d never shared your kink with anyone in your family, it seemed like such a novel idea to me. Knowing that I had the option to never come out to my parents was freeing. It’s made it a lot easier for me to get along with them over the past year since I moved back to Portland.”

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